A 67-year-old Payette man wanted by Idaho authorities was shot in the chest Saturday by a local resident wielding a shotgun after the intruder entered a home north of Ontario and forced the homeowner to make him a sandwich.
Police responded to the home at in the 4000 block of Elderberry Road at about noon after the homeowner called and reported the man, later identified as Terry L. Martz, lay wounded in his kitchen. Authorities declined to identify the residents.
Martz has been on the “most wanted” list of the Idaho Department of Correction since 2020 for violating his parole on a conviction of kidnapping and raping a child.
Dave Goldthorpe, Malheur County district attorney, said Martz, wanted on a number of felony warrants in Idaho, entered the home through an unlocked door while a woman was reading in the living room. Her husband was in a shed at the time and when he returned to the house and entered the kitchen he saw Martz, who pointed a pistol at him.
Goldthorpe provided this account of what then happened.
The husband asked Martz what he wanted. Martz demanded that the husband make him a sandwich. After he finished crafting the sandwich, the husband then asked about his wife. Police said Martz told the husband that his wife was fine.
The husband then asked if he could check on her and Martz allowed him to leave the kitchen. The husband found his wife in the living room and told her they had a guest.
He then retrieved a shotgun from the bedroom and returned to the kitchen.
At about the same time, the wife walked into the kitchen.
When the husband entered the kitchen, his wife was between him and Martz. The two men then began to struggle, said Goldthorpe.
“It appears both of them made the choice not to shoot with the wife between them,” said Goldthorpe.
During the struggle, the shotgun discharged and Martz was struck on the side of his chest by birdshot.
“A good amount of shot hit him,” said Goldthorpe.
The man and wife then restrained and disarmed Martz and called police.
Goldthorpe said Martz received medical care from paramedics and was then transported to a Boise-area hospital. Goldthorpe said Martz is expected to recover.
Goldthorpe said after Martz recovers he will be taken into custody by either Idaho or Oregon police.
Goldthorpe said the home invasion ended as “good as it possibly could under the circumstances.”
News tip? Contact reporter Pat Caldwell at [email protected]
EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM – Available for $7.50 a month. Subscribe to the digital service of the Enterprise and get the very best in local journalism. We report with care, attention to accuracy, and an unwavering devotion to fairness. Get the kind of news you’ve been looking for – day in and day out from the Enterprise.
