CANYON COUNTY, Idaho — An Idaho judge will allow the case against Stacey Wondra to move forward after his defense challenged criminal charges related to the 2021 disappearance of 5-year-old Michael Vaughan.
Wondra's defense had argued prosecutors didn't present enough evidence to prove charges of murder and kidnapping.
Vaughan disappeared from his Fruitland home in July 2021, and his remains have never been found. The case largely hinges on information prosecutors say Wondra revealed in an interview with police and alerts by cadaver dogs at the Wondra property.
"The question of whether a murder took place is in dispute, because no body has ever been located," Judge Brent L. Whiting wrote in a ruling filed Tuesday.
But, he concluded, there is still legal probable cause for charges of murder and kidnapping "on a theory of accomplice liability."
"While there is no definitive evidence as to how [Vaughan] died, a reasonable inference seems to be that [he] would not have died had he not been kidnapped less than a day prior," Whiting wrote.
In his ruling, Whiting also pointed to the prosecution's evidence that Wondra told investigators he believed Vaughan was dead, "claimed to have absolute certainty" that Vaughan's body was buried in the Wondra backyard, and told investigators where to look.
Watch body camera video showing Wondra's police interview:
While investigators didn't find Vaughan's remains, Whiting accepted the cadaver K9 alerts as enough evidence that human remains "had been in the backyard at some point."
The ruling comes days after Wondra's defense filed another motion asking a judge to prohibit Vaughan's family from "disparaging and harassing" behavior toward him, his defense team and their supporters.
Wondra was arrested in October 2025 and has pleaded not guilty. The case is scheduled to go to trial in March 2027.
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