In the predawn hours of June 5, 1988, the quiet streets of Nampa, Idaho, became the scene of a sudden and senseless act of violence. Eugene LeRoy Morey, a 41-year-old male, was with his wife, Shirley J. Morey, 40, in their car near a Circle K convenience store. The couple was in the midst of their routine, preparing newspapers for their delivery route, a familiar ritual that would be tragically interrupted.
Earlier that morning, a man named David Leslie Card had been involved in a
dispute with the night clerk at the same convenience store. The nature of their argument reportedly centered on the topic of death. Agitated, Card left the store and returned to his home to retrieve a revolver. Upon his return to the Circle K, the clerk he had argued with was no longer there. It was then that his attention shifted to the Moreys, who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Card approached their vehicle and opened fire, fatally shooting both Eugene and Shirley.
The investigation into the double homicide led authorities to David Leslie Card. He was apprehended and subsequently charged with two counts of first-degree murder. During his trial, it was revealed that Card had a history of mental illness, specifically paranoid schizophrenia. This condition reportedly impaired his ability to distinguish between reality and delusion. Despite this, under Idaho law at the time, an insanity defense was not permitted. After being medicated, Card was deemed competent to stand trial.
A jury found David Leslie Card guilty of the murders of both Eugene and Shirley Morey. In September 1989, he was sentenced to death. For the next three decades, Card resided on death row, where his mental health continued to decline as he refused medication, leading to severe psychosis and delusions. In 2019, recognizing the chronic nature of his mental illness and the unlikelihood of his recovery, state officials agreed to commute his death sentence. Card's sentence was changed to life in prison without the possibility of parole, and he was moved from solitary confinement to serve the remainder of his life sentence.
