MOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho — A Mountain Home man accused of murdering his landlady two years ago has taken a plea deal.
Scott Riggs was charged with first-degree murder in August 2017 after 71-year-old Paula Ferbrache was found dead in the trunk of her car outside Mountain Home.
Riggs' first trial ended in February when the judge declared a mistrial.
Tuesday morning, he entered an Alford guilty plea to second-degree murder, meaning he acknowledges that there is enough evidence for a jury to convict him, but does not admit to committing the crime.
The plea comes one week before Riggs' second trial was scheduled to begin.
According to testimony during the first trial, Ferbrache was displeased with the way Riggs was taking care of the house he rented from her, and had decided not to renew his lease once it ran out.
Prosecutors said Riggs asked Ferbrache for a ride on August 25, 2017, then stabbed her eight times with a knife he had purchased from a pawn shop. Ferbrache's body was found the next day in the trunk of her Buick, which had been driven out to a pasture and abandoned.
According to investigators, a spot of the victim's blood was found in Riggs' truck after the murder, and his finger and palm prints were on her car.
Riggs could face up to life in prison when he's sentenced on the second-degree murder charge on October 9.
