New motions filed in Kellogg quadruple homicide case

KELLOGG — The defense for Majorjon Kaylor, who is accused of murder, filed a motion Friday to suppress evidence, alleging a Miranda Rights violation occurred.

In September, Kaylor pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder, and one of burglary, in connection with a quadruple homicide that took place in Kellogg. He is accused of killing Kenneth Guardipee, 65; Kenna Guardipee, 41; Devin Smith, 18; and Aiken Smith, 16, on June 18.

New court documents state Kaylor wasn’t properly read his Miranda Rights by Shoshone County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jared Bilaski before he interrogated Kaylor in custody, a violation of his Fifth Amendment Rights. It also states Kaylor was coerced into making his admissions after law enforcement “preyed on Mr. Kaylor’s emotional state,” following his actions.

The new court documents are based on several point-of-view interactions between Kaylor and law enforcement officers, as well as the time stamps for them, which could mean that they were recorded by the officers' body cameras.

Prior to being taken into custody, Kaylor allegedly admitted to Bilaski that he had shot his neighbors and that the gun he had used in the killings was put away. It’s alleged that Bilaski then ordered him onto the ground and then asked him further questions concerning the events that had transpired inside the Brown Street duplex where the killings had taken place.

According to the documents, after Bilaski handcuffed Kaylor and escorted him to his patrol car, Kaylor continued to speak about the incident and what led to it. Once he was in the vehicle, Bilaski stated that he would need to read him his rights before they continued.

The documents go on to say that after sitting in the car for two hours, Kaylor was led into a church to use the restroom and that the two officers who accompanied him did not read him his rights either. Kaylor then sat down with Idaho State Patrol Detective Justin Klitch inside the church, who struck up a conversation with him about a podcast that he had listened to regarding “sex predators bull.”

While many of the details of this case remain under a nondissemination order, the alleged motive for the killings was that one of the victims, the 18-year-old Devin Smith, had been caught masturbating in a window while allegedly looking out at Kaylor’s young children.

The new court documents state that Detective Klitch then brought up a Facebook post from Kaylor’s wife that discussed their frustrations with Smith, and their perceived lack of action by local law enforcement concerning the matter. It was reportedly after this point that Klitch read Kaylor his Miranda Rights.

He continued to interview Kaylor until Kaylor said he wasn’t comfortable answering further questions without a lawyer.

According to the motion to suppress documents, “Mr. Kaylor was in custody, interrogated, and not initially read Miranda warnings; thus, the unwarned statements obtained during that encounter cannot be used in his criminal case.”

The documents also state that Kaylor’s confessions at the time were given under duress, that he “was not warned, and he was not free to leave; rather, he was in handcuffs in a back room with two cops after having spent several hours in the back seat of a patrol car. He had a broken shoulder, he hadn’t eaten since coming home from work, he reported feeling nauseous, and he had just witnessed his wife and children screaming while huddled under a blanket at a traumatic and chaotic scene.” As well as, “Surrounded by religious décor in a church — a place that traditionally insists that an individual confess his sins.”

The documents accuse Klitch of using a two-stage interrogation technique, specifically to induce the confession. A two-step interrogation technique is when police withhold Miranda warnings until after drawing out a confession. Once they’ve obtained a confession, the police interview the suspect a second time with warnings. This can be done on purpose, or by accident. Should an officer who began questioning a suspect realize their error by not giving Miranda warnings, stop the questioning, give the warnings, and then continue, that would be considered an accidental two-step interrogation.

The new court documents from Kaylor’s defense accuse Klitch of purposefully employing this strategy.

“Despite being prompted to Mirandize Mr. Kaylor by Captain (Jeff) Lee, Detective Klitch ignored his colleague and instead employed a two-part technique by immediately bringing up concerns regarding pedophiles and Mrs. Kaylor’s Facebook post about the neighbor’s inappropriate conduct towards their children. Only after he had invoked sufficient emotion from Mr. Kaylor so that Mr. Kaylor made incriminating statements regarding the situation did he read him Miranda. Then, he continued the same line of questioning, essentially asking about the feud with the neighbors and how it escalated until shots were fired. Mr. Kaylor’s statements overlapped, the police presence was continuous, and the second round was essentially an extension of the first.”

Because of this, Kaylor’s defense believes that the comments made both before and after being given his Miranda warnings should be inadmissible because they are an extension of one another and not given voluntarily.

Kaylor's defense attorneys also filed a Notice of Assertion of Privilege on Friday, based on Idaho Rule of Evidence 504, which prevents a spouse from being required to testify regarding confidential statements made by their spouse.

A motion to dismiss hearing concerning two of the four first-degree murder counts has been scheduled for Nov. 6 at 1 p.m.

Kaylor’s jury trial is scheduled for Jan. 9, 2024.