Daniel Lee Moore
Former criminal defendant and party to later civil litigation
Brian Drake / Daniel Moore case
Who They Are
Daniel Lee Moore worked as a chiropractor in Bonners Ferry, Idaho. Investigators questioned him during the inquiry into the March 2020 shooting death of fellow chiropractor Brian Drake. Police interviewed him in August 2020 and prosecutors charged him with second-degree murder.
Moore’s lawyers challenged statements obtained during that interview. The case became an important court record about a person’s right to counsel during questioning. Moore also appeared in separate civil and federal litigation that followed the investigation.
Why This Face Matters
A district judge ruled that investigators kept questioning Moore after he asked for counsel. His confession was excluded from the prosecution’s main case, and the criminal charge was dismissed in May 2021.
On August 31, 2022, the Idaho Supreme Court kept the dismissal in place. It also held that certain voluntary statements could have limited impeachment use if a future case were brought and Moore testified inconsistently. In 2025 a separate civil judgment held Moore and his wife liable for damages in a lawsuit brought by Brian Drake’s family. A civil finding is not a criminal conviction. The county prosecutor later referred the investigation to Idaho’s attorney general, according to April 4, 2026 reporting; that referral was not itself a new criminal charge.
Authentic portrait not cleared for reuse
ROLE
Chiropractor; original second-degree murder charge dismissed
CONNECTION
He was accused in the 2020 criminal investigation and named in the family’s civil action.
KEY EVENT
2021 dismissal; August 31, 2022, Idaho Supreme Court decision
Footnotes
Idaho Supreme Court, State v. Moore, Docket 48817, August 31, 2022; Bonner County Daily Bee, civil judgment, February 8, 2025; 9B News, referral to attorney general, April 4, 2026.
Records note: Criminal charges, the 2025 civil judgment and the later investigation are legally distinct. No newer criminal charge is asserted without a verified court record.