LEWISTON, Idaho – Within a week, two different jury trials convicted two men in separate attempted murder cases in Nez Perce County, according to the Nez Perce County Prosecutor’s Office.
The first trial was for Robert Laplante, who was convicted by a jury for attempted murder in the first degree of Otis Dickson on Thursday, March 14.
Evidence presented by Deputy Prosecutors revealed that Laplante had brutally beaten Dickson and left him for dead. Laplante was also allegedly found guilty of stabbing Dickson multiple times and hitting him in the head with a hi-lift jack, resulting in a skull fracture.
The second trial, in which Brian Grimm was convicted by a jury for attempted first degree murder of Michael S Dranichak, was held five days later.
Evidence presented by Deputy Prosecutors revealed that Grimm had allegedly hit Dranichak three times with his car after a verbal altercation near their shared residence. The jury deliberated for only 22 minutes before finding him guilty.
According to the office, Laplante will be sentenced on July 14 and Grimm will be sentenced on June 5.
“I want to thank all the officers involved in this case. The investigations done by the Lewiston Police Department and the Nez Perce County Sheriff’s office were instrumental in obtaining these convictions. I also want to thank the staff in my office for their hard work over the last several weeks and especially the efforts of Prosecutors April Smith, Kali Jo Parker and Jazz Patzer in getting justice in these cases,” said Prosecutor Justin Coleman.
The maximum penalty for attempted first degree murder, according to the release, is 15 years. For Laplante, the maximum will be life in prison due to him facing a persistent violator enhancement.
Additionally, Grimm has a prior murder conviction from 1996 out of Spokane, which may factor into his sentence.
“Keeping these two dangerous individuals off the street and behind bars as long as possible will keep our community safer,” said Coleman.
