COEUR D’ALENE, ID – A Lapwai man has been sentenced to 19 years in federal prison for the 2023 murder of Elias Albert Spencer on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho.
William Oliver Eyle, now 21, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder earlier this year. Court records show that on May 12, 2023, Eyle shot Spencer five times after his vehicle broke down in front of Spencer’s home. There was no reported altercation between the two before the shooting. Spencer’s family later found his body on the sidewalk outside the residence.
Following the incident, Eyle fled the area and destroyed evidence. He remained a fugitive for several months before being located in November 2023 by the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service. He was 19 years old at the time of the shooting.
On January 29, 2025, Eyle pleaded guilty to the charge. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Amanda K. Brailsford ordered Eyle to serve five years of supervised release upon completion of his sentence.
Eyle’s mother, Jacinta Wheeler, was also sentenced in connection with the case. She pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony for failing to report the murder and advising Eyle to flee. She was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison in November 2024.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the Nez Perce Tribal Police and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Traci Whelan and Adam Johnson.