Kootenai grand jury indicts St. Maries family in wildlife poaching case

A St. Maries family faced a five-day jury trial over allegations that reached from the Coeur d’Alene River to Wallace and across four North Idaho counties, a case prosecutors said was serious enough to call 90 prospective jurors.

Eddy Dills, Angela Dills and Daniel Dills were indicted by a Kootenai County grand jury in August 2025 on felony charges of conspiracy to commit unlawful killing of wildlife, conspiracy to sell unlawfully killed wildlife and conspiracy to conceal evidence. Prosecutors alleged the family poached four mountain lions and eight bobcats between May 2024 and February 2025 in Kootenai, Shoshone, Benewah and Latah counties, then worked to sell or hide what had been taken illegally.

Court records and prosecutors said the investigation included the use of hunting dogs to tree a mountain lion south of Wallace and another near Leiberg Creek, along with hunting near bobcat traps and near the Coeur d’Alene River. Prosecutors also alleged that Daniel Dills and his father dumped a mountain lion down an embankment after it had been shot, an act they said was meant to conceal the kill. Angela Dills, who is married to Eddy Dills and is Daniel Dills’ mother, was accused of helping with mortality and harvest reports and of selling carcasses and hides to Moscow Hide and Fur for just over $1,700.

All three defendants posted bond after the indictment, with Daniel Dills set at $100,000, Eddy Dills at $150,000 and Angela Dills at $50,000. Each has pleaded not guilty. Daniel Dills had already pleaded guilty in a separate Latah County wildlife case in 2024 and received a three-year hunting-license suspension, adding another layer to a case that prosecutors and wildlife officers have treated as more than a routine violation.

First District Judge John Cafferty said 90 prospective jurors would be called, a number larger than what is typical for a felony trial and one that reflected the breadth of the allegations. For Idaho Fish and Game, the case also highlighted how difficult wildlife crime can be to detect and prosecute. The agency says its Citizens Against Poaching program, created in 1981, provides anonymous 24/7 reporting and cash rewards for tips that lead to enforcement.

That system has already shaped another St. Maries-area poaching case, where an anonymous tip helped launch an investigation that documented 56 wildlife violations. In a state where hunters may pursue mountain lions for 10 months of the year and can buy multiple tags in a single year, enforcement officials say illegal take and resale can hide in plain sight. For Kootenai County and the surrounding region, the Dills case has become a test of how far wildlife laws will be enforced, and how much trust residents can place in the rules meant to protect fair hunting.