Day one of Wilson murder trial complete
UPDATE 6:00 P.M.
The trial for a Challis man charged with murdering a woman began in Jefferson County on Monday.
Mark Charles Wilson, 54, is charged with first-degree murder for shooting Pat Brown, 75, on March 24, 2018. He is also charged with the use of a firearm for murder. Wilson called dispatch and admitted to shooting Brown right after it happened. He and Brown were living together.
In opening statements, Custer County Prosecuting Attorney Justin Oleson said it needs to be determined if the shooting was premeditated. Wilson’s defense attorney, James Archibald, said it was a question of whether it is first-degree murder or manslaughter.
The first witness was Wilson and Brown’s neighbor, Charles Thompson. Thompson said Wilson came over to his house between 1:30 and 2 p.m. on March 24 to borrow a gun. Wilson said he was going to use it to shoot cats. Thompson gave Wilson a .22 rifle. Wilson then went back to his house, found Brown in the basement and shot her in the back of the head. He then closed the door, put the rifle behind the door in the bedroom and went to the living room, where he sat on the couch and called Custer County dispatch.
The second witness was Linda Lumpkin, the dispatch worker who answered the phone. She said she has known Wilson for about five years and knew Brown for many more. On a recording of the call played in the court room, Wilson told Lumpkin he “lost sight, lost everything.” When Lumpkin told Wilson she didn’t understand why he did it, he responded, “I don’t understand, either.” He said he was sitting there waiting for authorities to come get him. She instructed Wilson to go out on the back porch to wait for deputies.
The third witness was Custer County Sheriff Stuart Lumpkin. He found the rifle in the bedroom, then found Brown in the basement still alive and coughing up blood. An ambulance took her to the Challis clinic, where she died.
The fourth witness was former Custer County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Mike Talbot. He was first on the scene and described seeing Wilson on the back porch drinking a beer when he arrived.
The trial was moved to Jefferson County after it was decided there could not be a fair trial in Custer County. The trial continues Tuesday.
ORIGINAL STORY
A jury trial got underway in Rigby Monday for 54-year-old Mark Wilson. He is charged in the first-degree murder of Pat Brown at her home in Challis.
Wilson’s trial was moved to Jefferson County for purposes of sitting an impartial jury after a court hearing last November.
According to court documents, Wilson called the Custer County Sheriff’s Office on the afternoon of March 24, 2018 to report he had just shot Brown.
Wilson told Sheriff Stu Lumpkin where he could find the 22-caliber rifle used to shoot the woman. It was located in the master bedroom behind a door.
Once he was placed under arrest outside Brown’s home, Wilson refused to answer any further questions.
