A 19-year-old Idaho man is facing a first-degree murder charge after his stepfather was fatally shot during a confrontation that authorities say grew out of a dispute over more than $2,000 paid for work on a trailer.
Michael Dudley is accused in the Sept. 18 death of 47-year-old Howard Schofield IV at a home in New Plymouth. Dudley has also been charged with burglary and remains in the Payette County Jail on a $1 million bond.
The case centers on sharply different accounts of what Dudley intended when he went to the home and what happened in the moments before the gun fired.
According to allegations detailed in court records, Dudley and his girlfriend had paid Schofield more than $2,000 to renovate their trailer, which did not have a functioning bathroom. Dudley told investigators that the promised work had not been completed.
Dudley went to the New Plymouth home where his mother lived with Schofield intending to collect belongings, according to the court account. He allegedly decided to take some of Schofield’s property because he believed he was owed money for the unfinished work.
The situation escalated after Schofield accused Dudley of stealing.
Dudley told investigators that the argument became physical and that Schofield began hitting him. He said he had a firearm in the pocket of his sweatshirt and alleged that Schofield grabbed for it during the struggle.
Dudley maintained that he did not intentionally fire the weapon. According to his account to investigators, the gun discharged during the confrontation and struck Schofield in the chest. He said he had been trying to defend himself and denied deliberately pulling the trigger.
But investigators also received information from Dudley’s girlfriend that could become significant as the case moves through court.
Although she reportedly did not witness the actual shooting, she told investigators that she heard Dudley telling Schofield not to hit him and to get off him during the confrontation.
She also allegedly described a conversation that occurred before the couple arrived at the home. According to court records, she said Dudley had talked about shooting Schofield in the foot as a way to make him get moving and complete the work.
Emergency crews were dispatched to the New Plymouth-area home at about 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 18 after a 911 call reporting a shooting. Payette County sheriff’s deputies responded alongside Payette and Fruitland police officers and county paramedics.
First responders attempted lifesaving measures on Schofield, but he died at the scene.
Authorities took Dudley into custody there and initially booked him on a first-degree murder charge. Investigators said there were no outstanding suspects or persons of interest and no continuing threat to the public following the shooting.
The investigation has involved the Payette County Sheriff’s Office as well as the Payette County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, the county coroner and Idaho State Police forensic personnel.
The competing accounts are now part of a criminal case in which prosecutors will have to prove the charges against Dudley in court. His statements claiming self-defense and an accidental discharge remain allegations and defenses that have not been resolved by a judge or jury.
Dudley remains jailed on $1 million bond. His next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 19.
The charges are accusations, and Dudley is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
