SANDPOINT, Idaho -- A Sandpoint man sentenced to life in prison without parole for first-degree murder has filed a petition for post-conviction relief seeking a new trial or a reduced sentence.
The Bonner County Daily Bee reports that 52-year-old Kenneth Eugene Thurlow in documents filed Wednesday in 1st District Court contends he had ineffective counsel and prosecutors engaged in misconduct.
A northern Idaho jury convicted Thurlow of shooting 25-year-old Christopher West to death in a junkyard in 2005.
Thurlow says the state offered him a 10-year sentence if he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, but he rejected the deal on the incorrect advice of his attorney. He also says a taped interview he gave to investigators should have been suppressed before the trial.
