Killer Adjustment - Bonners Ferry, Idaho

Summary

Small Town Murder Podcast

Episode: Killer Adjustment – Bonners Ferry, Idaho
Hosts: James Pietragallo & Jimmie Whisman
Date: October 17, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode takes listeners on a wild, detailed journey through Bonners Ferry, Idaho—a remote small town with stunning mountain vistas and a dark secret: its first murder in over half a century. James and Jimmie use their trademark mix of deep research and irreverent humor to unravel the shocking 2020 shooting of local chiropractor Dr. Brian Drake. As the suspects dwindle, attention turns to another chiropractor, Dr. Daniel Moore, and a tangled investigation ensues, including an awkward confession, legal wrangling, and the town’s fractured trust.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. A Portrait of Bonners Ferry

• Location: Far northern Idaho, in the “extreme panhandle,” bordering Canada (04:39).
• Demographics: Population 2,495 (05:22); median income and housing costs wildly out of sync.
• Mottos and Reviews: Local motto “Idaho’s!” and residents’ reviews ranged from glowing praise to brutal takedowns ("I can't think of a positive adjective to describe this godforsaken hellhole." – Anonymous, 08:44).

2. Setting the Stage: Chiropractors and Community

• Victim: Dr. Brian Drake, a gentle, music-loving chiropractor, beloved husband and father of four, who relocated to Bonners Ferry for a simpler life (11:25).
• His Practice: Opened office in 2014; business thrived, adding two more locations (12:59).
• Suspect: Dr. Daniel Moore, 63, long-established chiropractor with an office just 500 feet from Drake’s (13:58). Known as the "entrenched guy" in town: “23 years, cracking backs and knaves and shit.” (13:57).

3. The Crime: A Killing with No Precedent

• Event: March 12, 2020, 7:30pm. Two 911 calls – one from a neighbor reporting a hooded figure, another from Jennifer Drake, who was on the phone with her husband as he was shot through his office window (14:47).
• Scene: Police found Drake dead, shot through the glass and closed blinds. He was sitting and talking to his wife when killed (16:17).
• Community Impact: First murder in Bonners Ferry since the 1960s (22:46).

4. The Investigation: Red Herrings and Surveillance

• Initial Suspect: A visiting man of “Indian or Middle Eastern descent,” spotted by a neighbor (18:32). Massive surveillance pull, but he’s cleared—wrong place, wrong time (22:19).
• Gas Leak Incident: Days after the murder, Dr. Moore nearly dies from a gas leak in his own office. He claims he didn’t smell the gas due to anosmia (loss of smell). Fire chief suspects intentional tampering (23:52).

5. Attention Turns to Dr. Moore

• Alibi Trouble: Dr. Moore says he was with coroner/buddy Mike Mellet. Surveillance puts his truck near the crime scene, circumnavigating the block (28:40).
• Odd Excuse: Moore claims to be in the alley during the crucial time… to defecate:
  “No, I went there to defecate. [...] You have to shit all the time. All the time.” (39:44)
• Surveillance Debacle: Police piece together video from various sources; timestamps don’t match but the physical trail keeps circling back to Moore’s truck (35:04).

6. The Interrogation and Confession

• Interrogation Highlights:
  • Moore’s defense frequently relies on needing to take a crap.
  • Tense exchanges over requesting a lawyer: “I think I need to talk to an attorney.” (45:00, 48:59).
  • Detective dangles possibility of lesser charge if Moore “explains” himself:
    “This is your opportunity to pick which one it is.” (44:16)
• The Confession:
  • After 1hr 43min, Moore admits:
    “I did not go there to murder him.” (64:22)
    • Claims he only wanted to scare Drake away, didn’t see him when he fired.
• Weapon Disposal: Guided police to the river but the gun was never found (66:21).
• Mental Health: Later claims he staged his own gas leak for suicide; had no criminal record (66:37).

7. Legal Fallout: Suppression, Dismissal, and Civil Suit

• Defense Attacks: Moore’s lawyer argues the confession is inadmissible—delayed Miranda, repeated lawyer requests ignored, head injury before confession, and inconsistent surveillance evidence (67:54).
• Prosecution’s Dilemma: With the confession suppressed and no physical evidence, the court dismisses the case (71:41).
• Civil Suit: Brian Drake’s widow (Jennifer) sues Moore. Moore countersues, lobs scurrilous accusations. Court eventually finds Moore civilly liable:
  • Damages: $4.9 million compensatory, $10 million punitive; total $15.4 million (75:52).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Bonners Ferry's charm and woes:

• “I can't think of a positive adjective to describe this godforsaken hellhole. The government is run by inbred hacks. [...] Smart people run from here and then give up.”
  — Podcast reading a 1-star town review (08:44)

On the key suspect’s “alibi”:

• “No, I went there to defecate.”
  — Dr. Daniel Moore explaining his presence in the alley (39:44)
• “You have to shit all the time. All the time.”
  — James, laughing (40:20)

On the bizarre logic of the crime:

• “If you’re going to go murder someone, what are the odds that someone breaks into your truck and steals shit while you’re murdering someone?”
  — James (29:38)

On the interrogation:

• “I think I need to talk to an attorney.”
  — Moore (multiple times, eg: 45:00, 48:59)
• “If you don’t explain to us your intent, then we infer your intent based on what you see. We—what we see, which is first degree murder.”
  — Detective Van Leuven (44:17)
• “I want you to admit the truth, but, geez, Dan, you’re killing me, Dan. Okay buddy.”
  — Assistant Chief Ryan (51:33)

On civil justice:
“The court awarded $4,881,218 in compensatory damages, including a financial losses, $500,000 for the emotional impact on Drake's family, and $10 million in punitive damages. $15,381,218 is the ruling on him.”
— James summarizing the civil verdict (75:52)

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Important Timestamps

• Introduction, town setup: 04:33
• Chiropractor background: 11:25
• The murder and first investigation: 14:46 – 22:46
• Gas leak in Dr. Moore's office: 23:10
• Surveillance and shifting suspicion onto Moore: 28:40 – 35:04
• Moore’s “defecation” excuse and interrogation: 39:44 – 48:59
• Confession: 64:22
• Charges dismissed: 71:41
• Civil suit results: 75:52

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Final Thoughts & Tone

James and Jimmie expertly blend dark humor with empathy, revealing the surreal quirks of small-town life, the failings of a protracted investigation, and the unsettling reality of a murder case without a criminal conviction but a damning civil verdict. The episode is a ride—a “ten pounds of murder in a two-pound bag”—full of laugh-out-loud moments (often about poop), incredulity, and the pain of an unresolved but publicly grieved loss.

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For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

This episode is a must for fans of true crime with a comedic edge—and for anyone interested in the ways justice can go awry, and how small-town relationships just might be a stranger web than anyone imagines.

Transcript

[James Petregallo]

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[Jimmy Wissman]

Morning, Zoe. Got donuts.

[Dana]

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[Jimmy Wissman]

Well, I dig the mattress and I want to be in a T mobile commercial like you. Teach me. So Dana.

[Dana]

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[Jimmy Wissman]

Wow, impressive. Let me try. T Mobile is the best place to get iPhone 17 Pro because they've got the best network.

[James Petregallo]

Nice.

[Dana]

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[James Petregallo]

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[Jimmy Wissman]

So what are we having for lunch?

[Dana]

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[Jimmy Wissman]

Hello.

[James Petregallo]

Everybody and welcome back to small Town Murder Express.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Yay and choo choo.

[James Petregallo]

Oh yay indeed, Jimmy. Yay indeed. My name is James Petregallo. I'm here with my co host.

[Jimmy Wissman]

I'm Jimmy Wissman.

[James Petregallo]

Thank you folks so much for joining us today. All aboard the Murder Train pulling away from the station. We have a wild one for you. Obviously it's express. It has to be wild.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Oh yeah, we're.

[James Petregallo]

We are gonna fit a crazy insane case into an hour. Let's do it. Ten pounds of murder in a two pound bag before we get started here. Definitely head over to shutupandgivememurder.com get your tickets for live shows if you're listening to this when it comes out tomorrow night. We're in Seattle October 18th, so I don't know if there'll be tickets left by then, but give it a shot. Come see us at the Moore. We cannot wait. It's gonna be great. Also get your tickets for October 30, the virtual live show Here we go. Just like a regular live show. The screen with the pictures and the jokes and everything like that. Except we'll be wearing costumes because it's Halloween. And we'll make jackasses out of ourselves, of course. And you can watch it anywhere in the world that you have Internet in your living room, in your pajamas, drinking your own booze. Do whatever you want. We can't wait. It'll be available for two weeks after the show as well, so you can purchase it anytime during that. You can purchase it ahead of time. You can watch it 30 times. You can wait a week. Do whatever you want with it. Shutupandgivemerder.com is where you get that. Also, get yourself some Patreon. Oh, yeah, you need that. Patreon.com crimeinsports which crime in Sports is the name of another show that we do that you should be listening to. You don't have to like sports. It's very funny. Just check it out. It's about idiots, not about sports. So do that here and you get what you get. There is a whole giant. Anybody $5 a month or above. You get our whole back catalog of bonus stuff. Hundreds of episod you've never heard before immediately upon subscription. New ones every other week. One Crime and Sports, one Small Town Murder, and you get it all. We're gonna do an Internet salad for Small Town Murder this week where we talk about everything going on in the world except politics. We will talk about that comedy festival, though. That's one thing we're gonna get into. Don't worry about that. And in addition to that, you get all the shows we put out. Crime and Sports, your stupid opinions, which is hilarious, and you should listen to. And both Small Town Murder episodes all ad free with your Patreon as well. You can't beat that deal. And we can give you a shout out at the end of the regular show as well. That's all we have. That's all we can do for five bucks. So do that. Patreon.com crimeinsports that said, let's do this, everybody. I think it's time to sit back. What do you say here, let's all clear the lungs and let's all shout Shut up and give me murder. Let's do this, everybody. Okay, let's go on a trip, shall we? We are going to Idaho this week.

[Jimmy Wissman]

All right?

[James Petregallo]

We're going to Bonners Ferry, Idaho.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Where the hell is that?

[James Petregallo]

Way up north. And Bonners with no apostrophe, by the way. Bonners, plural.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Yeah.

[James Petregallo]

Bonners Ferry. All the Bonners. This is in far northern Idaho. Extreme panhandle up on the top. The top county connected to Canada. It's about an hour 50 to Spokane, Washington. About two hours to Kellogg, Idaho. Our last Idaho episode, number 597. The talkative serial killer. I remember that guy. Couldn't stop talking about what he did. This is in Boundary county here. Boundary of, I guess the country. Area code 208 and 986, both of them there. Population of this town, $2,495. Not a big place.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Yeah, little.

[James Petregallo]

Pretty small. Median household income here. Big difference between the income and the housing costs here. Median household income, $38,243, which is a little over half the national average. Median home cost, $418,200, which you have no chance of purchasing with $38,000 a year. The motto here, Idaho's exclamation point. That's their motto. A little bit of history here. Before the gold rush happened, only a few people had really come to this region outside of natives that lived here. One was an explorer named David Thompson, who was a cartographer, map maker for the Northwest Company. He and four fellow fur traders. That's hard to say over and over again. She sells seashells, but can't even start it. Fuck. Arrived in 1808 to trade with the lower Kootenaise, I think is how you say it. K o O T E N A I S. Kootenaise. I looked it up. So there you go. If I say it wrong, I intended to get it right. I actually looked it up. The local natives gave Thompson's party dried fish and moss bread. Delicious. Lovely. Then he returned the next year and established a trading post. 1863, gold was discovered, and then thousands of prospectors came all through here. Oh, yeah, the Kootenay. East of there in British Columbia, people went. Edwin Bonner, who was a merchant from Washington, established a ferry where they crossed the river. So this became business basically just for people passing through to go to the gold rush in other places. That's kind of how this worked out here. So in the 20th century, it became a lumber place and a farming community. The valley land was drained, the levees were constructed, and farms were cleared on beaches. So here we go. Reviews of this town, five stars. We've never been here. We don't know anything about it. We didn't even know where it was. Reviews of this town, five stars. I've lived in Bonners Ferry all my life, and I feel a very Deep connection with the place. It's a quaint town surrounded by miles and miles of stunning mountain vistas, beautiful forests and fertile farmland. You won't find a more beautiful and welcoming place than Bonners Ferry, Idaho. Really? Wow. Here's three stars. People are outgoing, and many people care for each other here and are willing to help their fellow neighbor. The only aspect that needs improvement is this town lacks opportunities for jobs. You're in the middle of nowhere. Grab a saw. Other than that, I don't know what to tell you. Yeah, and here's one star. Bonners Ferry, Idaho is unlike any other town in America. I can't think of a positive adjective to describe this godforsaken hellhole. Jesus. The government is run by inbred hacks. The school ranks some of the lowest in the nation. Bullies abound. Cops are corrupt. The locals are at war with the newbies. Drug and alcoholism are rampant. Traffic is terrible. The religious groups run the town like a mafia. There is zero customer service. Okay? People walk around like zombies. Housing is expensive. Infrastructure outdated. Shops are expensive. Restaurants are filth. You get the impression everyone has given up. Smart people run from here and then given up. Finally, one star. I like the fact that everyone belongs to a religion up here and no one picks up hitchhikers. I also like the fact that free America doesn't exist and Bonner's Ferry is the only place where you can have your constitutional rights violated by immature social media fake detectives. And then they claim it's Idaho. Idaho is not an excuse.

[Jimmy Wissman]

I like it.

[James Petregallo]

Idaho is not an excuse. That's the. That's it. Okay. All right. Things to do here. I don't know what the hell's up with that.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Be harassed.

[James Petregallo]

Evidently, this is Idaho. That's not an excuse. Things to do. The Harvest Festival. Sure.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Yeah.

[James Petregallo]

Oh, yeah. Celebrate the season at the Harvest Festival at the Bonners Ferry Farmers Market. As the last outdoor market of the year, this festive event features harvest photo booth, live music by the Four Sax Band. Number Four Sax Band.

[Jimmy Wissman]

SA X. Or like saxopotatoes?

[James Petregallo]

No, no. Saxophones. Four sax. I assume there's four saxophones there. And plenty of fall shopping from local vendors. Idaho Fish and Game will also host an apple press. Oh, boy. Inviting guests to bring apples and containers to create fresh juice, helping reduce bear conflicts in the county.

[Jimmy Wissman]

What are they? Apple eaters?

[James Petregallo]

Is the juice for the bears. What are we talking about? If we leave them like tubs of apple juice, they won't bother us.

[Jimmy Wissman]

I don't remember looking for apple juice.

[James Petregallo]

Is that the deal we've made with the animals?

[Jimmy Wissman]

All the apple juice you can drink?

[James Petregallo]

Well, another one says music by Wynn Rosner. Stock up for winter on apples, pumpkins, honey. Corn Stalk decor. Gotta have that.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Oh, yeah.

[James Petregallo]

And any and all of the goods from our wonderful market vendors.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Wow.

[James Petregallo]

Wow. Interesting. That said, let's talk about some murders, shall we? Let's do it. Let's get into this. Okay. Murder time. Here we go. Let's go back to 2020. Not very far.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Yeah, very recent.

[James Petregallo]

Five years here. Not too bad at all. Let's introduce ourselves to some chiropractors. All right, first up we have Dr. Brian Drake. All right. He's a chiropractor.

[Jimmy Wissman]

He's doing all the work there.

[James Petregallo]

Sure. Yeah. A lot heavy lifting there. His wife's name is Jennifer. They married in 1999 in Kalispell, Montana. So they've been married over 20 years now. She says it was love at first sight. Yeah, she said it was love at first sight. We met at church. I remember telling my mom I was on the treadmill. I said, this is the man I'm going to marry. Really? Absolutely. She picked him right out.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Same pace as me. Yep.

[James Petregallo]

No, she was telling her mom on the treadmill. Yeah, yeah. They weren't. They met at church.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Oh, right, right.

[James Petregallo]

Tell her mom later. Through the years, they end up having four children together, three boys and a girl.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Look at this.

[James Petregallo]

By 2020, they're all teenagers. You know, you got this going on. She said she loved just. The life was great. She said very few people ever win the life lottery like I did. Jennifer said, wins the lottery.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Yeah.

[James Petregallo]

She's happy as can be. They spent about 10 years in Austin, Texas, before deciding to get out of the big city and move closer to Jennifer's family and to the mountains in 2012. And that is up in this area here, Idaho, in Idaho. Two years after arriving here in 2014, her husband struck out on his own, and he opened up an office in Bonner's Ferry, where he initially worked just one day a week there.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Nice.

[James Petregallo]

He's building that up. As business increased, he added a second day in Bonners Ferry and also opened two more offices, one in Sandpoint, which is about an hour away, and one in Hayden, where her family lives. She's got three offices two days a week in Bonner's Ferry, the other three between those two places.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Not bad.

[James Petregallo]

Pretty. Pretty cool here. So Jennifer says he's just a gentle soul, which is funny, while he's got his arm around somebody's fucking Head cracking their neck. Gentle soul who taught their children guitar and coached their soccer teams, says he's real into music. He loves music. Dr. Drake here. Dr. Brian, I believe, right? Dr. Drake. That's him. Dr. Drake. So she just says he's a very gentle guy. Now, on this little area at South Main street where he's got his office, there's other chiropractors there, too. Oh, I don't know if that's chiropractor alley or what here.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Chiropractor row, babe.

[James Petregallo]

Yeah. There's another. There's a Dr. Daniel Lee Moore who's also a chiropractor there. He's older. He's 63 years old. Dr. Brian and his wife are in their 40s. She's an older guy. He's also a chiropractor. His office is on the same side of South Main street, is about 500ft north of where Dr. Drake's office is here. So very, very close. And this guy, Daniel Lee Moore, he has been practicing in town for about 23 years, cracking backs and knives and shit. He's kind of the established, ingrained guy here. Entrenched guy. March 12, 20, 27:30pm all right, 2, 911 calls come in seconds apart from each other.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Different phone numbers.

[James Petregallo]

Yeah. Yeah. No, not from the same person. The first call is from a man who heard a gun go off and had seen a man dressed in a hood and dark clothing leaving the scene. Yeah, see, I heard a gun. I looked out, I saw this. The second call came From Jennifer Drake, Dr. Brian Drake's wife, who told police she was on the phone with her husband when something really weird happened. She said, on the phone with him, and he just said someone had just shot him through his window. He told her that someone just shot me through the window. And so she kept talking, and she said he stopped responding, so she hung up and called 911.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Good call.

[James Petregallo]

She was trying to get details. She said, I was on the phone with him when it happened. It's a memory of sitting next to my daughter when it happened. We had to call 911. So anyway, the cops show up and the blinds are closed to this window. There's a hole in the window. Blinds are closed. The assistant chief of police, Marty Ryan, says that he still had a broken view through the blinds. You could sort of see in, but not really if you put your hand up to there. Responding officers had to kick down the locked door of the office where they found Dr. Brian Drake dead in there on the ground with a single bullet. Hole coming through the double pane glass of the closed blinds into his exam room and killing him.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Right.

[James Petregallo]

Apparently, after finishing with his last patients of the day, he sat down to talk to his wife on his cell phone and was shot in the back through the window. Which is insane. They said that the blinds to his office were closed. And the autopsy indicates that he was likely sitting when he was shot in the back.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Oh.

[James Petregallo]

So think about the angle of that with a window. You have to angle it down to shoot the person there, you know what I mean? On the neighbor roof, Something like that. So Jennifer Drake, the wife here, she is obviously very sad. She said, he is a very kind and honorable man. God took his flaws and failures and turned it into a great story of grace. He was my children's hero. He's still my children's hero, I guess she called him. She said he was a wholesome man of God who loved music and family. She said he was amazing. We had it all. We really did. He was a great chiropractor. That's just the opinion of his wife. That's what she said. Another patient said, it's true. He was very compassionate. He helped me out a lot. So they investigate this, obviously. Who the fuck wants to kill a chiropractor?

[Jimmy Wissman]

What the hell?

[James Petregallo]

Yeah, obviously they might mess somebody up a little bit, and that could happen somebody's neck forever. They don't know. They have a lot of leads at first. First of all, they have that eyewitness report. The person who saw somebody running the hood.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Yeah.

[James Petregallo]

Yeah. They said that he'd seen from his apartment across both South Main street and U.S. highway 95 in Bonner's Ferry. He said after hearing the gun go off, he called out to the person who was running. Let's talk about nosy.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Hey, stop.

[James Petregallo]

You just shoot somebody. I'm not calling him.

[Jimmy Wissman]

What's your fucking problem?

[James Petregallo]

Yeah. Hey, hold on. Wait for me. No.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Hey, you didn't shoot me yet.

[James Petregallo]

What the hell? I'm here, too. Pussy. So called him names. He said the person looked back at him before running off down Main Street. So the person turned and looked. He later told Assistant Chief Ryan that the suspect appeared to be of, quote, Indian or Middle Eastern descent.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Oh, he got that good a look.

[James Petregallo]

I don't know how you could see that from across a highway and a road. You could say darker complexion. But to nail it down to a region that's. Wow, that's impressive. Not in South Carolina. Probably here in Arizona. That's why.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Yeah, okay.

[James Petregallo]

Yeah, in South Carolina, the person Would have to be delivering them a carne asada burrito before they'd assume it was a Mexican. Probably a Mexican person. So he said that that's. He called down, the person looked back, continued running down main street. He also told assistant chief Ryan that he, like I said, appeared to be of middle eastern or Indian descent. He also described a suspicious vehicle that looked like a 90s Chevy Malibu, an older Malibu that was seen in the area before and after the shooting occurred.

[Jimmy Wissman]

And after.

[James Petregallo]

Okay, yeah. So this guy said not only did he call out to the guy, which to me is above and beyond, he then went and jumped in his car to try to follow the person. This guy's got a gun and he's clearly violent. Let me follow him.

[Jimmy Wissman]

No, he's armed and willing to use it. What's wrong with him?

[James Petregallo]

But the person was on foot, he said. But he said that that's what he told 911. But he said then he couldn't track the person down. So he returned home to report what he'd seen, Causing a delay in the whole thing. Now, the witness here, his girlfriend, told police she saw many of the same things. She didn't go for the car ride, but she saw a guy hoodie the whole deal. Okay, sure. So police say, okay, a guy saw somebody out on the street going in this direction. Now, we know which surveillance cameras to try to pull and see if we can get anything on this, because it's 2020, so there's plenty of cameras out there. So police, they scour the footage, man. They're looking for it. The assistant chief Ryan, goes in search of this surveillance footage Just knocking on every door of anyone in the area. And what he found is a shitload of surveillance footage, really. And it seemed to confirm what the witness had told police, which is good because they were suspicious of this guy. Until then, it's a suspicious person in a black hood in the vicinity of the crime scene at the time of the crime. The suspect could be seen leaving the Kootenai river inn near downtown Bonners Ferry before appearing to intentionally avoid security cameras, walking along south main street and returning to the inn all around the time of the killing. So you see him doing some walking and doing like, a circle and going back to the inn at the time of the killing with some shit. Some parts cut out. We don't know. Some parts are cut out of it. That's where he ends up. So they look and they find that, and that looks suspicious. Obviously, right around the time, dressed in all black with his hood pulled up and everything. So they said the evidence was compelling here. And police end up identifying the suspect, the person that they thought was that guy walking around. When the witness's girlfriend saw a photo of him, she said, that's the person I saw fleeing the crime scene. Really? That's the guy? You found him? So the evidence is a lot. I mean, they have two eyewitnesses saying they saw him going away from the crime scene and, you know, they were chasing him and everything else. So a judge signs off on a series of search warrants that allow the investigators to comb through his hotel room, truck, phone, everything, everything. They complete the investigation on him, and they determine this suspect, coincidentally was walking around. He was just visiting. Yeah, he's visiting. Bonner's Ferry was not involved with the shooting.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Has nothing to do with this.

[James Petregallo]

Nothing to do with. Shit. Damn it. His hands were clean. He was fine. No guns. He didn't do it. He was just. I think he went back to the hotel room because he heard a gunshot and he wanted to get off the street.

[Jimmy Wissman]

I'd get up. Yeah, I'd get out of there, too.

[James Petregallo]

And then somebody yelled back at him. And he's looked back. He might have thought that was the person shooting. So he kept going.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Yeah.

[James Petregallo]

Especially if you've never been here before. You're visiting now. You're scared of death. Yeah. By the way, this is the first murder in Bonner's Ferry since the early 1960s.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Really?

[James Petregallo]

Yeah. This is a safe little town. 50 years now, March 15, 2020. Three days later. Yeah. 60 years, three days later, their county coroner, Mike Mellet. Okay, he is passing by these chiropractor offices on South Main street on his way to breakfast with a friend.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Nice.

[James Petregallo]

And remember Dr. Moore, the guy who has an office 500ft away, he noticed that Dr. Moore's truck is in the parking lot. When he returned home, he noticed the truck was still at the office. And since it was unusual for Dr. Moore to be there on a Sunday, he used his key that he had because he's his buddy. They're like best friends to enter the office, pop in and say hello. Pop in. Now. When he gets there, he found Dr. Moore getting up from an exam table, appearing woozy. He said, now. Mellet took him outside the building and said, there's a gas leak in there. You didn't smell that?

[Jimmy Wissman]

Get out.

[James Petregallo]

Yeah, you passed out from a fucking gas leak. I just saved your goddamn life. So he calls and reports the gas leak. Mellet does. And Moore says that he had gone to his Office to change a furnace filter. When he was overcome and passed out, became unconscious. He woke up from this guy coming in, and he doesn't really know what happened. He claims that he has nausemia, which is the loss of a sense of smell. So he didn't notice the gas, didn't know it. He said that when he was a child, he lost his sense of smell because he had constant nosebleeds. So they cauterized his nose.

[Jimmy Wissman]

You can do that.

[James Petregallo]

I did not know you could cauterize a nose. And it permanently made him lose his sense of smell.

[Jimmy Wissman]

You can ruin somebody's smell forever.

[James Petregallo]

Forever. I mean, he said when he was a kid. So that was the 60s. So they probably would do weird shit like that in the 60s.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Yeah, they probably did it with an ice pick.

[James Petregallo]

Yeah, they were like, it's either that or drill a hole in your head with a hand drill. Them power drills don't work. You need like, an ice drill, ice.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Pick, and a ball peen behind the.

[James Petregallo]

Eye will fix this. So the gas leak investigation here. Is there someone trying to kill all the chiropractors?

[Jimmy Wissman]

Right.

[James Petregallo]

You know what I mean? What's happening? So the police interviewed the fire chief who responded to the gas leak. He stated that he discovered a gas fitting was just finger tight, noticing that this was odd, and he'd never seen that before in his experience. They also interviewed an experienced rep for the regional natural gas company who had 30 years of experience, and he said the gas fitting had to be intentionally loosened.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Yeah, because those are tight as shit.

[James Petregallo]

On purpose. Or else gas leaks out and shit explodes. So, yeah, so March 24, 2020, the police sit down with Dr. Daniel Lee Moore simply because he's a chiropractor who works 500ft away. And maybe he saw, heard, or knows something about this. So he told police he didn't know anything about it. He said, I was at my friend Mike Mellet's house the night of the murder. The coroner, I was with him. He said that. You know, by the way, Mellett is listed as the responsible party on the autopsy report completed by the medical examiner on, you know, on doctor, the other doctor. So the guy, he killed, Drake. So, yeah, he says the detective asks him if he was at Mellett's house around 7pm about a half hour before the killing. And Dr. Moore said he didn't know because he later became ill with kidney stones and had diarrhea.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Jesus.

[James Petregallo]

And left Mellett's house to go to his office to look for medicine.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Dr. Moore's a mess.

[James Petregallo]

He's a disaster. Gas leaking. He's shitting all over the place.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Gas leaking in his office and his pants.

[James Petregallo]

Everywhere. Everywhere. Yeah. He said he couldn't find any medicine at his office, so he went back to Mellett's house and just took some Imodium. I don't know what stronger medicine a chiropractor would have for stomach issues, unless it was just in his personal bathroom there or something. He stated that he was with Mike Mellett when the call came in about the shooting, that he had to go out there and look at the body and everything. So police, they're trying to. They cross off that initial suspect, Mr. Hoodie, who was staying at the inn. So they investigate. Now they're looking for more evidence. They get more surveillance footage. They got footage from 18 local businesses and conduct more than 200 interviews. Wow. Now at this time, time is going by. Sure. And they said several persons of interest have been looked at and alibis established. So they've had several different people. At this point, the only person they can't really clear is Dr. Moore.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Right.

[James Petregallo]

They don't think he did it, but they can't clear him. And they have to be able to clear.

[Jimmy Wissman]

He's got a bad belly and.

[James Petregallo]

Yeah, he's shitting everywhere. Where do you hear where he's shitting? At the time of the. Of the shooting, Moore owned a white Toyota Tundra pickup. Now, cops review security footage from multiple businesses recorded at the time of Dr. Drake's murder. And although the video recordings displayed inconsistent timestamps because some of them are off and with their times are set some off by several hours, really, when pieced together, you can determine what if he. Yeah, if one camera, he drives off and into another. You know that that time stamp is actually when it's here, not four hours from now. So they said, when you piece it together, the police determine that the footage validates a conclusion that Moore's truck was near the scene of the murder at the time it occurred. Oh, so that's at least enough to talk to him.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Yeah.

[James Petregallo]

So Idaho State Police Detective Sergeant Michael Van Leuven said. He said all the security footage and summarized it thusly. Let's see. Here we observe Moore's truck leaving Mellet's house just prior to the shooting. The truck is then seen circling the area where the shooting occurs two times, including driving down the area between the two buildings, directly outside the window where the shooting occurs, and stopping for several seconds. Dr. Moore's truck then drives north on Main street from Dr. Drake's office and parks at Dr. Moore's office. After parking, the tail lights flash in a MANNER Consistent with Dr. Moore locking his truck with a keyless remote. We all know what that looks like. A human figure is then seen walking from the direction of Dr. Moore's office toward Dr. Drake's office one and a half minutes before the shooting occurs.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Oh.

[James Petregallo]

As previously established, the shooting occurs at 7:26pm A human figure is then seen walking then running back from that area of Dr. Drake's office toward Dr. Moore's office. Approximately a minute and a half after the shooting, the lights on the back of Dr. Moore's truck again flash in a manner consistent with him unlocking the truck using his keyless entry. By the way, if you're going to go. If the theory is he went and did this, if you're going to go murder someone, what are the odds that someone breaks into your truck and steals shit while you're murdering someone? That's right. Come on. That's not happening. Honestly. Right? There's no odds for that. I would bet anything against that. Dude, it's insane. I don't even know. It's fucking impossible. Or the craziest coincidence of all time. One or the other. Hey, everybody. Just gonna take a quick break from the show and tell you about a better way to save with acorns early.

[Jimmy Wissman]

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[James Petregallo]

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[Jimmy Wissman]

He needs to learn how to balance gas money.

[James Petregallo]

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[Jimmy Wissman]

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[James Petregallo]

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[Jimmy Wissman]

Use it watching a game.

[James Petregallo]

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[Jimmy Wissman]

Now back to the show.

[James Petregallo]

So then his truck is then seen driving back toward Mellet's house, which is about 300ft away, by the way. So all of this takes place in an 800 foot area.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Very convenient.

[James Petregallo]

Insane. This town is really, really convenient when it comes to getting somewhere. After five minutes, Dr. Moore's truck is then seen leaving Mellet's house and driving a circuitous route back toward Dr. Mo Moore's house that conspicuously avoids the crime scene.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Fascinating.

[James Petregallo]

The fastest route was that way. He went around, which is weird. Now there is a problem with the footage. They said all timestamps are not accurate. And the police, detective Van Leuven, even he acknowledges this. There's another complicating factor. The footage in some of the clips cannot be individually, cannot individually be used to identify Dr. Moore's truck. Some of them is just a buzz by. You can't get the details. A white blur. Yeah, yeah. So they say that by linking one video to the next in sequence, each video validates the other. What that sequence shows, according to Van Leuven, is more leaving Mellet's house just prior to the shooting, circling the area, all that human figure doing all of that stuff. So now is it Dr. Moore? He sure looks suspicious. But I mean, so did that guy running away from the crime scene. He looked pretty suspicious too.

[Jimmy Wissman]

I mean, you point out the bloop. Bloop. Doesn't make it seem like a guy that's in a hurry to murder either.

[James Petregallo]

Yeah, that's exactly right. Seems like I'm gonna make sure my, you know, something doesn't get my change doesn't get stolen out of my ashtray. Is not. It's weird.

[Jimmy Wissman]

It's funny that he locks and unlocks it.

[James Petregallo]

Yeah. So the coroner, Mellett here, told Detective Van Leuven he didn't think Moore was attempting suicide with the gas leak because they asked him, do you think he was trying to kill himself?

[Jimmy Wissman]

Yeah, it doesn't look good.

[James Petregallo]

And he said he didn't think he was trying to commit suicide and he didn't think he had a damn thing to do with Drake's death and didn't think Dr. Moore had ever even met Dr. Drake. He said, I don't even think they've ever met. So he's never talked about him before. Never brought him up in any conversation. He's just some other. The only thing they have in common is they're both chiropractors. Other than that, what are we talking about? They said, ah, no, they didn't know. Van Leuven said a claim from an unnamed police source who had been a patient of Dr. Drake's told investigators that about a year before Dr. Drake was murdered, Dr. Drake appeared upset and when asked what was wrong, he had told this patient that, quote, he doesn't want me up here or they don't want me up here. Something of that nature. Now that's not Dr. Moore from 500ft away, doesn't want me up here. But someone didn't want him up there, essentially so. And also they said that Van Leuven also found patient files indicating more than 30 of Dr. Drake's patients had previously seen Dr. Moore. So Drake has stolen 30 of his patients, but taken.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Yeah, he's poached. Probably not on purpose. Maybe. Probably Dr. Leuven's shit is not good.

[James Petregallo]

Dr. Moore, you mean the detective, right?

[Jimmy Wissman]

Yeah, the one that's dead. Yeah, maybe he's not a good doctor.

[James Petregallo]

It sounds like there was Drake. It sounds like there was one chiropractor in town and people went there and then when another one came, they were like, oh, this guy's much better. Yeah, that's all. This guy had the town all to himself forever. So, yeah, he's been stealing some people. So they talked to Mellet again. Mike Mellet here, the coroner. Mick Mellet, they call him Mick, but he goes by Mike too, so who knows? He said he was certain that Dr. Moore was with him at the time of the shooting. So I know he was with me. He said in the affidavit that the Van Leuven wrote up, said Mellet said Dr. Moore arrived at his house no later than 6:15pm and did not leave until after he heard about the shooting on his pager. He said Mellet was very sure about the Times, all right. Even when pressed about giving Dr. Moore an alibi, Mellett said he was absolutely positive. He said that Mellett's demeanor throughout the interview was calm and relaxed. His answer seemed genuine and logical. Fair. May 6, 2020. They can't. Other than Mellet saying that, and that's like his best friend they can't clear him otherwise, so they try to talk to him again. Now, when questioning him, they said, listen, this is the first time they told him, we have security footage of your truck in the vicinity of the shooting at the time it occurred. How do you explain that? Because, I mean, Dr. Mellet can say he was at his house, but we have footage showing him not at your house. So you're mistaken. He explained that. He. This is amazing. He said, why were you in the alley behind your office? And he said, no, I went there to defecate.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Ah, the embarrassment I feel you, buddy.

[James Petregallo]

He went to his office and didn't go inside and shit. You know where he probably has a bathroom and toilet paper and things like that. He said, I drove my car to shit in an alley. That was his excuse.

[Jimmy Wissman]

You're not going to want to know the answer to this.

[James Petregallo]

You're going to want to go. You might want. You can go back and check if a dog might have come by and eaten it. I don't know. But it could still be there.

[Jimmy Wissman]

A more sympathetic man I could not be.

[James Petregallo]

But I was gonna say, but if.

[Jimmy Wissman]

You'Ve got a toilet at your expense, thank you. Why would you do that?

[James Petregallo]

You have to shit all the time.

[Jimmy Wissman]

All the time.

[James Petregallo]

And it's where we'll be on the road in the middle of nowhere. You never just say, that alley's good, pull over. That never happens. You always find a toilet. So imagine a 63 year old doctor hunching behind his office in the alley, shitting on the ground.

[Jimmy Wissman]

There's an Instagram account showing people doing it in public. I'm just like, oh, I know what that feels like. Oh, you poor bastard. But I could. I've never, I've. I've only not made it once.

[James Petregallo]

But that was in your pants, though. That was shit in an alley.

[Jimmy Wissman]

No, I just. I just stood in front of somebody and said, I'm sorry.

[James Petregallo]

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

[Jimmy Wissman]

So terrible. But I would. I've never dropped in a. In an alley or in anywhere.

[James Petregallo]

Just drove a car to a place with a bathroom. On the other side of that door is a toilet. What are you doing? So they said, we can't confirm or, you know, whatever this. So I guess.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Where's the defecation? There should be evidence of that.

[James Petregallo]

But it's like a month later, two months later. It's long gone by now. So they let him leave. They go. I mean, we can't charge him with anything then. August 27, 20, 20 months of investigation have gone by. This happened in March. They seek to interview Dr. Moore again, but they don't want to arouse his suspicion that he's the main suspect that they're looking at. So they ask him to bring his wife's gun, which is a smaller caliber than the one that shot the doctor, and they know that for a fact, to the county sheriff's office. They said that law enforcement knew the gun wasn't the one used in the shooting, but had requested he bring the gun simply to get him in the sheriff's office so they could talk to him. Brilliant. So while he waited for the firearm specialist to inspect and photograph the gun, the firearm specialist and the detective who asked him to bring the gun engaged in small talk with him. Van Leuven entered the room. Then the detective who's been on this and asked Moore, hey, would you answer a few more questions? And now that you're, oh, I saw you here. So just if you could just a couple of quick ones here. So then several other officers entered the room and told Moore they were taking him back to a secure area and. And that he would need to be checked for weapons before entering the secure part of the facility. Oh, so yeah, now he's being searched and taken to an interrogation room. At that point, I'd be like, I'm not here to test a gun, am I?

[Jimmy Wissman]

I got a shit.

[James Petregallo]

Hey, by the way, you guys got a bathroom? So they. Anyway, the one person, the firearms expert there, told him that he would hang on to his car keys for him. Now, Moore did not have his cell phone on him because he had left it in his car. So Van Leuven and another detective, neither of them are in uniform or anything like that, plain clothes. They take him into an interrogation room, which requires a key code for entry, and they close the door. Moore is seen entering the room holding a bottle of water. Interrogation. So he's got water there. Interrogation begins at 2:49pm Immediately, they accuse him of killing Dr. Drake. We think you did it. He denies it. He said, I don't know what you're talking about. Four and a half minutes into the investigation, Van Leuven said. Or into the interrogation, Van Leuven said, quote, I need to advise you of your Miranda rights, too. Just because we're in a police station, that's not why. But yeah, you're talking to your suspect. That's why. Van Leuven and Tolleson then outlined the evidence that they had gathered placing his truck at the scene of the murder. Van Leuven explained the difference between a premeditated Killing, which would result in a first degree murder charge, and blindly shooting through a window, which would result in a lesser charge. He said, this is your opportunity to pick which one it is. Oh, so pin yourself down. Moore said, I didn't know Drake and I didn't shoot him. I don't have anything to do with this.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Right.

[James Petregallo]

So Van Leuven said, if you don't explain to us your intent, then we infer your intent based on what you see. We. What we see, which is first degree murder, which they don't tell you this, but in the homicide book, they talk about every single person who's charged in a police station is charged with first degree murder at first. That's. It's. Yeah. So it's not a matter of depending on the state. Yeah. But that later on they'll figure all that out. So he responded, well, I didn't shoot him, and I'm sorry, but that's what it is. So I guess if you're gonna do that, then I need to get an attorney. Yes. Van Leuven said, okay, and they left him. They started picking up their shit to leave. Moore then asked what was the point in having him bring the gun down. To which Van Leuven said, we needed an excuse to get you down here. That's why he told him. So Van Leuven told Moore, we're in the middle of interviewing your buddy Mick again, Mellet there, and that Mick's house and business are being searched currently. And then they said, do you have a cell phone on you? And he said, no, it's in my car. And they said, okay, sit tight. We'll be right back with you. I'm gonna terminate this interview at 3:05. They leave the room. Now, Van Leuven later said he terminated the interrogation because it sounded to me like he asked for a lawyer. But he spent the next 45 minutes replaying the interview and consulting with officers about how to proceed. He didn't ask for a lawyer. He said, then maybe I need a lawyer, which is not asking for a lawyer. He didn't say, I want a lawyer. So one of the officers was Assistant Chief Ryan. Remember the guy looking through the window when the shooting first happened? Van Leuven eventually decided to continue the interrogation and allowed Ryan, who happens to know Moore from their many years in the community, to come in there with him. So maybe you know him, you can help talk to him. So after Moore was left sitting in the room alone for 41 minutes, Ryan enters the room and starts talking. Fourteen and a half minutes into his interrogation here, Moore Said I need to talk to an attorney then. Okay, that's, it's over at that point. Yeah, that's over. And Ryan said, okay, I understand. Then, then we're done. I, I, I know a minute ago you said, I think, but now you're telling me you want to talk to an attorney, you don't want to talk to me anymore? And Moore replied, well, it just. No. And Ryan said, no, no, no. I want you to say that because it's important, Daniel, right now. He said, you can't think this. I think that, brother, I don't want to do anything to violate anything here. You know why I'm here.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Okay?

[James Petregallo]

So more than you know, he's, that's some shitty. I don't like that. Yeah. So Ryan continued to ask clarification here. And he said, I'm trying to do the best I can to fix this thing the best I can. And Moore says, yeah, Ryan says, okay, so I've painted the best picture I can for you, and I've asked for your help on this. But you have to be clear. I can only talk to you if you want to talk to me. You understand? Daniel, you're like a vampire. You can't come in unless I invite you. That's how this works. Moore said, yeah. He said, okay, but if I walk out, that's it. You're not seeing me anymore. All right, so you, I, I'm gonna leave then. Is this what you're saying? And Moore said, I, I'm just saying that there's a reason I went to Mellets to get the Imodium because I had diarrhea. So he's now going back into his story. So Assistant Chief Ryan says, okay. And then Moore said, and, and, and so I, I don't know why there's such a hard thing for people to understand. It's not a made up story. I had diarrhea. Yeah, okay, we believe. Listen, your gastrointestinal workings are your own business, but stop saying diarrhea. You saying you shit in an alley 20ft from a usable bathroom is incredible, incredibly insane.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Saying diarrhea over and over and over again is not gonna help your case.

[James Petregallo]

It's not gonna help. I had diarrhea. I don't know why that's such a hard thing for people to understand. I had the shits. So the chief here, Assistant Chief Ryan, says, okay, Dan, you and I both know why. Because of what you're thinking of what you're doing and how it makes you sick to your stomach because you have a Good heart. Okay, you did something stupid. But again, I can't heal it. I can't make these phone calls. I can't talk to the paper with anything unless you want to talk to me, all right? Saying I can clear you publicly if you tell me how to do it. He said, we. We want to talk. We. We. You want to talk to me or not? Yes or no? He then says, I think I need to talk to an attorney. Okay, that's enough.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Again. Again. I think.

[James Petregallo]

I think. So. Chief Ryan here says, well, you're doing that again. You say, I think, all right, brother, I'm going to go, okay? And Morris says, but I really do appreciate you. And. And Ryan says, it's done. And Moore says, yeah. And Ryan says, it's over. Okay, Just leave. What are you doing? Ryan then stood up to leave, but before he could exit the room, Moore re. Engaged him in conversation and said, so what do I do? And so this all happens. Now, while the assistant Chief Ryan is standing by the door. He's got, like, a file thing in his hand by the door, ready to leave. He says, well, I. They're gonna. I. I'm pulling. I'm pulling myself out, okay? I got healing to do. I. I have work I gotta get. I gotta go do. Okay? And Moore said, thank you. And he said, you're welcome at this point. And Moore said, yes, sir. He says, one more. I want the truth. And he says, I want the truth. And Moore says, you want me to admit that? And Ryan says, I want you to admit the truth, but, geez, Dan, you're killing me, Dan. Okay, buddy. And Morris says, without an attorney, you want me to talk and say something? And Chief Ryan says, well, again, no, I don't want you to do anything you don't want to do. All I want to do is go say I want to go tell my community the truth. That's all I want to do. Okay? He says, I feel dirty. I feel like, you know, this is getting. I'm not trying to pull stuff from you. Anything but the truth. I know you're a good man. And I. I asked these guys, please let me talk to them, okay? Because you're. You're a good man. And I know that if you can fix this, you want to fix it. There's only one answer, and that's the truth. There's only one right thing in the world, and that's the truth. And Morse said, that's right. Right? And Chief said, that's all that matters. Okay? And Metallica said, yes. Nothing else. Matters. It's fine. And Daniel Moore said, that's right. So the chief then says, okay, our community deserves it. The family deserves it. And your lineage, your memory of yourself, what you pass on matters, okay? And so what happens when I walk out that door then is you're going to be going to jail, all right, brother? And that's just the way it's going to go. And Moore says, even if I say what you want me to say? And Ryan said, I want you. I want you to say the truth. And Moore said, and even if I. And Ryan then says, explain it.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Ah, no.

[James Petregallo]

And Moore says, even if I say the truth. And Chief says, yeah. And he said. And Moore said, I'm still going to jail. And Ryan said, yeah, but you're going to jail with a whole lot more explanation, okay? You know that. A whole lot more explanation. So that's where I'm at, okay, brother? And I can get an attorney here, and you can explain it to him if you want, or however you want to do it, but you have to want to tell us, because I want to know. You got to be booked for something. You got to be held accountable, right? And Moore says, right, which is a weird answer. If you were innocent, you'd go, no, not at all. I didn't fucking do anything. And Ryan says, if you make a mistake, you have to be held accountable. Do you ever spank your kids? And he said, absolutely. We all beat our kids up here. Yeah, sure.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Beat the shit out of them.

[James Petregallo]

Oh, boy. Break him down. Uh, Ryan said, okay. That's how we teach accountability. Well, we're big boys now, right? So you have to be held accountable. The community owes that. But this is you stepping forward, saying, I effed up. Here's what I did wrong. Hear what I'm saying? And he says, all right, so this is Ryan still. So where it's reason really treacherous waters here talking, you and me. But, brother, I. I don't know what else to do. I don't know what else to do. I tried my best to help you see the light, okay? Morris says, no, no, I see what you're saying. And he says, I just. And the chief says, do you want to say it? If you want to say it, just say it. Get it off your chest and be done with it. Whatever happens, happens. But just get it off your chest if that's what you want to do. He then said, but I promise you this. If you do, I promise you I'll go talk to him about booking. About what? Booking. We're looking at I promise you that. And it won't be for first degree murder. I can guaran damn tee it, Karen. Damn tee it. You know this guy? I guaran damn tea it.

[Jimmy Wissman]

There's nothing I love more than damn being thrown into guarantee in the middle.

[James Petregallo]

Of a fucking multi syllable word. I love that myself. Or fuck for that matter.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Guarantam tea.

[James Petregallo]

Garandame tea. It's Moore said, I see what you mean. Moore then asked if he could use the bathroom and they said okay, hold on one second. He's left in the room for like two minutes and then another officer takes him to the restroom. They return him to the interrogation room. The officer asks Moore if you would like a blanket. All These rooms are 12 degrees. Everyone's freezing in these rooms. Hey everybody, just gonna take a quick break from the show to tell you about a new series on Prime Video coming out right now on October 22nd.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Oh, it's Harlan Coben's Lazarus.

[James Petregallo]

Absolutely. Best selling mystery writer Harlan Coben returns to television with a twisted tale of lies, murder and long buried family secrets. Harlan Coben's written 37 novels and they're all this, you know, when you get to the last page, it happens type of thing. And it's really cool. He's a great author and you really want to see this. Harlan Coburn Lazarus stars Sam Claflin and Bill Nye. He's the older actor. You've seen him in a ton of stuff. He's really Great actor. Premieres October 22nd only on Prime Video. It looks like a real the tons of death and killings and mayhem and all sorts of stuff going on. You want some blood? This is the place to get it. Harlan Coben's Lazarus. Lazarus. You should definitely check this out. It looks really cool, looks really exciting, and it looks like something that you're gonna have to watch till the end. Can't wait. Don't miss Harlan Coben's Lazarus. Streaming October 22nd, only on Prime Video.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Now back to the show.

[James Petregallo]

This show, Small Town Murder, is brought to you by BetterHelp. BetterHelp.com youm know it, October 10th is World Mental Health Day. And this year we're here to say thank you to the therapists that have helped us all for all this time. BetterHelp therapists have helped over 5 million people worldwide on their mental health journeys. Millions of stories, millions of journeys. Behind everyone, there's a therapist who showed up, they listened and helped someone take a step forward. It's a really big deal. There's little moments in therapy that are Huge, huge moments, breakthroughs, just having a place to cry, a little tiny win, something you've overcome. It can change your life and world mental health day. BetterHelp this year is honoring those connections and the therapists who make them possible, while showing how easy it is to get guidance from a licensed therapist online with BetterHelp. And so getting therapy can really take you to the next step and give you the tools that you need. And they have it here. BetterHelp has it locked down. Quality Therapists BetterHelp therapists work according to a strict code of conduct and are fully licensed in the US BetterHelp does the initial matching work in for you so you can focus on your therapy. But a short questionnaire helps you helps them identify your needs and preferences and all of their 12 plus years of experience at industry leading match fulfillment rate means they usually get right the first time. But if they don't and you're not happy, you switch therapists at any time. No additional cost. It's amazing. And with over 30,000 therapists, BetterHelp is the world's largest online therapy platform having served over 5 million people globally. And it works too. They have an average rating of over 4.9 out of 5 stars for live sessions based over 1.7 million client reviews. This World Mental Health Day, we're celebrating the therapists who've helped millions of people take a step forward. If you're ready to find the right therapist for you, BetterHelp can help you start that journey. Our listeners get 10% off their first [e-mail] SmallTownMurder that's better. Help. H E L P.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Now back to the show.

[James Petregallo]

Hey everybody. Just going to take a quick break from the show and tell you how to be much safer with SimpliSafe.

[Jimmy Wissman]

SimpliSafe.com S I M P L I.

[James Petregallo]

Safe.com oh, you know what I'm telling you that we hear horrible. This is small town murder. The stories we hear are horrendous. So many awful things that could.

[Jimmy Wissman]

And they happen.

[James Petregallo]

They happen all the time. Listen, we have 600 something episodes of it. And a lot of these could have been very easily prevented by Simplisafe. That's the thing I'm telling you right now. Yeah, there's so much craziness out there. Can a home security system really call itself security if it's only responding once someone's inside? That's not really security. What good is that? You're being murdered. Who cares at that point? Yeah, come and mop up later. Doesn't matter. You need them to be there beforehand. And that is where simply self. Simply safe. I'm sorry, I love Simplisafe. That is where simply safe comes in. There's now a way you can actually stop someone from entering your house. It is SimpleLife and they're AI powered cameras. They detect threats while they're still outside your home and alert real security agents. They can even talk to them and yell at them. It's amazing. This is a game changer. The agents take action while the intruder is still outside. They confront the intruder, letting them know they're being watched on camera and that police are on their way. And they even sound a loud siren. You can trigger a spotlight if needed. This is how you stop a crime before it starts. That's real security. Other systems have cameras that let you talk to intruders, but they require you to see the alert yourself. And then you have to do it. Simplisafe takes care of all that for you. Their monitoring agents have your back and talk to intruders even if they aren't there. There's no long term contracts or hidden fees. You can cancel anytime. Named best home security system by U.S. news & World Report for five years running. 60 day money back guarantee. So you can try it and see the difference for yourself. I'm telling you, we use Simplisafe. I have it on my house, have it on my office, the studio. Everything we have is simply safe, protected. Because there's just no better way to do it than the way they do it. I'm sorry. It's just great stuff. And right now, our listeners, you guys can save 50% on a SimpliSafe home security system at simplisafe.com Small that's simplisafe.com Small there's no safe like Simplisafe.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Now back to the show.

[James Petregallo]

I don't get why they're so cold all the time. So More asked for the blanket and another bottle of water. He was left alone for about 30 seconds. And Ryan comes back in and he said, yes, someone's gonna grab you water and a blanket. This is an hour and 26 minutes after the start of the initial interrogation. Moore then says, quote, I want to be able to talk to somebody using my legal rights, okay? Which again, just say, I want a lawyer. Lawyer, lawyer, lawyer. Just say it. Ryan then responds, okay, there it is. And Daniel Moore says, so that's. And Ryan said, yep, I understand, buddy. I under. Damn, Stan. Don't you worry about that. Moore says, that doesn't mean I don't want to talk to you. And Ryan says, I know, buddy. I understand. Okay, okay. And Moore said, and that's the only thing I'm saying, because it's like, just because I circled the block doesn't mean I was casing some guy trying to kill him. Okay? Ryan says, daniel. Wow, buddy. Okay, just. Okay, we're done. You were done. There's like eight Y's in the transcript. I can't fucking talk to you anymore, Daniel. Okay, buddy. Any fucking more. Okay, buddy? So Ryan left the room and another cop enters with Moore's water and blanket. Moore asked this cop what would happen to his car and his stuff. They said, well, we're going to tow your vehicle. And that search warrants are currently being served for his house, vehicle and office. He then asked Tollison, can I talk to Ryan one more time? And Ryan reenters the room again and he says, the detective asked me to come in here. Please tell me I'm back here for the right reason. And Moore says, what should I do if I don't have an attorney and I tell you something? And I'm. And the chief says, right? And he says, I mean. And it just seems already like I still would like to talk to you, but it's like. And Ryan said, I'm sitting here with my favorite Dr. Moore across the table from me, one of the nicest men I've ever known. And I know what you did.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Yeah, I know what you did.

[James Petregallo]

He repeatedly asks him for why? Just want to know the why, man. Just want to know the why. He said, you have a history in this town. You love this town. And blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And he said, just explain it. Get it out. Be done with it, you know, just get it out. He said, he insisted he went to the alley quote because he really did have to take a crap. Really went, oh, boy. Chief says, I'm not going to do this anymore. You keep asking them to talk to me and ask me to come back in here. And then you. You. I'm only going to talk to. To you, Dan, if you and I have a relationship of honesty. I've been honest with you. He says, I'm only going to talk. You asked me to come back in here. Why'd you ask me to come back in here? Why did you. What did you call me back in here for, Daniel?

[Jimmy Wissman]

Dr. Moore, stop talking about Dire dam Rhea.

[James Petregallo]

I just want to tell you about my poop a little more. He said, I guess just because I wanted to talk to you.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Moore says, you're just spaghetti.

[James Petregallo]

I just find you attractive. I don't know why. I don't get it. So Ryan explained that the police knew it was Moore who killed him again. And he said, without your confession, it's first degree murder. He does that again. So then Ryan says, you called me in here for nothing again. And then he says. Moore says, and if I have an attorney. Just hear me out, Marty. He said, how am I gonna plead to anything if I'm sitting here spilling my guts to you and I don't have an attorney? That gives me my rights. Gives me my rights. Ryan said, okay, that. See, again. See you. You understand, Daniel, you keep saying this. I can't answer that question. How do you do that? I don't know, okay? I've never been charged with fucking murder. What do I know? He said, I know what we have right now, and the only person who can change what we have right now is you. All right? And so you have to decide now. If you want to change what we have, then change it, he says, but. But if you mention an attorney and you keep doing it, if you mention it, I'm just. Because. And it's your right. It's your right, he said, you have a right to an attorney. But when I leave, then you call me back in here, say, I want to talk to you again. Well, then we restart everything again. I come back up here. What do you want, Dan? Because, you know, I just want to heal my town. Yeah. I just wants to. He said, I want to call the wife and tell her this was just a bad mistake. I want to do something, okay? And so I'm hurting here, too, buddy.

[Jimmy Wissman]

I'm hurting. Help me heal.

[James Petregallo]

Then one hour and 43 minutes into the interrogation, after Ryan says that I want to heal my town, Moore says, quote, I did not go there to murder him. Oh, yeah. He said he inadvertently killed him while trying to scare him by firing a gun through his window.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Oh, sweet Jesus.

[James Petregallo]

He described loading a revolver, though he couldn't recall its make or model. He described firing the gun from outside the window of the office, though he suggested he couldn't actually see him and did not actually know Drake was sitting on the other side of the window. Now, remember when Ryan got there, he said, you could see broken. You could see inside. It wasn't totally closed, so he could see him in there. If you look in there. When asked why he did it, he said, I just wanted to scare him. He said he thought that having a shot fired at him would encourage him to close down his office and move away.

[Jimmy Wissman]

But you've been stealing from him. Hasn't he?

[James Petregallo]

No. No. Drake's been stealing his clients. Yeah.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Okay.

[James Petregallo]

Moore then rambled a bit about how Drake had several offices and in a manner didn't need to be here in Bonnersfield. He's got plenty.

[Jimmy Wissman]

He's got franchises. And he's stealing from me.

[James Petregallo]

Yep. He said he practices in Sandpoint and Hayden the other three days of the week. And he's been taking my patients. They found that over 30 of them who had seen him in the past had gone to Dr. Drake. And who knows if some of them went back to him after that. They just were trying the new guy. So it all continued. Total interrogation time from the time he walked in the room with the water bottle at 2:49pm was approximately three hours. He then went with the cops to the banks of the nearby Kootenay river and threw a rock in the water to show the spot where he supposedly threw the murder weapon away.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Where his gun is.

[James Petregallo]

Yeah, right there. He also said a few days later that he staged the gas leak with the intent of committing suicide. And if opened it. Yeah. If Mellet hadn't found him, he'd have died in there and exploded. Yep. Now, he has no criminal history, not even a speeding ticket in his entire life.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Really?

[James Petregallo]

This guy, Nothing. According to records, he's jailed on nothing.

[Jimmy Wissman]

To murder.

[James Petregallo]

Yup. He's jailed on a million dollars bond and charged with. They didn't lie to him. Second degree murder.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Oh, nice.

[James Petregallo]

They didn't charge him with Mercers. He said I guaran damn tea it. And he did.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Garen damn te it.

[James Petregallo]

Now, in a report Ryan filed the day after the interview, the assistant chief acknowledged that Moore was reluctant at first, but ultimately gave him a detailed, if not some. If what, somewhat uncertain account of how and why he killed Drake. The two eyewitnesses interviewed by police couldn't. They couldn't identify more conclusively. He said they were shown several photographic lineups, including one that contained a photo of suspect Moore, but did not identify any individual with certainty. Now, the gun he said he threw in the river, they couldn't find it.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Oh.

[James Petregallo]

Now, Moore's got a lawyer named Jill Bolton, and she argued the investigation and prosecution of her client are badly flawed. She called his confession an alleged confession, which she said was made after a prolonged custodial interrogation conducted in circumstances which violated his constitutional rights, including questioning him after he invoked his right to counsel and subjecting him to custodial interrogation without having first read him Miranda rights.

[Jimmy Wissman]

She's kind of got a point.

[James Petregallo]

She's kind of got a point. She also requested Moore be temporarily released to receive an evaluation due to a head injury which rendered him unconscious the night before his coerced and false confession.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Oh, he had a head injury, too?

[James Petregallo]

Yeah. The request was granted, but two weeks later, they said the state has failed to supply not only the most obvious material necessary to the preparation of the defense in this matter, but significant amounts of exculpatory material the state knows exists, which implicates other suspects in the commission of the crime. He said that? They said that the case was remarkably deficient. Sharing evidence indicates, at best, complacency and at worst, an effort to obstruct the delivery of this important evidence so they're not given discovery is essentially what it is. Also claims law enforcement perjury. Mm. She said an assortment of private security footage suggesting Dr. Moore's truck was near the murder scene was hardly noteworthy, considering the clinic was also in the vicinity of the murder scene, the one he owns. Also, the timing of the footage, they said that it was uncertain, as the timestamps on the various videos analyzed are mutually inconsistent. So saying they have no fucking evidence, basically unconstitutionally procured confession. All of this shit. Anyway. Motion to suppress the statements they put in, Right. Okay. After hearing from the evidence, from the interrogation, the magistrate court ruled that there were no grounds to grant the motion to suppress the confession because Moore had reinitiated the custodial interrogation.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Okay.

[James Petregallo]

October 13, 2020. He's released on a million dollars bailiff. He resumed operation of his chiropractic clinic, posted to his Facebook page, writing he appreciated all the love and support his family gave him, and proclaimed his innocence. Yeah, he said, I am innocent of all charges. February 12, 2021. District Court here. Now. A motion to dismiss the case Bolton said the prosecution relied exclusively on now because they now suppressed the confession. So they have.

[Jimmy Wissman]

They have nothing.

[James Petregallo]

They have video footage and him shitting in an alley. Yeah. So they say the district court must dismiss a criminal complaint if it finds the defendant was held to answer without probable cause. There's no admissible evidence in the record to establish Moore committed the crime for which he stands charged. Which kind of makes sense. They said that all statements made by Moore from the start of the interrogation until his Miranda rights should be suppressed, not the rest of it.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Right.

[James Petregallo]

So, yeah, they go over what happened and said, you know, it's kind of a. He said. She also faulted Ryan for feigning ignorance about Moore's repeated requests for an Attorney, they said, I just want to. I just want to talk to you. Now, the confession suppression was suppressed and a potential murder weapon still unidentified. So Moore's attorney saying he's innocent, saying, I think the state had a very weak case, and I was quite surprised they brought it in the first place. I can't imagine they would proceed on this evidence or lack thereof. And she called it ridiculous and preposterous. Okay. So all sorts of legal wranglings. The Idaho Supreme Court disagreed. The confession was coerced and involuntary. And if prosecutors refiled the case, Moore's testimony at trial contradict. Basically, they can only use the confession. If they go to court, he testifies, and what he says contradicts that, then they can use it.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Okay.

[James Petregallo]

Otherwise they can't use it.

[Jimmy Wissman]

If he doesn't testify, you're fucked.

[James Petregallo]

Yes. So they drop the charges against him.

[Jimmy Wissman]

What?

[James Petregallo]

Drop the fucking charges. Moore's attorney said, insinuations and uncertainties about how the case have been handled. And, you know, it's ridiculous.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Yeah.

[James Petregallo]

So Jennifer Drake sues Dr. Moore says, yeah, absolutely, for wrongful death. Now, the counterclaim says, at the time of Brian Drake's death, as plaintiff, Jennifer Drake well knew there were multiple people, including herself, with a motive to kill Brian Drake because he has a life insurance policy. Yet the plaintiff persisted for her financial, pecuniary, and other selfish motives to create a publicly false Persona of herself and late husband. Yeah, Holy shit. They said, rather than a good Christian family man, Brian Drake was a philanderer, addicted to pornography, and had sexually abused Jennifer Blake Drake and other women.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Good lord.

[James Petregallo]

They claimed that even his own patients, he engaged in sexually inappropriate behavior with members of his professional staff whom he worked with and likely had extramarital affairs with. Jennifer Drake's attorneys called those allegations libelous, fabricated, and malicious falsifications of the truth. Saying that they're calling them cowardly and using them as an effort to humiliate and shame Jennifer Drake and her children and cause further emotional harm. Wow. That is wild. So they said they're going back and forth. Jennifer Drake here said she never heard her husband mentioned more, by the way, she said, I don't know what happened there. So the lawyer wants Jennifer to give more info. They keep going back and forth on this. They say that Dr. Drake's pornography, addiction, infidelity, alcoholism, or his proclivity for sexual battery. They talk about, they say, digging through Jennifer Drake's personal life to find a minuscule fraction of support for the baseless and defamatory whodunit Theory and to point the finger at Jennifer is well outside the bounds of what Rule 17 allows. So the Idaho Supreme Court affirmed the district court's ruling that the confession's inadmissible except in those other cases. Charges dismissed. One resident said it was shocking. Yeah. Another one said it's a small town community, closely knit. You've got a lot of family oriented people, a lot of local churches. He said town's always felt like a little family. Now it doesn't. 20, 23, the family starts putting up billboards with reward for information on it. $10,000 reward for information. Justice for Brian Drake.com site is up and they have a telephone tip line and an email. And they said they will never give up. She said, this is about standing up for my husband, and if I don't, no one else will. My children in the Bonner Sperry community deserve to know the truth. I will not quit until the truth is known and there is justice. Okay. Now, she said she's 100% certain that Moore killed her husband and like I said, filed a wrongful death suit. She said, and the reward? She says, I believe somebody knows something. This is just prompting a good person to do the right thing. No information is too small. So, okay, they have kids between 13 and 19. At this point, they're talking about all this. They're saying that Brian will never walk his daughter down the aisle and all that stuff. February 2025. Bonner County Judge finds Daniel Moore civilly liable for the wrongful death of Brian Drake. Court docs say that, you know, they think he did it, he did it without any just cause. The ruling alleged that the shooter acted willfully and maliciously. It also awards damages for emotional stress suffered by Jennifer, who was on the phone with him at the time.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Oh, Jesus.

[James Petregallo]

The court awarded $4,881,218 in compensatory damages, including a financial losses, $500,000 for the emotional impact on Drake's family, and $10 million in punitive damages.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Oh, boy.

[James Petregallo]

$15,381,218 is the ruling on him. They said that they were warranted because of Moore's extreme deviation from reasonable standards of conduct, that the act was performed by the defendant with an understanding or a disregard for its likely consequences. And that's where we stand. No more thinking the charges can be reintroduced. Yeah, they're dismissed. But they.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Civilly, he's a murderer.

[James Petregallo]

Civilly, yeah, civilly he's a murder, but we don't know otherwise. Yeah.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Wow.

[James Petregallo]

They found him responsible. So there you go. Gotta buzz through the end quickly. Hope you like that. Shut up and givememurder.com Tickets for live shows Seattle, 18th October October 30th Virtual live show available for two weeks after that. Get your tickets right now. Smalltown Murder on Instagram Small Town pod on Facebook patreon.com crimeinsports all the bonus stuff, all the ad free of all of our shows and shout out and everything. $5 a month is all Internet salad. This week for that we're going to talk about everything but politics including that comedy festival. Hear our opinions on that and all of that and you get a shout out. Like I said. Patreon.com crime and sports shut up and give me murder.com if you want to follow us and do all that, keep hanging out with us. And until next week everybody, it's been our pleasure. Bye.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Morning Zoe. Got donuts.

[Dana]

Jeff Bridges why are you still living above our garage?

[Jimmy Wissman]

Well I dig the mattress and I want to be in a T mobile commercial like you teach me so Dana.

[Dana]

Oh no, I'm not really prepared. I couldn't possibly at the T mobile get the new iPhone 17 Pro on them. It's designed to be the most powerful iPhone yet and has the ultimate pro camera system.

[Jimmy Wissman]

Wow, impressive. Let me try. T mobile is the best place to get iPhone 17 Pro because they've got the best network.

[Dana]

Nice Jeffrey, you heard them.

[Jimmy Wissman]

T mobile is the best place to.

[James Petregallo]

Get the new iPhone 17 Pro on us with eligible trade in in any condition.

[Jimmy Wissman]

So what are we having for launch?

[Dana]

Dude, my work here is done.

[T-Mobile Announcer]

The 24 monthly bill credits on experience beyond for well qualified customers plus tax and $35 device connection charge credit send and balance due if you pay off earlier Canceled Finance Agreement iPhone 17 Pro 256 gigs 1,099 99 and new line minimum $100 plus a month plan with auto pay plus taxes and fees required. Best mobile network in the US based on analysis by Oklahoma Speed Test Intelligence Data 1H 2025 Visit T mobile.com.