Adequate training might have caused Schulthies and the other bounty hunters to handle the operation differently, said Kevin Ratigan, owner of Special Operations Asset Recovery, a bail-recovery and private security company in Boise. Ratigan said he trains his agents to be less confrontational and to try to defuse what is already a stressful situation.

Ratigan said he was saddened when he learned of Clay’s death. “There’s no reason that anybody’s life should be taken over something as simple as a bail bond itself,” he said. “There’s always something else that can be done.”