04/05/2007

Associated Press

A 21-year-old man accused of killing a University of Idaho student and who police say is a suspect in the killing of a Boise State University student has a criminal history and had been behaving erratically, authorities said.

"There were a lot of people who were very scared of him," Ada County Sheriff Gary Raney told the Idaho Statesman.

John Joseph Delling was arrested Tuesday by police in Sparks, Nev., on a stolen car warrant issued by Ada County and a first-degree murder warrant issued by Moscow police in the death of UI senior David Boss, a former high school classmate of Delling.

The body of the 21-year-old history major was found early Saturday in the kitchen of his off-campus apartment.

Police have also identified Delling as a suspect in the death of Bradley Morse, 25, whose body was found Tuesday in a Boise city park pond near the Idaho Shakespeare Festival grounds.

It is unclear whether Delling and Morse knew each other.

Delling was being held in the Washoe County, Nev., jail on Thursday and was scheduled to appear in Nevada's 2nd District Court on Friday on the stolen vehicle charge.

Tom Miller of the Sparks Police Department said the vehicle, a 2006 Mazda 323, had been searched by Idaho authorities and was being taken back to Idaho for additional processing. Miller said a park where the car was found was also searched, but he did not know what might have been found.

Delling has been charged with first-degree murder in Idaho's 2nd District Court, and prosecutors there said they plan to have Delling brought to Moscow to face that charge.

"As soon as he is available to come back to Moscow we'll make arrangements to get him here," Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson told The Associated Press on Thursday.

He said his office will likely coordinate with Ada County prosecutors on bringing Delling back to Idaho. But first, he said, Idaho has to wait for Nevada officials to decide what to do with Delling.

Thompson also said Delling could decide to fight extradition.

Raney said that after Delling's arrest, the sheriff's office began getting calls from acquaintances of Delling saying they had noticed recent dramatic mood swings in Delling and that he was behaving erratically.

Before his arrest, Delling had contact with police dating back to at least 2005.

In March 2005, Delling reported to Moscow police that he had been assaulted, said David Duke, assistant police chief.

A month later, Delling was cited for misdemeanor disturbing the peace and kicked out of the university and prohibited from coming onto the campus for at least a year after allegedly threatening residents in dorms, Duke said. The charge was later dropped.

In June 2005, Delling pleaded guilty to stalking three Boise men and was ordered to have no contact with them. He completed 80 hours of community service.

One of the men was Allyn Sweeney, a Boise lawyer, who said the three men were so concerned about Delling that they installed security and surveillance systems at their homes.

"I was pretty alarmed at the guy being around," Sweeney said. "He's just one of these very scary people. I'm certainly not surprised at the apparent result."

Delling said the tires on his vehicle were slashed, but he could never prove Delling had done it.

Also in 2005, Delling was convicted of misdemeanor battery after using his motorcycle in an attempt to run over a 13-year-old boy. As a result, he spent at least two months in jail, a year on probation, and went through an anger-management course ordered by the court.