‘This nightmare is continuing’: Judge rejects Lance Peck plea agreement. Case heads to potential trial
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POCATELLO — In a filled courtroom in Pocatello, families of victims whose remains were allegedly lost, neglected, or partially delivered will wait longer for justice after Lance Peck’s plea agreement was thrown out.
Peck, the former owner of Downard Funeral Home, accepted a plea agreement in August.
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He agreed to plead guilty to five felonies and four misdemeanors involving falsifying records, unprofessional conduct by a funeral director, and unlawful control of the disposition of remains of a deceased person. He was initially charged with 22 felonies and 63 misdemeanors.
Peck appeared before District Judge Javier Gabiola on Thursday. During the hearing, Gabiola informed the court that, after reviewing the documents, he would not accept the plea agreement. He did not give a reason for his decision.
The initial plea agreement was binding to the court and recommended a sentence for Peck of three to 10 years in prison.
As a result, Peck withdrew his guilty plea, and the court scheduled a status conference for Dec. 1. The case now heads toward a potential trial.
According to court documents, in July 2021, a representative from Idaho State University reported to Pocatello Police that several cadavers that families had donated for scientific research hadn’t been delivered to the university by the funeral home, and that at least one body hadn’t been returned to its family after it was used.
During a police raid of the funeral home, police found several bodies, one of which was decaying on the floor of the garage.
There were also 11 bodies associated with altered documents, and one body had no documentation whatsoever.
A significant number of other irregularities were found related to the disposal of remains.
“This nightmare is continuing”
After the hearing was adjourned, EastIdahoNews.com spoke with family members whose loved ones were taken to Downard Funeral Home.
Some of the individuals who attended the hearing came from as far away as North Carolina, hoping to put this dark moment behind them.
Driving a friend from Oregon, Judy Boozer said she had met Rhonda D’Amico after she had moved there to get away from Pocatello.
“Beyond frustrated… She’s been here before to do a victim statement, and now she’s again, not able to do so, and this nightmare is continuing,” Boozer said.
D’Amico’s husband was taken to Downard, and she is unsure where his remains are. She believes they may have been thrown away.
“The hardest part for me is that all of my memories of my husband, Eric, are now punctuated with a memory of what (Peck) did at the end of (Eric’s) life,” D’Amico said.
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Her husband, Eric Paul D’Amico, was a teacher in the Pocatello area and taught at Pocatello-Chubbuck School District 25 for 33 years.
Eric died of cancer. At the end of his life, Rhonda and he would go to Texas to learn to two-step and renew their vows.
Rhonda said Peck was a family friend and believes he does not care and that this is another way for him to delay taking accountability.
“The prosecutor has told us that he intends to work hard and quickly to bring us to some kind of accountability for Peck,” Rhonda said. “I am deeply disappointed that Lance has another day where he’s walking free, and I am still in the chains that I am in from what he did to us.”
Kathy Packard, whose father’s remains have not been located, was still struggling to come to terms with the revelation from Gabiola following the hearing.
Packard showed EastIdahoNews.com a locket on her neck, which was meant to hold part of her father’s ashes, but couldn’t, because she didn’t have them. She said her father died on Nov. 13, 2020, and she has been struggling with this issue for nearly five years.
“I was hoping that he would be handcuffed and walked out of the court… that’s what everybody’s waiting for,” Packard said. “He gets to walk free and do whatever, and I’m still stuck.”