Teens accused of murdering elderly local woman first allegedly tried to rob her

POCATELLO — The two teenagers accused of stabbing an elderly woman to death in March allegedly carried out the murder while trying to rob her inside of her Pocatello home, according to prosecutors and recently unsealed court documents.

The teenagers, Dustin Garrett Alfaro, 18, and Isaac Angel Rodriguez-Romero, 17, both of Marysville, California, are each facing one count of felony first-degree murder for their alleged roles in the grisly murder.

Bannock County prosecutors and the recently unsealed court documents revealed Rodriguez-Romero’s identity and indicated that he and Alfaro allegedly attempted to rob an unsuspecting Arlyne Koehler, age 87, inside her home on the 1000 block of McKinley Avenue. When that robbery did not go according to plan, perhaps because Koehler resisted, the teens allegedly stabbed her to death. Authorities have not said what, if anything, the teens allegedly stole from Koehler after her death.

Both teens have been charged with felony first-degree murder, which is different than a usual murder in the first degree charge. Felony first-degree murder is a legal doctrine that broadens the crime of murder and involves a concept of transferred intent.

This means that in order to successfully convict the teens of felony first-degree murder, Bannock County prosecutors do not have to prove the teens had the intent to kill Koehler, but rather they had the intent to rob her and their subsequent actions led to her death. In other words, felony first-degree murder guidelines state that the teens’ alleged intent to rob Koehler is enough to legally say they intended to kill her and the crime was premeditated because the outcome of the robbery attempt was that she was murdered.

Read more: https://www.idahostatejournal.com/news/local/teens-accused-of-murdering-elderly-local-woman-first-allegedly-tried/article_a30f8236-f96e-5ac3-b11b-cf632e266bb2.html