Boise man first charged with murder, but pleaded guilty to drug charge. What happened?
A police investigation turned what was initially a murder charge into drug charges, leading to a much lighter sentence for a Boise man who fatally shot someone at his home, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors dropped Zackary Gordan’s second-degree murder charge after they decided he “may have acted in self-defense,” according to a news release at the time from Boise police. Gordan ultimately pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of a controlled substance.
At the sentencing, Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Kai Wittwer said the shooting happened after the victim, Robert Nichols, tried to collect a drug debt at Gordan’s Boise home.
Wittwer said that according to a police investigation, Nichols pulled a gun on Gordan and demanded payment. Gordan, who was under the influence of fentanyl at the time, responded by shooting him in his midsection, Wittwer said. An acquaintance of Gordan then drove Nichols to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, where he died.
Nichols’ family members weren’t convinced. At the sentencing, they expressed their anger at Gordan and the reduced charges.
“The crimes you are being charged with are not even close to what you truly should be answering for,” said Nichols’ mother, Shannon Davis, in a statement Nichols’ wife delivered in court. “You and your co-conspirators have basically gotten away with murder.”
For the remaining two drug possession charges, 4th District Judge James Cawthon sentenced Gordan to seven total years in prison, three years fixed and four years indeterminate, during which he could be in prison or on parole. He also ordered Gordan to have no contact with Nichols’ family for 20 years.
“The statement that was made early on [by Nichols’ wife] that no consequence will be enough is so true,” Cawthon said. “Even if this were some type of case where I had much more discretion as to what type of sentence I imposed, Mr. Nichols is not coming back. And that loss is forever.”
Cawthon drew a distinction between Gordan’s actions and self-defense. “There’s a fundamental difference between someone breaking into my home and defending myself and somebody engaged in an overtly criminal lifestyle and arming themselves to deal with the instances of that criminal lifestyle,” he said.
Prosecutors also dropped other charges that included destruction, alteration, or concealment of evidence and possession of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture or deliver, according to court records.
This story was originally published June 14, 2023 at 1:55 PM.
