Spokane man held in Idaho probe of meth-related killings (Idaho)

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_ID_Mother_Son_Killings.html

BOISE, Idaho -- A young man has been arrested on an accessory charge that could lead to more answers in the killing of a woman in Boise County, apparently by her son, State Police said.

Jacob W. Larson, 21, of Spokane, Wash., was arrested last Wednesday in the Spokane area on a warrant from Boise county and has admitted helping John Albert Schmeichel to bury the body of Schmeichel's mother, Crystal Ann Nelson, 47, in the remote Harris Creek area in 2004, police Officer Rick Ohnsman said.

Nelson's partially buried remains were found by two hunters April 29 and were identified with the aid of a forensic dentist a few days later.

She and her son were both reported missing in July 2004. Schmeichel was located in Valley County in January 2005 and told police his mother was fine but had moved to a different part of the country.

Two months later, Schmeichel was shot to death, apparently over suspicions that he had stolen drugs and money. Ronald Huntsman was convicted of first-degree murder in that killing earlier this year and faces sentencing this summer.

Ohnsman said Larson and many others who knew Schmeichel said he had talked of killing his mother and burying her in the back country.

"We don't suspect (Larson) is the killer," Ohnsman said. "The theory is that Schmeichel probably killed his mother somewhere in Ada County and had Larson help him bury the body."

Detectives have yet to determine cause of death of motive for the killing of Nelson, but Ohnsman said some of Schmeichel's associates were involved with methamphetamine.

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Information from: The Idaho Statesman, http://www.idahostatesman.com

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