(James Malec’s booking photo, courtesy of canyonco.org)
Sherdog has a new update on last Friday’s report about the Christmas night shooting death of UFC/WEC/EliteXC vet Justin Eilers in Canyon County, Idaho. Here’s what we know now:
— Eilers was indeed shot by his stepfather, James Robert Malec, at a house owned by Malec and Eilers’s mother. Malec used a large caliber handgun to fire a single shot which punctured Eilers’s lung before exiting his back.
— Following an argument between Eilers and his girlfriend (the mother of his son), which culminated in his girlfriend leaving the house, Eilers reportedly got into a confrontation with Malec, and began "verbally challenging" him. Eilers apparently broke some glasses and other items, was asked to leave, but refused.
— Eilers’s son was in the house at the time of the shooting, but did not actually witness it, contrary to initial reports. Eilers’s girlfriend returned to the house shortly after the shooting and, along with Eilers’s mother (who did witness the shooting), attempted to apply pressure to the wound until paramedics arrived.
— Canyon County sheriffs arrived at the scene at approximately 11 p.m. MST, but paramedics didn’t arrive until 15 minutes later. Eilers was pronounced dead on the scene at 11:36 p.m., after EMTs could not revive him with CPR.
— Both Eilers and Malec were reportedly intoxicated at the time of the shooting. "This is a good example of how, in many instances, firearms and alcohol don’t mix," said Captain Dana Maxfield of the Canyon County Sheriff’s Department. [Ed. note: Can we just go ahead and say that they never mix? Is that too much to ask, Captain?]
— Malec was arrested for second-degree murder, and is being held at the Canyon County Jail on $1,000,000 bond. Ironically, Malec previously worked at the Canyon County detention center as a deputy sheriff from 1996-2000, and was also a canine handler.
— A viewing for family and friends will be held on Thursday from 2-6 p.m. at the Alsip Funeral Home in South Nampa, Idaho. Funeral services will be held Friday at 10 a.m. at The Church Of Latter Day Saints, also in Nampa. Eilers’s friend and Miletich teammate Jens Pulver will be hosting a benefit fundraiser in Boise, Idaho, on Friday night to raise money for the newly created Tyson Eilers Foundation (named for Justin’s son). For more information, go to FullContactIdaho.com.
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He sure looks like a model citizen.