Notorious Killer to Go Free After 22 Years
Claude Dallas killed two state officers in a remote desert 24 years ago in a crime that brought him notoriety as a callous criminal and a modern-day mountain man at odds with the government.
Now a bespectacled 54-year-old, Dallas is to be released from prison today after serving nearly 22 years for the execution-style slayings of Conley Elms and Bill Pogue, officers for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.
The case has been among the most polarizing in Idaho history, with some expressing disgust at how Dallas gained a measure of folk-hero status among those who speak out against the establishment. Feeding that image was his escape from prison in 1986 and his capture about a year later.
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