COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho — A Lapwai man was sentenced to 19 years in federal prison for killing a man on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation in 2023.
According to court records, William Oliver Eyle, 21 of Lapwai, shot and killed Elias Albert Spencer on May 12, 2023. There was no fight or argument between the two before the shooting.
Eyle’s car broke down in front of Spencer’s home. When Spencer went to see what was going on, Eyle shot him five times.
Spencer’s family found his body on the sidewalk in front of the home.
Eyle, who was 19 when this happened, fled the area and was on the run for months. He was arrested toward the end of November that year.
Eyle pled guilty to second-degree murder on January 29, 2025.
Eyle’s mother, Jacinta Wheeler, who failed to report the murder and told Eyle to run, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison in November of 2024.
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