Idaho man who said he killed his ex-girlfriend wants to withdraw guilty plea

An Idaho man confessed to brutally killing his ex-girlfriend over two years ago. Now, the 59-year-old— who pleaded guilty in 2021 — has filed a late June motion in court asking to walk back his plea agreement, according to court records obtained by the Idaho Statesman.

David Randall pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and an enhancement for using a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony in December 2021 as part of a plea deal, according to online court records.

The Boise resident had not been sentenced for the violent murder and had no sentencing hearing scheduled as of Monday, according to online court records. Randall’s last three sentencings were vacated.

In a sworn affidavit, Randall said he wasn’t guilty of the crime to which he pleaded guilty.

“Immediately after pleading guilty, I realized I had made a terrible mistake,” Randall wrote in the affidavit, submitted to the Ada County District Court.

In December 2019, Randall bludgeoned his 56-year-old ex-girlfriend, Darla Fletcher, with a ceramic object and stabbed her to death after he tortured her, Ada County prosecutors previously said. Fletcher’s body was found at Randall’s home on Cambria Lane in Boise.

The prosecution said she was found her dead on the couch, and that there was blood throughout the house and on Randall’s hands.

During a 2019 court appearance, an Ada County prosecutor said that Fletcher ended the relationship and moved out about a month before the murder. Fletcher was murdered after she and Randall arranged a time for her to come pack up some belongings left at his house, the Statesman previously reported.

Attorney says Randall was ‘pressured’ into deal

Ada County Public Defender Reed Smith, who is representing Randall, said in the motion that Randall “made a poor decision” due to the stress and anxiety of being charged with first-degree murder to hire a private attorney. Previously, Randall was represented by the public defender’s office.

The motion alleged that Randall’s private attorney, Joseph Miller, “pressured” Randall into accepting a plea deal, and that Randall “would spend the rest of his life in prison if he did not plead guilty to the state’s offer.” The Statesman has contacted Miller for comment.

Reed said that audio of the December change of plea hearing, when Randall pleaded guilty, showed Randall was “hesitant and confused throughout the proceeding.”

“This is the most serious of criminal actions that Mr. Randall faces and with the most serious of consequences,” he said in the motion. “I am sure this court can imagine the pressure one must face in such a situation, and being naive of the process and system.”

Randall has history with depression

In April, Reed filed a motion to evaluate Randall’s mental competency, a process under state law. The motion said that “there is reason to doubt the defendant’s fitness to proceed.” In multiple court records, Randall and his attorney pointed to his mental health, saying in one document that Randall has “struggled with depression and mental health issues throughout his adult life.”

Randall also said, in his sworn affidavit, that he has struggled with depression for most of his adult life. Additionally, in the June motion, Reed argued that Randall’s mental health issues have been “exasperated by his long and unfamiliar incarceration.”

But during a June hearing, 4th District Judge Steven Hippler denied Randall’s motion and pointed to 11 phone call clips that were submitted by the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office. The phone calls showed Randall holding a conversation with a family member or friend and clearly speaking about his case.

“You can be — excuse my language — loony as a bird and still be competent,” Hippler said.

Reed argued against the phone calls and said they weren’t relevant. He also said that he received the phone calls the day of the hearing. Reed has not responded to several requests for comment.

This is not the first time Randall has undergone a mental health evaluation. In January 2020, a state-appointed health care professional found Randall was not competent to stand trial temporarily, according to a prior Statesman coverage.

The report, which is not public, included the nature of the examination, a diagnosis or evaluation of the defendant’s mental condition, and an assertion of the defendant’s ability to understand legal proceedings in their case and assist in their defense, according to state law. It also included an opinion on whether the defendant can make informed decisions about their mental health treatment.

Randall’s competency was restored, and a grand jury indicted him in July 2020.