On the evening of May 12, 2023, a young man's life was tragically cut short in a senseless act of violence on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation. Elias "Suge" Armand Albert-Spencer, a 22-year-old male, was at his home in Lapwai, Idaho, when a car broke down outside. When he went to see what was happening, he was shot five times by William Oliver Eyle, who was 19 at the time. There had been no fight or disagreement between the two before the shooting.
Elias's family later discovered his body on the sidewalk in front of their home.
Following the murder, Eyle fled the area, destroyed evidence, and remained a fugitive for several months. His mother, Jacinta Wheeler, advised him to flee and failed to report the murder to the authorities. For her role in assisting her son, Wheeler was later sentenced to 30 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to misprision of a felony.
After an extensive search, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Marshals Service located and arrested Eyle in Pendleton, Oregon, in late November 2023. Eyle eventually pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on January 29, 2025. In April 2025, William Oliver Eyle, then 21, was sentenced to 19 years in federal prison for the murder of Elias Albert-Spencer. Following his prison term, Eyle will be subject to five years of supervised release.
