Randy Larkin found guilty of second-degree murder after nine-day murder trial

IDAHO FALLS — After a nine-day trial, the jury found 60-year-old Randy Larkin guilty of murder.

The jury deliberated for nearly eight hours before delivering the verdict and found Larkin guilty of the second-degree murder of Morey Pelton, a 36-year-old father of two.

According to Bonneville County Prosecutor Randy Neal, the difference between first-degree murder and second-degree murder in this case is premeditation. The jury found that Larkin did not plan Pelton’s murder before it occurred.

Larkin’s sentencing will be given on January 8 at 13.30. It is stated that Larkin may face a prison sentence of at least 10 years and at most life imprisonment.

Larkin was Indicted July 14, 2022on a first-degree murder charge in Pelton’s death.

Pelton’s father, Martin Pelton, spoke to EastIdahoNews.com after the verdict was read and, through tears, said he felt relieved but sorry for Larkin’s family and his son, Morey.

“I feel bad for the girls, you know, they didn’t deserve this,” Martin said. “This is a terrible thing for everyone. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy. “I was relieved that I didn’t have to wake up and fight, call the prosecutor… it was a war.”

For more information about this trial, Click here To open the arguments, Here for witness statements, Here In Larkin’s defense, and here For Larkin’s statement.

Closing arguments

Lawyers began closing arguments Friday morning. Deputy prosecutor Steven Haderlie argued to the jury that Larkin planned to kill Pelton.

“He used to be a strong man, an iron worker. But now he’s 36 and has a kid and he won’t give him his money back,” Haderlie said. “He doesn’t have many options and he’s getting madder and madder.”

Haderlie showed a series of text messages between Larkin and Pelton discussing money Pelton owed him and Larkin trying to get his money back.

“I have been more patient with me than you expected, now come see me,” Larkin said in a text message to Pelton.

On May 12, the day of the murder, Pelton texted Larkin, telling him that the bank would not give Larkin the money to pay off his debt.

Haderlie argued that Larkin “didn’t have a lot of options” to get his money back, so he decided to kill Pelton when he learned he could meet him at the rest stop, with Pelton calling him an “old man.”

“Randy Larkin can’t be an old man. Randy Larkin can’t handle a 36-year-old showing off. He shoots and kills Morey,” Haderlie said. “Randy Larkin didn’t just kill Morey Pelton. He killed him.”

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Larkin’s defense attorney, Allen Browning, argued that Larkin killed Pelton in self-defense and that he believed Pelton had a gun when he got out of his car and came toward him after a heated argument about money and drugs.

“Randy thought he had a gun. We actually know Morey didn’t have a gun at the time, but Randy thought he did,” Browning said. “He knew Morey always carried a gun with him, and he knew where he put his gun when he was in the car.”

Browning told the jury that most of the witnesses were not Larkin’s friends and in fact “hated him”; this includes those who claim Larkin threatened multiple people to remain silent after the shooting or “informants they found in the ditches”.

“If (witnesses) don’t say what’s expected of them, (prosecutors) will ask the question again,” Browning said.

He later argued that Larkin did not pre-plan a murder because he did not plan for the meeting with Pelton, which was expected to take place during daylight hours at The Family Dollar in Ririe.

“Randy was more than willing to talk to Morey Pelton in broad daylight at a public dollar store,” Browning said. “He didn’t choose the meeting place.”

Browning claimed the victim, Pelton, was motivated by “greed for money and power” and “took methamphetamine to feel like Superman.” Superman who doesn’t care whose gun he has. “He’s going to attack them anyway.”

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“This was not an execution, and we showed you why,” Browning said. “Something else happened that caused Randy to turn around and fear for his life.”

Browning noted that Pelton had “extremely high levels” of methamphetamine in his blood at the time of the shooting.

“(Pelton) will suffer from psychosis, losing touch with reality, extreme violence, and feeling like Superman,” Browning said. “From that point on (one second after death) the only thing Larkin could do was use the weapon he had to protect himself.”

In closing, Browning told the jury that Larkin was defending himself against Pelton and quoted witness William Burton as saying: “There is no way Randy Larkin could have gone to that resting place with the intention of killing anyone.”

“This case is about what happened in two minutes. “It’s not an execution, it’s two minutes,” Browning said. “I ask you to listen critically.”

Bonneville County Prosecutor Randy Neal presented rebuttal arguments, stating that he recognized the image Larkin showed the jury but wanted them to recognize the person who could not be here to tell his story.

“The defendant sitting at the table is elderly with medical issues and looks like he couldn’t hurt a fly,” Neal said. “You can’t see Morey Pelton. “He can’t come here and speak for himself.”

Neal said the defense tried to make the victim look bad, even though Larkin was the real bad guy.

“There’s an attempt to make Morey look like a terrible man. A terrible person,” Neal said. “There has to be a way for the victim to tell his side of the story.”

Neal said many small parts of the story have been lost since May 12, 2022, when the attack occurred, and it is up to the jury to determine what most likely happened.

Using a puzzle analogy, Neal said much of the testimony from defense witnesses “didn’t fit” with the true story.

“I would like to remind you that what the lawyers say is not evidence,” Neal said. “The evidence of (Pelton’s) death is that he was shot in the neck. (The bullet) passed in three directions: left to right, top to bottom and front to back.”

Neal later stated that none of the witnesses to the shooting testified that Pelton had a gun, and that Larkin never asked the witnesses if they thought he killed Pelton in self-defense, implying that he intended to kill him.

“If this is self-defense, why would we destroy the evidence? That doesn’t fit,” Neal said. “Why are you taking the gun and throwing it in the trash? Why would he do this? Because you are hiding the evidence.”

Neal reminded the jury that Larkin, not Pelton, had the gun.

“There he is, Randy Larkin. Humiliation. His plan isn’t working,” Neal said. “And now the person he was trying to get drugs and money from is calling his bluff. ‘What are you going to do, shoot me?'”

Before handing the case over to the jury, Neal recalled that Larkin’s daughter testified that Larkin shot a man because “he called me old.”

“It was a power struggle,” Neal said. “There’s only one outcome. A drug deal gone bad that led to murder.”