On a cold December night in 2001, the life of 21-year-old Tonya Lynn Hart, a White/Caucasian female, was tragically cut short in her Moscow, Idaho, mobile home. On December 11, a knock came at her back door. When she opened it, she was shot twice at point-blank range, once in the chest and once in the face. A neighbor, hearing the gunshots, found her bleeding on the floor and called 911, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation into Tonya's murder soon uncovered a
sinister plot. Suspicion fell upon her fiancé, Jesse J. Linderman, and his co-worker, David J. Meister. Investigators learned that Linderman had allegedly hired Meister to kill Tonya for $1,000, with an additional $100 bonus if she was dead before Christmas. Meister, then 19, confessed to the crime, stating that Linderman had approached him in October of that year and had paid him $500 in cash shortly before the murder. On the night of the killing, Meister said he walked to the trailer he shared with Tonya and shot her when she answered the door.
Following Meister's confession, both he and Linderman were arrested and charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. However, the case took a complicated turn when Meister later recanted his confession, claiming it was coerced by police who had threatened him with the death penalty. Without Meister's testimony against him, the conspiracy charges against Jesse Linderman were eventually dropped due to a lack of evidence.
David Meister stood trial for Tonya's murder and was found guilty, receiving a life sentence. However, his legal battle was not over. In 2009, the Idaho Supreme Court ordered a new trial, citing that the district court had improperly excluded evidence of another possible suspect's confessions. Despite this, David Meister is currently serving a life sentence for the murder. Jesse Linderman, after the charges against him were dismissed, continued to live and work in the Moscow area for a time.
