Man Who Shot Coeur d'Alene Pastor Six Times Released on Parole

Pastor Tim Remington sat in his office at The Altar Church on the afternoon of March 18 reflecting on a fact that would unsettle most people: the man who shot him six times a decade ago had walked out of prison that same morning and was headed to a transitional home in Post Falls.

"I'm not fearful," Remington said. Rather than dread, he described something closer to purpose. "I want to get him saved," he said. "It would be really cool to minister with him."

Kyle A. Odom, now 40, was released on parole by the Idaho Commission of Pardons and Parole on March 18, 2026, fulfilling the terms of a plea agreement he accepted nearly nine years ago. He pleaded guilty in 2017 to aggravated battery and a firearm enhancement, both felonies, and received a 25-year prison sentence under a deal that made him eligible for parole after 10 years, with credit applied for more than 600 days already served.

The attack Odom was sentenced for remains one of the most violent and bizarre crimes in Kootenai County's recent history. On March 6, 2016, Odom, then 32 and a former Marine combat veteran, waited for Remington in the parking lot of The Altar Church on the 900 block of East Best Avenue. He shot Remington six times with a .45-caliber handgun, hitting him through the right side, through his back, and in his right hand, and emptied a 12-round magazine before fleeing. Investigators later determined the attack was meticulously planned.

Odom fled Coeur d'Alene after the shooting and was arrested days later in Washington, D.C., as he threw items over the White House fence. He had a history of mental illness and had mailed a lengthy manifesto to media outlets asserting that Remington was part of a vast alien conspiracy to enslave the human race.

At his sentencing hearing in November 2017, Odom described the delusions that he believed were real at the time: he said he had been flying back to Idaho from Texas when a man on the plane told him to buy a cellphone and wait for a call. Odom said Remington then called him, setting off a series of events that seemed supernatural to him and culminated in the shooting. He told the court he was remorseful, apologized to Remington and his family, said he wished he could take it all back, and expressed hope that he could receive mental health treatment as soon as possible.

Remington's response at that 2017 sentencing was striking. He watched surveillance footage of his own attack in the courtroom, spoke publicly to ask the community to forgive Odom, and led the courtroom in prayer during a recess, asking God to heal Odom as quickly as God had healed him of his injuries. He told reporters at the time that he believed the 25-year sentence, with its parole possibility, was what Odom needed to get help.

The parole release followed standard Idaho procedure. Under state law, the Commission of Pardons and Parole is required to consider incarcerated individuals for parole when they are within six months of completing the fixed portion of their sentence. The Commission sent notifications to Remington and to the Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney's office informing them of the parole hearing date and offering them the opportunity to testify or submit written statements. Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney Stan Mortensen confirmed his office was in contact with Remington after receiving that notice.

The name of the Post Falls transitional home where Odom is set to live has not been disclosed, and the specific conditions of his parole have not been made public.