Former Potlatch man takes the stand

Former Potlatch-area resident Jonathan Scott French, 41, said he killed his girlfriend, but did not premeditate her slashing death.

French, a 1987 graduate of Potlatch High School, took the witness stand and said he "snapped" after learning Jennifer Stark, a court reporter in Vista, Calif., may have been seeing another man.

The two, according to news accounts of trial testimony, had an on-again, off-again relationship for more than four years, at one point becoming engaged and buying a home for $845,000, before losing it to foreclosure.

San Diego County Deputy District Attorney Jeff Dusek charged French with first-degree murder, which carries a maximum penalty of 26 years to life in prison.

French's defense attorney, Ken Kaminski, argued the killing was a product of voluntary manslaughter committed in a fit of emotion, according to news accounts.

"I snapped. I completely snapped," French was quoted as saying by the North County Times newspaper of San Diego. "I went from 0 to 1,000. I felt absolutely hot. I had red over my eyes. I never felt that before in my life."

Stark's bloodied body was found at her home, where French, according to reports, said the two went after they had gone out for the evening to celebrate a reconciliation. Investigators reported she died after being slashed with a knife multiple times, with the fatal wound being a 5-inch-long slash across the front of her neck down to the spine.

French, who was raised in the Potlatch area, has been living in California for several years and was working as a salesman selling products to brain surgeons in Orange County, according to trial reports.

The trial is scheduled to resume Monday with French expected to continue on the witness stand under continued cross examination by Dusek. French, according to police reports, said he tried to take his own life after leaving Stark's home by slashing his own wrists and then driving around in search of something to hit with his car. He eventually turned himself in to authorities, according to police reports.

"The only thing that made sense was I wanted to die," the San Diego Union-Tribune quoted French as testifying. "I needed to die."

Dusek, according to news accounts, asked French why he couldn't kill himself after being able to kill Stark?

"I didn't have that same rage," the Union-Tribune reported French as saying. "It's harder than you think."

---

Johnson may be contacted at djohnson@lmtribune.com or (208) 883-0564.