Pocatello man killed uncle with ‘large electric flyswatter,’ say court documents
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POCATELLO — A Pocatello man who was arrested after a fight turned fatal used an electric flyswatter to kill his uncle, police say.
Andrew Shane Scoffield, 44, has been charged with one count of murder in the second degree.
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According to court documents, on Sunday afternoon, law enforcement received a report of a man “slumped over and deceased.”
Law enforcement responded to the 800 block of Park Avenue and found the victim dead in the front room of the home. He was identified in court documents as Jeffery Scoffield, Andrew Scoffield’s uncle.
The reporting party informed law enforcement that there had been a disturbance between the Scoffields. Andrew Scoffield later texted the reporting party — his cousin — allegedly saying his cousin’s father (Jeffery) had attacked him, and he might have killed him “with an electric flyswatter.”
According to a neighbor’s testimony in police documents, Andrew Scoffield had been riding a four-wheeler around the neighborhood, yelling profanities over the previous few days, and behaving erratically. The neighbor reportedly saw Andrew Scoffield release air from one of the tires on the victim’s vehicle, and officers said they confirmed this.
The cousin tried to call the father, but when Jeffery Scoffield didn’t respond, the cousin went to the house.
According to documents, the cousin found his father deceased, covered in pepper spray, and tried to perform CPR until emergency services responded.
Police located Andrew Scoffield around 7. p.m. Sunday and took him into custody. According to documents, Andrew Scoffield told law enforcement that he had been living with his uncle for several months without issue, but things soured after he had borrowed $600 from him for a title loan.
Andrew Scoffield said that after borrowing the money, Jeffrey Scoffield began harassing him and referring to him as “his maid.”
The suspect told police that he had been in the process of moving out and was at the home gathering his belongings when his uncle returned home and began yelling at him.
That’s when — according to Andrew Scoffield — Jeffrey Scoffield had grabbed him and shoved him against a door frame. Andrew Scoffield said he pushed him back, at which point Jeffrey Scoffield picked up an aluminum bat and knocked a can of pepper spray to the floor.
Andrew Scoffield told police he used the can to spray the victim in the face, and the two ended up fighting on the floor. He said he “unloaded” the pepper spray in the victim’s face and then grabbed a “large electric flyswatter,” which he threw at the victim, striking him in the head and causing his head to “snap back.”
The victim fell back into his chair “gasping for breath,” Andrew Scoffield told police. That’s when he said he fled the property to a friend’s house, where he washed off the pepper spray and sent the texts.
During police interviews, Andrew Scoffield reportedly told police that he had used methamphetamine a few weeks before.
If found guilty, Andrew Scoffield may face up to life in prison and may be required to pay fines of up to $50,000.
Andrew Scoffield is being represented by a public defender. The Idaho State Public Defender’s office does not comment on pending cases.
He is set to appear in court on Sep. 14 for a preliminary hearing.
Although he has been accused of a crime, that does not necessarily mean he committed it. Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty.