Day 3: Dispatch phone call reveals Mark Bent’s confession

BONNEVILLE COUNTY, Idaho (KIFI) — Today is day three of the Mark Bent murder trial. Prosecutors brought forward the recording of a call from the alleged murderer on the day of Nikolas Bird’s death. 

Mark Bent called the Idaho Falls Police dispatch on the day Bird was shot and later died.
During the call, Bent seemed to have admitted to shooting Bird that day. Bent told dispatch that he was the one who shot the victim on Sept. 3, 2022.

"911. What is your emergency?" the dispatcher asked.

"Yeah. I, uh, I need to turn myself in," Bent said.

When dispatched asked the reason, Bent replied, "Um...I shot...I shot someone." And when dispatch asked who he had shot, Bent said, “His name is Nikolas Bird.”

Bent later told dispatch he was parked at the Albertsons on the 17th with an unloaded gun in his truck, and said he would be there waiting with his hands up. Police arrested Bent shortly after.

Tomorrow, prosecutors will bring video footage from the night of the shooting. To view our past coverage, click HERE.