A Boise man killed his roommate. Judge says stiff sentence ‘warranted’
An Ada County judge weighed a potentially mitigating mental disorder against the court’s responsibility to protect the public when it came time to sentence a Boise man for murder and other crimes.
Fourth District Judge Jason Scott then sentenced 37-year-old Scott Stevens to 38 years fixed, with up to life in prison on Thursday morning, at the Ada County Courthouse.
Stevens pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for fatally stabbing his roommate, 39-year-old Gregory Schroeder, in October 2024 in a Northwest Boise home. He later told detectives that he “executed” Schroeder, according to the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office.
Schroeder died from his injuries at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center within an hour of the attack.
The focus throughout the one-hour sentencing was on Stevens’ mental diagnoses, which Scott said included schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type and anxiety. Everyone who spoke Thursday weighed in on how much those conditions should affect the length of Stevens’ sentence.
“He admitted to officers that he was hearing voices, but that he had, effectively, over some period of time, been planning and deliberating over how to kill this individual,” prosecutor Robert Bleazard said at the sentencing.
Both the prosecution and defense spoke about how Stevens showed he could live a peaceful life while on medication, but could become violent when he stopped. A judge previously sent Stevens to the Idaho Maximum Security Institution prior to his sentencing because he believed Stevens presented a “substantial risk” to society.
“From the state’s perspective, the court cannot sentence a person in this courtroom based on hypothetical versions of himself — this idea of what might exist if he’s in a perfectly controlled environment, one where he is perfectly medicated,” Bleazard said.
After Stevens’ arrest, he received additional charges for attacking a psychiatric technician in May and his cellmate in September. Bleazard said Stevens gave his cellmate multiple facial fractures and broke his eye socket.
Scott sentenced him to three and 15 years, respectively, for battery charges in those cases, which will be served concurrently with his murder sentence.
Judge says community safety is top concern
Bleazard asked the judge to give Stevens a life sentence with no possibility for parole.
Defense attorney Robert Chastain said it took more than a year for Stevens to be declared mentally competent after his arrest. Once he was, Stevens took responsibility for his actions and pleaded guilty, according to Chastain.
Stevens spoke in court about years of experiencing auditory hallucinations and said he has forgiven himself for Schroeder’s death.
“I’m not trying to be violent by any means,” Stevens said. “I apologize for what happened to Greg. If I could take it back, I would.”
Chastain asked Scott to make Stevens eligible for parole after 25 years, expressing hope that medical advancements and better mental health facilities could someday help Stevens be able to live outside of prison again.
The judge said the sentence he handed down reflected the court’s responsibility to keep the community safe.
“There is a little doubt that Mr. Stevens — though a good and valued person to his family when he is managing his medication — is a dangerous person to the community when he isn’t,” Scott said. “A serious response is warranted under the circumstances.
