KELLOGG, Idaho — A Port Angeles man has been charged with voluntary manslaughter in the beating death of another man at a resort in Kellogg, Idaho, after a “sudden quarrel.”
Brett Wayne McCallister, 39, was charged Monday in Idaho’s Shoshone County District Court in the death of Eric Crouse, 42, according to that county’s Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
McCallister, a Clallam Transit employee, will next appear in court in Idaho March 13.
Kellogg police officers found Crouse badly hurt at the Silver Mountain Resort about 37 miles east of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, after an assault was reported Friday, the Shoshone County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said in a prepared statement.
Crouse was airlifted to Kootenai Medical Center. He died from his injuries a day later, according to the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office statement.
The Prosecuting Attorney’s Office declined to release more details, such as Crouse’s hometown, citing a continuing investigation.
Idaho state statutes define voluntary manslaughter as the unlawful killing of a person without malice “upon a sudden quarrel or heat of passion.”
McCallister and Crouse knew each other, said Kellogg Police Chief Dave Woulle on Tuesday, although he did not know the nature of their relationship.
“That’s all we know, that they’re acquaintances. I don’t know how well or anything,” Woulle said.
Woulle said he could not release additional details because the investigation is ongoing.
Kellogg police arrested McCallister at the Silver Mountain Lodge, Woulle said.
McCallister posted $20,000 bail Monday, according to the Shoshone County District Court, and was released from the Shoshone County jail.
Clallam Transit General Manager Wendy Clark-Getzin said Tuesday that McCallister has been employed by Clallam Transit as a maintenance worker since the beginning of 2012.
“He’s a very valued employee,” she said.
Clark-Getzin said McCallister told her about the criminal charge, though she did not know any details.
Clark-Getzin said she expects McCallister back to work this week from vacation he had taken.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
