MOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho — Megan Marie James and Laura Denise Hamilton, both of Mountain Home, were booked into the Elmore County Jail on June 3 following a May 31 report that the two may be involved in a homicide that took place in the area around four years ago.
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Now, Elmore County is releasing more information, but the County has clarified that only the criminal complaints and orders of commitment will be released for the two cases at this time.
Both of the women are being charged with first degree murder, failure to report a death, second degree kidnapping, exploitation of a vulnerable adult, and grand theft.
The complaints specify that the crimes were committed between Aug. 1, 2020 and May 29, 2024, with the murder specifically being carried out between August and September of 2020.
The charges specify that the two women are suspected of imprisoning their victim and chaining or tying them to a fixed object, withholding food and physically abusing them, resulting in their death.
A third person was seemingly involved in the case, but when officers went to make the arrests on June 2, 2024, there was a brief standoff between the subjects. After around 2 hours, one of the suspects surrendered themselves to officers on the scene, but a second suspect was found dead inside the house from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Next for James and Hamilton is a July 15 status conference hearing in Elmore County.
