“He stole my father”: Patrick Shelton’s family speaks out for the first time after killer’s sentencing
Ariel Jensen
CHALLIS, Idaho (KIFI) — The family of Patrick Shelton is speaking out for the first time, sharing their pain and anger just hours after Allan Douglas Bruce was sentenced yesterday, Nov. 17, for Shelton’s murder. The victim, who was killed in May of this year, would have celebrated his 48th birthday this past Saturday.
Local News 8 was able to speak in an exclusive interview with members of Patrick Shelton’s family following the sentencing. It was the first time Shelton’s family went on camera to share their journey over the last seven months as they remembered the man whose life was taken far too soon.
Patrick’s daughter, Hope Shelton, emphasized her father’s selflessness, even in the face of his own hardships. “My dad was a good person,” she said. “He was homeless, and he still helped me buy my car.”
Killer’s Cold Cruelty: A Shocking 18-Page Letter
Many listeners on Monday were in tears as they listened to Patrick’s daughters give their impact statements in front of the man the court found responsible for the murder of their father. The emotional tension in the courtroom boiled over when Hope detailed the callousness of her father’s killer, a man who claimed they were friends. Bruce showed no emotion as Patrick Shelton’s two daughters confronted him.
Hope revealed she received an 18-page letter from Bruce following her father’s death. She initially believed it would be an apology. Instead, she found a letter that was filled with insults, sarcastically claiming Shelton had died from a “severe case of terminal cranial rectiumitus,” and adding the cruel claim that Bruce had saved the family the expense of a funeral.
Photos of Alan Bruce’s letter to Hope Shelton: Courtesy Shelton Family
“He stole my father away from me. And then he has the audacity to write me a letter,” raged Hope in her impact statement.
“He made it seem like he was justified, that, well, he was doing us a favor,” Hope went on to tell Local News 8. “(He said) He was doing everyone a favor by dismembering my dad and throwing him in the river… We would have paid for the funeral.”
“Something Alan Will Have to Atone for Forever”
Patrick’s oldest daughter, Shea, said in her impact statement, “worst fears become reality, he’s dead, and the hope of anything ever being recovered disappears like smoke.”
For Hope, the loss is compounded by major missed life milestones. She will turn 18 in a few days, and her father was murdered just a few weeks before her high school graduation. She never got the chance to tell him she had been accepted into Boise State University, but she believes her father would have been proud.
In her final words to the court and to the cameras, Hope focused on justice and moral debt. “Alan took a kind and good person from this world, and that’s something that Alan will have to atone for forever.”