Prosecution rests in Martin Ish murder trial - East Idaho News
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Prosecution rests in Martin Ish murder trial

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POCATELLO — The state rested its case against Martin Edmo Ish Monday after additional testimony from a relative who said Ish told her he had killed Eugene Lorne Red Elk on the night of June 14, 2009.

Ish, 59, is charged with second degree murder in the beating death of Red Elk outside Duffy’s Tavern in Pocatello.

Jennifer Teton, Ish’s cousin, testified that on the morning after Red Elk was attacked, Ish told her that he had “blasted” Red Elk, and she said that Ish told her he believed that he had killed him. She said Ish also complained Red Elk had gotten blood on his shoes.

Red Elk, a member of the Lakota Sioux Nation and a bouncer at the bar, was found fatally beaten in the parking lot of the pub shortly after he had ejected Ish from the bar. He died three days later from injuries sustained in the attack.

Teton told the court Friday she did not come forward until 2015 because she was afraid. She said she contacted police after her daughter, Angel Teton, witnessed Ish’s son, Anthony Ish, shoot and kill 44-year-old Darrell Auck outside the Ish family residence in Fort Hall in October 2014.

Anthony Ish was convicted of second degree murder in federal court in February.

Pocatello police Detective William Brown said Friday Teton was one of two witnesses who came forward with new information that led to Ish’s arrest in 2015.

Charles Tademy testified earlier this week that on the night Red Elk was attacked outside Duffy’s Tavern, Ish showed up at his home on Quinn Road and asked him for a ride to his residence in Fort Hall. Tademy said when he dropped him off, Ish asked him to drive by Duffy’s when he returned to Pocatello and see if anything was going on there. When he drove by the bar, Tademy said he saw police lights and police vehicles in the parking lot and he called and reported the scene to Ish.

Brown told jurors Friday 85 people were interviewed following Red Elk’s death, but leads dried up and the case went cold until 2015 when Teton and Tademy came forward.

The Twin Falls-based jury also heard from a forensic specialist last week who testified during a prerecorded statement that Red Elk died from blunt force trauma to the head.

Forensic Pathologist Charles O. Garrison told the court that he reviewed the case in 2012 at the request of the Pocatello Police Department.

Garrison said he reviewed autopsy reports and examined medical records, photos from the crime scene, and physicians’ reports in the case to rule out the possibility that Red Elk had been struck by a vehicle or died as the result of a fall.

“I saw nothing in those photos to believe that a vehicle was involved,” Garrison said.

Garrison said that apart from a minor injury to his chest wall, Red Elk’s injuries were all from the neck up and included a skull fracture that traveled from just above the victim’s left ear to the back of his skull.

The injury was consistent with being struck in the head with a moving object as opposed to the victim’s head striking a stationary structure, Garrison said.

Garrison said toxicology reports indicated the presence of marijuana, alcohol and methamphetamine in Red Elk’s blood at the time he was killed.

Ish is being represented by Public Defenders Randy Schulthies and Scott Andrew who plan to call a second forensic expert to testify Wednesday.

Last week jurors also watched video of a police interview with Ish that took place in Ada County prior to his arrest in 2015.

Ish told investigators that he was drinking with several friends on the night of June 14, 2009 and that he had been kicked out of the Bourbon Barrel Bar when he was caught stealing cigarettes and after he was removed from a second bar, Ish went to Duffy’s.

During the redacted interview, Ish stated that as soon as he entered the bar he was informed that the bartender at the Bourbon Barrel had alerted Duffy’s staff about the incident at that bar. He said Red Elk approached him and asked him to leave and then escorted him out the door.

Ish told officers that he left the bar and that there was no altercation with Red Elk.

He denied getting a ride home and said he spent the next three or four hours walking to Fort Hall.

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