POCATELLO — A local man is facing a homicide charge after police say he caused his uncle’s death by pepper-spraying him in the face on Sunday in a north Pocatello neighborhood.
Andrew Scoffield, 44, was arrested Sunday night on a second-degree homicide charge following the discovery of his deceased uncle Jeffery Scott Scoffield, 68, in the home they shared in the 800 block of Park Avenue near Alameda Park, according to police and court records the Idaho State Journal obtained Monday.
Andrew Scoffield has been booked into Bannock County Jail on the homicide charge.
Jeffery Scott Scoffield’s body was found by Pocatello police around 3:15 p.m. Sunday at the home after another family member reported his death, authorities said.
Police said no additional arrests are expected.
Andrew Scoffield was formally charged Monday with one count of homicide in the second degree, according to a criminal complaint filed in 6th District Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Pocatello police were dispatched to the Scoffields’ home Sunday afternoon after Jeffery Scoffield’s son, Joshua Scoffield, reported to 911 dispatchers that his father and cousin had been in a fight and that he believed his father was dead.
Responding officers found Jeffery Scoffield deceased in a chair in the living room with a large amount of pepper spray residue in the surrounding area, the affidavit states.
Joshua Scoffield told police he had received a missed call from Andrew Scoffield followed by a text message in which Andrew Scoffield said he believed he had killed Jeffery Scoffield with an electric fly swatter, according to the affidavit.
Joshua Scoffield said he then went to the home, found his father unresponsive and attempted CPR before emergency crews arrived, the affidavit states.
In an interview with police, Andrew Scoffield said he had been staying with his uncle for several months but that the relationship had deteriorated after he borrowed $600 from Jeffery Scoffield roughly two weeks earlier, police said.
Andrew Scoffield told police his uncle had been harassing and threatening him since the loan, including cutting off power to Andrew’s living area in the basement at night, the affidavit states.
Police say Andrew Scoffield said he had been moving his belongings out of the home when Jeffery Scoffield returned and confronted him, according to the affidavit.
Andrew Scoffield told police his uncle shoved him and grabbed an aluminum bat. Andrew Scoffield said he then used pepper spray on his uncle, the affidavit states.
Andrew Scoffield told police the two ended up fighting on the ground before he sprayed his uncle with pepper spray again and struck him in the head with an electric fly swatter, causing Jeffery Scoffield to fall back into his chair, according to the affidavit.
Andrew Scoffield said he then fled the home and went to a friend’s house before texting Joshua Scoffield that he believed he had killed his uncle, the affidavit states.
Police said discrepancies soon emerged between Andrew Scoffield’s account and physical evidence at the scene, causing them to place him under arrest.
An autopsy is set to be performed on Jeffery Scoffield’s body on Tuesday in Ada County to determine a cause of death, but police said they believe that the pepper spray proved fatal by impacting his ability to breathe.
Andrew Scoffield appeared before 6th District Magistrate Judge David A. Hooste for an arraignment hearing via video conference from the Bannock County Jail Monday, where prosecutors requested his bond be set at $1 million.
Andrew Scoffield is scheduled to appear in court again Sept. 14 for a preliminary hearing, where prosecutors will attempt to present sufficient evidence to elevate the case from magistrate to district court for trial.
If convicted of second-degree homicide, he faces a prison sentence of no less than 10 years and up to life in prison and a fine of up to $50,000.