In what was supposed to be a drug deal, 20-year-old Gabriel Casper, a white male, was fatally shot on May 31, 2021, in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Casper, along with two associates, had arranged to purchase oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl from Matthew Holmberg. However, their actual intention was to rob Holmberg. The plan went awry when a struggle ensued inside a vehicle.
During the attempted robbery, Dennen T.G.
Fitterer-Usher, who was accompanying Holmberg as armed security, shot Casper multiple times. Following the shooting, Casper's two associates fled the scene. Holmberg and Fitterer-Usher then drove away with the injured Casper still in their vehicle. A short distance later, they pushed him out of the moving car and left him in the street. Despite efforts by passersby and emergency responders, Casper succumbed to his wounds and was pronounced dead at Kootenai Health.
An investigation led by local, state, and federal authorities resulted in the arrests of Matthew Holmberg, then 19, and Dennen Fitterer-Usher, then 23. Fitterer-Usher later claimed he shot Casper in self-defense. Both men faced federal charges. Fitterer-Usher was sentenced to over 14 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Holmberg received a 19-year federal prison sentence on similar charges. Casper's associates also faced state charges for attempted robbery.
