CALDWELL, Idaho — A Canyon County mother is expressing outrage after her son's killer was released on probation after just six months in a prison program.
Joshawa Bechtel, 33, had faced a 12-year prison sentence at his rider review hearing Thursday morning. But Judge George Southworth elected to suspend the prison sentence and place him on probation instead, citing the defendant's improvement while participating in a program focused on substance abuse.
Bechtel was arrested May 6, 2018 after he struck a motorcycle rider on Idaho Center Boulevard in Nampa while driving drunk. The motorcyclist, 24-year-old Zachary Spoolstra, was killed in the crash.
Bechtel's blood-alcohol content was measured at .167 after the collision, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving - more than double Idaho's legal limit of .08.
Susie Spoolstra-Kelley, the victim's mother, described in court Thursday how Bechtel failed to even walk over and check on Spoolstra after the wreck, instead calling a friend as her son bled to death in the road.
She urged the judge to keep Bechtel incarcerated, arguing that six months fell far short of an appropriate punishment for taking a life.
"It seems like the only ones getting consequences are me and my children," Spoolstra-Kelley said.
While Bechtel missed only one holiday during his months in the rider program, she pointed out, his decision to drive after drinking had robbed her family of ever spending another Thanksgiving, Christmas or birthday with Spoolstra.
"He has no more chances to come back and plead with you for justice," she said. "That is now my job."
Prosecutor Kimberlee Bratcher also urged Southworth to impose the original sentence, which would have made Bechtel eligible for parole after three-and-a-half years in prison. Alternatively, if the judge did not want to send him to prison, Bratcher argued he should hand down 18 months in the jail work-release program.
"I just think that if you kill someone after drinking and driving... then you need more than just a few months on a retained jurisdiction program," she said.
Bechtel's attorney, Jeffrey Smith disagreed, arguing that his client's time behind bars and losing his profession as a chiropractor was punishment enough.
"He's going to live with this for the rest of his life," Smith said.
In a brief statement before the judge announced his decision Bechtel vowed that he had "zero desire to drink" again, and praised the rider program for helping him understand and deal with his struggles with alcohol. He added that he hoped to someday make amends to Spoolstra's family.
"There's no going back," he said. "I don't know what I can do or say."
Spoolstra-Kelley dropped her face into her hands and started to cry as Southworth told Bechtel he would be released on probation immediately.
In addition to the twelve years of probation, Bechtel's license will be suspended for five years. He was also ordered to complete 250 hours of community service and present at a victim impact panel about his crime.
"I think that's really one of the better ways you can make an impact," Southworth said.
