Local man to face murder charges

A Mountain Home man accused of killing his stepson is due to appear in district court next week to face charges of first-degree murder.

Richard R. Laubach, 20, stands accused of inflicting injuries that led to the death of Joseph "Joey" Graham III earlier this year.

According to the initial criminal complaint, Laubach is accused of assaulting the 22-month-old child at the family's residence the afternoon of March 12 with the intention of inflicting violence or great bodily harm. The child died the following morning at St. Luke's Regional Medical Center in Boise.

On Friday, Laubach was bound over to Fourth District Court following a preliminary hearing that started Aug. 16. Judge David Epis ruled that probable cause exists on each of the elements surrounding the case.

Laubach is an airman first class assigned to the 366th Security Forces Squadron at Mountain Home Air Force Base. He remains in custody at the Elmore County jail after the judge ordered that he remain in custody without bond.

During her closing comments at Friday's hearing, county prosecutor Tina Schindele argued that substantial evidence exists to prove that the injuries that killed the child "were inflicted at the hands of Laubach."

She highlighted the testimony of two medical officials as well as physical and laboratory evidence all of which indicated that "Joey died of an abusive head injury" and that it was not accidental.

In his client's defense, Elmore County Public Defender Terry Ratliff argued that the incident that lead to the child's death "happened by happenstance." Laubach was tossing the child in the air and catching him, Ratliff said. It was on the last throw that the child kicked out his legs, which prevented his stepfather from catching him.

"It was accidental; not on purpose," Ratliff told the judge during his closing comments at Friday's hearing.

Before he issued his ruling, Epis reviewed the argument presented by Laubach's defense team -- that the child was critically injured after he fell to the ground after being tossed in the air.

However, the judge emphasized that different accounts of what actually happened March 12 were presented during the hearing. Those accounts created inconsistencies with the official version presented by the defense.

In addition, evidence presented at the hearing emphasized that the cause of death was a traumatic brain injury that was inconsistent with an accident, the judge said.

Laubach will return to the county courthouse the morning of Sept. 3 for his arraignment in District Court. Schindele will have 60 days from that date to determine whether she will seek the death penalty in the case.

The case is one of three felony child abuse incidents reported in recent months in the Mountain Home community.

On Monday, Joshua T. Nelson, 24, waived his right to a preliminary hearing in connection with an incident on June 28. Nelson, a senior airman stationed at Mountain Home Air Force Base, was arrested by Mountain Home police after he allegedly inflicted injuries on an 11-month-old child.

According to the criminal complaint filed by the county prosecutor's office, he's accused of wrenching the child from his chest and slamming the infant to the ground. The child suffered a broken leg during the assault, the complaint added. Nelson's arraignment is district court is scheduled for the morning of Sept. 16.

Meanwhile, another Mountain Home man is scheduled to go to trial in November on similar felony charges. Paul F. Carpentier III stands accused of grabbing a child by the throat and slamming him into a wall and then into the bathroom floor of his home in December 2012. Carpentier then allegedly beat the child on the buttocks with a belt.

A medical report introduced at an earlier hearing indicated that the injuries the child sustained were consistent with child abuse capable of inflicting significant bodily harm.