In the quiet early morning hours of June 5, 1988, in Nampa, Idaho, 40-year-old Shirley Joann Stilwell Morey was with her husband, Eugene LeRoy Morey, 41, preparing for their newspaper delivery route. The couple sat in their car, folding newspapers near a Circle K convenience store, a routine part of their day that was about to be shattered by an act of sudden and senseless violence.
A man named David Leslie Card approached their vehicle. Earlier, Card had been involved in a dispute with the night clerk at the convenience store. He had gone home to retrieve a revolver and returned. Finding the clerk was no longer there, Card turned his attention to the unsuspecting couple in their car. Without provocation, he opened fire, fatally shooting both Shirley and Eugene.
The investigation into the double homicide led to the swift apprehension of David Leslie Card. He was charged with two counts of first-degree murder. During his trial, it was revealed that Card had a history of paranoid schizophrenia, a mental illness that blurred the lines between reality and delusion for him. Despite this, under Idaho law at the time, an insanity defense was not permitted. After being found competent to stand trial with the help of medication, Card was convicted of both murders in September 1989 and subsequently sentenced to death.
For three decades, David Leslie Card resided on death row, his mental state continuing to decline as he often refused medication. His severe delusions and psychosis became more pronounced over the years. In 2019, recognizing the severity and chronic nature of his mental illness and the unlikelihood of his condition improving, Idaho officials commuted his death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. After 30 years in solitary confinement, Card was moved to serve out the remainder of his life sentence.
