Two brothers have been convicted of more than a dozen felonies, including first-degree murder for killing a U.S. Forest Service officer in northern Idaho.
Bonner County Prosecutor Phil Robinson said he will seek the death penalty for James and Joseph Pratt, convicted Thursday of murdering Brent Jacobson in January.Jacobson, 41, of Provo, Utah, was the first Forest Service lawman to die in the line of duty.
A 1st District Court jury deliberated Wednesday and Thursday before announcing that James Pratt, 29, Indian Hills, Colo., was guilty of all but one of the 17 felonies with which he was charged. Joseph Pratt, 27, of Sandpoint, Idaho, was convicted on all 17 counts.
The lesser charges included kidnapping, attempted murder and aggravated assault.
The crime spree started Jan. 11 when the brothers robbed a Sagle house and terrorized its residents. Jacobson, who was helping police track the brothers, died the next night in a shoot-out with the Pratts in the snowy woods.
Jacobson was honored Wednesday in Washington, D.C., with a posthumous Distinguished Service award by Agriculture Secretary Clayton Yeutter, who is in charge of the Forest Service.
And Forest Service workers and volunteers continued work on a 1.6-mile trail along Lake Pend Oreille that will be named in honor of Jacobson.