John Cody Hart sentenced to 30 years in prison after killings

John Cody Hart, the man who brutally murdered Rory and Sara Mehan at their hotel in New Meadows in 2022, was sentenced in Adams County last week.

 Hart, 29, received 30 years in prison, fixed, followed by life indeterminate, which could mean the possibility of parole after serving the 30 years.

 The sentence was handed down by Adams County Judge Matthew Roker.

 The sentencing comes after Hart’s guilty plea on July 28 to the first-degree murders of the Mehens. As part of his plea agreement, the State of Idaho withdrew the use of the death penalty and proposed life in prison without parole.

 According to court records, Hart stayed at the Hartland Inn Hotel in New Meadows, owned by Sara and Rory. Hart said he was going through drawers in other rooms to find his children’s socks.

 Hart was then confronted by the Mehens, who said he could not go through other rooms. 

 Hart told detectives in an interview after his arrest that this confrontation made him angry, and Rory Mehen was “the most angry Clyde that he had ever seen.”

 The Mehens contacted authorities, and a deputy was dispatched to the inn, where he spoke with Hart about the incident. Records indicate the deputy cleared the scene at 12:20 p.m.

 Hart told investigators he returned to his room and prepared for the worst when he heard Pope Gregory and John Paul say, “Are you going to let Bonny and Clyde do that to our family?”

 Hart then confessed to going to the front counter and shooting Rory and Sara Mehen before getting into his blue Subaru and driving onto Highway 95.