Morey Paul Pelton, a 36-year-old White/Caucasian male from Ririe, Idaho, was found dead on the morning of May 13, 2022, at the Lane Clark Rest Area along U.S. Highway 26 between Ririe and Swan Valley. Pelton had been born in Idaho Falls on August 19, 1985, was raised in Ririe and graduated from Ririe High School. He spent about a decade working in construction for Earth in Motion and had two sons. Family remembrances described someone closely tied to the outdoors, especially hunting, fishing, floating the river and spending time in the mountains. What initially appeared to the public simply as a body discovered at a roadside rest area soon became a homicide investigation centered on events that had unfolded there the previous night. Authorities determined that Pelton had suffered a single gunshot wound, and later court testimony placed the shooting at roughly 9:45 p.m. on May 12.
The circumstances leading to the shooting gradually emerged through court filings and testimony. Prosecutors alleged that Randy Michael Larkin was involved in drug dealing in the Swan Valley area and had become embroiled in a dispute with Pelton over a drug transaction and money Pelton owed him. Kelly Hincks, an associate who knew both of them, arranged to meet Pelton at the Lane Clark Rest Area to buy methamphetamine. Hincks also knew Larkin was looking for Pelton and told Larkin about the planned meeting. According to prosecutors, Larkin decided to go to the rest area separately, riding with Gerald Linn Hamlin and William James Burton Jr., who was also known as Billy or "Buckskin." Hamlin drove while Larkin rode as a passenger and Burton sat in the back seat. Court filings alleged that Larkin had talked about beating Pelton, brought a firearm with him and made a threatening remark about shooting him while waiting for Pelton to arrive.
Pelton arrived at the rest area and parked near Hincks. Larkin approached the vehicles, and what followed was a short confrontation that later became the central issue at trial. Hamlin testified that he was sitting in the vehicle and playing a game on his phone when he heard Pelton challenge Larkin and ask whether Larkin was going to shoot him. Moments later, a gunshot rang out. Larkin shot Pelton and then returned to Hamlin's vehicle. Hamlin testified that Larkin told the others to keep quiet. The group drove away without calling 911, and Pelton remained at the rest area until his body was discovered the following morning. Prosecutors later alleged that Larkin disposed of the firearm and warned others not to talk about what had happened. The weapon was not recovered during the investigation.
Investigators initially appealed publicly for information from anyone who had been at the rest area between the evening of May 12 and early May 13, and a reward was offered for information leading to an arrest. The investigation soon focused on Larkin. A Bonneville County grand jury indicted him on July 14, 2022, for first-degree murder, and he was arrested the next day at a residence in Chubbuck after several eastern Idaho law-enforcement agencies assisted in locating him. He was booked into the Bonneville County Jail on a $1 million bond. Larkin later pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors ultimately chose not to pursue the death penalty, leaving him facing the possibility of life imprisonment if convicted.
The investigation eventually reached beyond Larkin. Gerald Hamlin was indicted in February 2024 on charges that included principal to first-degree murder, accessory to first-degree murder and concealment or destruction of evidence. He was arrested in Kitsap County, Washington, waived extradition and was returned to Idaho. As the case developed, Hamlin entered a plea agreement. He pleaded guilty to felony accessory for withholding knowledge of a felony from law enforcement and to felony destruction, alteration or concealment of evidence, while the more serious allegation that he aided and abetted the murder was dropped. Hamlin also agreed to testify against Larkin. In October 2024, he received an underlying sentence of three to ten years in prison, with the judge retaining jurisdiction and placing him in Idaho's rider program. At Larkin's trial, Hamlin testified about driving the group to the rest area, hearing the confrontation and being told afterward to remain silent.
Kelly Hincks also remained important to the investigation because he had arranged the meeting with Pelton and was present when the shooting occurred. Authorities publicly identified Hincks as a person of interest in the homicide case, but he was never charged. Hincks died in January 2024 before Larkin's trial. Because he could not testify in person, portions of his earlier grand-jury testimony were read to jurors. In that testimony, Hincks said Pelton had been meeting him to sell methamphetamine and that Larkin knew about the meeting. Hincks described Pelton getting out of his vehicle during the confrontation and said Larkin shot him. He also said he never saw a gun in Pelton's hand and believed Larkin had initiated the aggressive encounter.
When Larkin finally went to trial in November 2024, the central question was no longer whether he had fired the shot; he admitted that he had. His defense was self-defense. Larkin testified that Pelton owed him money and that he believed Pelton was under the influence of methamphetamine and behaving aggressively. He told jurors that after an argument he saw Pelton emerging from his vehicle and believed he saw something black or silver in Pelton's hand. Larkin said he thought Pelton had a gun and fired because he feared for his life. Evidence presented at trial indicated there was a rifle inside Pelton's vehicle, but witnesses did not report seeing a firearm in his hand at the time of the shooting. Forensic testimony described Pelton as being between a seated and nearly standing position near the driver's side doorway when he was shot. Prosecutors argued that the killing grew out of Larkin's escalating anger over the unpaid money and pointed to messages, his decision to go to the rest area armed and his conduct after the shooting.
After a lengthy trial, jurors deliberated for nearly eight hours and rejected Larkin's claim that the shooting was legally justified. They did not, however, find the level of premeditation required for first-degree murder. On November 22, 2024, the jury found Larkin guilty of second-degree murder, along with the firearm enhancement. In January 2025, District Judge Bruce Pickett sentenced Larkin to 25 years to life in prison and ordered more than $20,000 in restitution and court-related payments. The verdict established Larkin as the person criminally responsible for Pelton's killing, while the second-degree conviction meant the jury did not conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that he had formed a premeditated plan to murder Pelton before the fatal confrontation.
William Burton became the final person prosecuted in connection with the case. Investigators had interviewed him in June 2022, when he denied being with Larkin on the night of the killing and denied withholding information. During another interview in October 2022, Burton acknowledged that he had in fact been inside Hamlin's vehicle at the rest area during the confrontation. He said he heard a loud noise and later admitted that he had withheld information because he was frightened of Larkin. Prosecutors waited to charge Burton while he remained a potential witness in Larkin's case, saying they did not want a prosecution of Burton to interfere with his testimony. A warrant was eventually issued in August 2025, and Burton was arrested and booked into the Bonneville County Jail on a $35,000 bond before posting bail. He later pleaded guilty to an accessory offense for concealing or withholding information about the murder. On August 10, 2026, the court imposed an underlying sentence of two years fixed and up to five years total, suspended that prison term and placed Burton on a one-year retained-jurisdiction rider. He was also ordered to pay at least $1,000 in fines. His sentencing marked the final prosecution reported in connection with the killing, leaving Larkin convicted of the murder, Hamlin convicted for his actions surrounding the concealment of the crime and Burton convicted for withholding information from investigators.
