BONNER COUNTY, Idaho – For the first time in 23 years, the Bonner County prosecutor is seeking the death penalty.
19-year-old Jacob Coleman is charged with first degree murder in the death of Gagandeep Singh, a 22-year-old cab driver from Spokane Valley.
Bonner County Sheriff officials said Coleman, flew from Seattle to Spokane with the intention of starting a new semester at college. Coleman said he was denied entry to Gonzaga, became angry and began to have homicidal thoughts.
He hailed a cab from Spokane and asked to be driven to a fictitious house in the eastern part of
Bonner County. The news release states Coleman said he became increasingly homicidal in the cab. He asked the driver to stop at a gas station in Ponderay, purchased a knife and re-entered the cab.
The driver stopped the cab at the intersection of Spokane Street and East Railroad Avenue in the city of Kootenai after realizing Coleman’s destination was nonexistent. Reports state that is when Coleman stabbed the victim with the knife he purchased earlier.
Gonzaga officials released a statement that said they had no record of an application for admission from Jacob Coleman of Puyallup, Washington.
Louis Marshall, the prosecuting attorney for Bonner County, filed his notice of intent to seek the death penalty on Feb. 28.
"Specifically, the State is giving noticed that it intends to prove one or more aggravating factors including 1) the murder was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel, manifesting exceptional depravity, and/or 2) by the murder or circumstances surrounding its commission, the defendant exhibited utter disregard for human life," the notice reads.
Coleman is slated to go to trial in April of next year, according to Marshall.
