The documents helped shape a first-degree murder case that was later resolved through David Boyd’s plea to a reduced charge.
CLARKSTON, Wash. — Before David E. Boyd carried a loaded revolver to his neighbor’s apartment, he wrote that the man had pushed him beyond his limit and described an intention to kill him and then himself, according to court records in a case that has now ended with a 280-month sentence.
The handwritten statement was among the most consequential pieces of evidence recovered after Boyd fatally shot 53-year-old Chad VanScotter on Jan. 28, 2025. Police found it in Boyd’s apartment along with another note concerning what should happen if Boyd died. Prosecutors initially charged Boyd with first-degree murder, but he pleaded guilty June 12, 2026, to second-degree murder with a firearm enhancement and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
The notes gave investigators a documented look at Boyd’s thinking before the shooting, while his later statements supplied competing explanations about when and why he wrote them. Boyd said he prepared the statement about VanScotter earlier on the day of the killing but claimed he had not yet decided to confront him. He described the other document as an older note written about 10 months earlier, when health concerns had led him to consider his own death.
Police drew a more direct connection between the writing and what happened that night. The probable cause affidavit said Boyd acted with the intent to confront VanScotter while armed after putting his anger and stated plans on paper. Investigators also considered Boyd’s decision to load or carry the revolver, leave his own apartment and approach the neighboring door rather than contact officers about the noise he said was disturbing him.
The prosecution never had to present that evidence to a jury. Boyd, who was 76 when VanScotter was killed and 78 at sentencing, accepted a plea agreement reducing the first-degree murder allegation to second-degree murder. Judge Brooke Burns imposed the 280-month prison term in Asotin County Superior Court during the same June 12 proceeding. The sentence equals 23 years and four months. The written statement did not appear in isolation. Boyd told investigators that VanScotter had been playing loud music for months and that he believed the noise was meant to bully him. He said he had complained previously but thought police had been unable to solve the problem. Available reports attribute those claims to Boyd and do not establish that VanScotter intended to harass him or that the two men’s earlier interactions had been independently verified.
Boyd described the day of the shooting as another episode in that conflict. Around 1 p.m., he said, VanScotter returned to the apartment complex on the 1200 block of Ash Street and placed a radio or speaker near their shared wall. Boyd told police that the music included a piece connected to “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” He said it remained audible even while he watched television through earphones.
The reference to the long-running children’s program became a striking detail in public accounts of the case, but it did not explain the homicide on its own. Court materials described hours of escalating frustration, Boyd’s belief that the speaker had been positioned to target his apartment, the earlier written threat and his decision to arm himself. The criminal case concerned that chain of conduct, not merely the selection of a television song.
Boyd said he went to bed early and attempted to sleep at about 5:30 p.m. He told detectives he tossed and turned while the music continued. At one point, he said, the sound stopped while the speaker was moved and then started again closer to his bedroom. He interpreted the movement as deliberate provocation. Investigators recorded his belief but did not report finding evidence showing who moved the speaker or for what purpose.
By shortly before 9 p.m., Boyd said he had lost control of his anger. He took the .38-caliber revolver and walked next door. In an interview after the shooting, he acknowledged choosing confrontation over another call to police. He said previous complaints had accomplished little and that he worried officers might arrest him as the aggressor. His fear of that outcome did not prevent him from approaching VanScotter while carrying a prohibited firearm.
The accounts of the doorway encounter came largely from Boyd because VanScotter died at the scene. Boyd said VanScotter opened the door with a long walking stick and swung it at him, striking him in the head area. A local report citing the probable cause affidavit said Boyd also admitted VanScotter was moving away when the first gunshot was fired. Police found VanScotter with multiple wounds after arriving at the complex. Boyd returned home after the shooting, bringing the confrontation to the same apartment where the notes had been left. He later said he planned to die by suicide rather than face prison, but he was unable to carry out that plan. He called 911, told authorities about the shooting and waited for officers. Police recovered the revolver and the writings during the investigation that followed.
His comments to detectives extended beyond an admission that he fired the shots. According to the affidavit, Boyd said he felt relieved that the matter was over and expressed the view that people he considered bullies deserved such treatment. Those statements showed his attitude after the killing but remained his characterization of VanScotter. Nothing in the available court reporting established Boyd’s description of the victim as an objective fact.
The first-degree murder charge reflected the prosecution’s position that evidence existed of a planned killing. The handwritten statement was especially relevant because it preceded Boyd’s armed trip to the neighboring apartment. Boyd’s guilty plea to second-degree murder meant the state no longer had to prove premeditation at trial, while Boyd received a conviction for a serious intentional homicide offense rather than risking the outcome of the original prosecution.
The separate unlawful-possession conviction addressed how Boyd obtained or retained access to the revolver despite his record. News reports said his previous convictions included aggravated assault in 2013 and prohibited him from having a firearm. He had been held without bond since his arrest, both because of his history and because of the violent charge pending against him.
Prosecutor Curt Liedkie represented the state at the final hearing, and attorney Rick Cuddihy represented Boyd. The available accounts did not reproduce the parties’ complete sentencing arguments, any victim-impact statements or Burns’ full explanation for selecting 280 months. They also did not state whether Boyd had filed or planned an appeal following entry of the judgment.
The notes that first helped investigators describe the killing as planned will not be tested through a trial because Boyd’s plea resolved the case. They remain part of the public record explaining why the prosecution began with a first-degree murder charge, while the final judgment records a conviction for second-degree murder and illegal firearm possession. Boyd’s prison sentence is the latest confirmed legal development.
Author note: Last updated July 17, 2026.