Town split over trial for sniper

The tragedy at Ruby Ridge had started to fade here, but a court ruling brought it sharply back this week when Boundary County was cleared to prosecute an FBI sniper for killing Vicki Weaver.

Some residents wish it hadn't.

"I would say the majority of Boundary County would like to see the Randy Weaver-Ruby Ridge tragedy be a part of ancient history," said Darrell Kerby, Bonners Ferry mayor and a local insurance agent. "In the back of everybody's mind, they would like to see this event long since have disappeared."

Residents are divided on whether the county should press ahead with prosecuting Lon Horiuchi.

Newly elected prosecutor Brett Benson is still studying the issue.

Boundary County has about 9,800 residents, about 1,500 more than it had a decade ago. A place of forests, rivers and great beauty, it's also been short on jobs since the timber industry began declining.

The area was unwillingly thrust into the national spotlight in 1992, when white separatist Randy Weaver's wife and son were killed, along with deputy U.S. Marshal William Degan. During an 11-day standoff at Weaver's cabin near Naples, Idaho, national media, demonstrators and others converged on the remote site, along with heavily armed federal agents.

On the second day of the standoff, Horiuchi shot and wounded Randy Weaver, then fired a single bullet at Weaver friend Kevin Harris that passed through the window of a cabin door, killed Vicki Weaver, and then wounded Harris. Horiuchi said he didn't see Vicki Weaver standing behind the door.

The events prompted a national debate about the use of force by law enforcement officers. Small counties like Boundary County typically are hit with high costs when they have a major criminal prosecution, but that shouldn't happen in this case, in part because two high-profile attorneys - former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark of New York, and Venice, Calif., attorney Stephen Yagman - are donating their time.

Plus, if the case goes to trial, Yagman said it will be in federal court in Boise, not in Bonners Ferry's three-story white stone courthouse.

A federal court official in Boise said there would be no charge to the county for a trial there.

County spokesman Mike Weland said, "The cost wouldn't be excessive to the county." But, he said, "I've heard mixed reaction to the decision up here. Some people are eager to see it going, and other people say just drop the thing, it's just going to take too much time and effort and probably won't achieve any results anyway. So it's hard to say what Brett is going to do."

Elsie Hollenbeck, a retired teacher who has lived in the Bonners Ferry area for about 40 years, said, "You think, well, justice needs to be served. However ... the people that I have talked to since this decision has come out are all pretty much in agreement that this needs to be put behind us. Our county has had to deal with enough of a loss of reputation, with all the happenings when it occurred."

Hollenbeck noted that former county Prosecutor Denise Woodbury was voted out of office. Although there were other issues, she said, "She was voted out because of her positions, one of which was following up on this." Moyie Springs cabinet maker Tim Tucker, a former state senator, said he thinks the trial should go forward, "if for no other reason to learn from our mistakes."

"I think when you've got a major foul-up by government agencies to the extent that we had during the Ruby Ridge debacle, that time really doesn't play a role," he said. "I think that getting to the bottom of it ... will give us some needed information on how to conduct these kinds of affairs in the future."

Tucker said he has no opinion on Horiuchi.

"Somebody told him to pull the trigger ... and that's the person that I would like to see prosecuted," he said. "If it takes a trial of the shooter to bring that information to the public, then that's what I'd like to see."

But Bonners Ferry resident Leslie Falcon said, "We just keep getting haunted."

"I'm not sure it's a good thing for Boundary County," said Shannon Kelly, a bartender at a tavern in the American Legion post. "It keeps getting dragged on and on. It's becoming tedious."

Residents said Boundary County has moved on from the 1992 standoff, and the tidy downtown of the county seat these days is fronted by art galleries, bookstores and professional offices. Signs in the windows indicate people are more worried about saving the timber industry than prosecuting FBI agents.

Leah Meister, who operates a hypnotherapy business in Bonners Ferry, said people should focus on the central issue of the case, and not worry about image. "Was this gal unjustly slaughtered?" she asked. "If yes, then somebody needs to be held accountable."

Weland said people are talking about the case, and county employees seem to be divided unevenly with most wanting to just let the matter rest. But other issues, such as soaring energy prices, are hotter topics of conversation.

Weland was a reporter for the Bonners Ferry Herald nine years ago when he spent eight hours in the cabin where Randy and Vicki Weaver had holed up with their family to avoid a weapons charge, interviewing the couple about their case. That was three months before the standoff. The Weavers were adamant that Randy wouldn't go face the charge.

"After I did that interview I got back and called the U.S. Marshal Service," Weland said. "It sounded like the Old West: `He's wanted, we're going to do all we can to make it safe, but we're going to bring him in.' In my mind if they'd just backed off and let him go, they probably could've caught him at a Qwik Stop somewhere. To me the whole thing was a lot of overkill."

Weland is troubled by the case. "I can't speak for what Lon Horiuchi saw up there, but I can't speak to where those two shots he fired were absolutely necessary," he said. "It's a complex mess, and something I think a lot of people up here wish had never happened."

Copyright 2001 Cowles Publishing Company
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