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Homicide defendant – ‘Happier than hell’ over ex’s killing

This story by the Missoulian’s Tristan Scott should come with a warning label because its details are so disturbing.

Tyler Michael Miller of Kalispell has admitted to the Christmas Day shooting deaths of Jaimi Lynn Hurlbert, 35, and her 15-year-old daughter, Alyssa Burkett.

He also promises to kill again if given the [...]

Montana lawmaker – Prisoners try HIV-tipped darts as murder weapons

Really? Really?

Paper blow darts tipped with HIV-infected saliva or blood can kill?

Well, no. Not really. Despite what Republican Rep. Janna Taylor, of Dayton in Lake County, said in a hearing on a bill to repeal the death penalty this week.

“There’s new ways to kill. You know, if a prisoner [...]

Cops and Courts Quote of the Day – Confusion reigns

“Such an order produces a conundrum, an insoluble problem.”

District Court Judge John Larson of Missoula after setting a Jan. 31 execution for double murderer Ronald Allen Smith (in Missoulian photo by Michael Gallacher, above) one day after a judge in Helena ordered Smith’s execution halted

Read the full story in the [...]

Murder victim’s daughter – ‘very disappointed’ in stay of execution

It looks as though a hearing to set an execution date for double murderer Ronald Allen Smith will still go on as planned tomorrow morning in Deer Lodge – even though a Helena judge yesterday issued a stay (that action is detailed in the Missoulian).

Smith shot Harvey Mad Man and Thomas Running [...]

Court stops execution, but will date be set anyway?

The execution date for Ronald Allen Smith has yet to be set – that’s supposed to happen Wednesday – but Helena District Court Judge Jeffrey Sherlock has already stayed it.

Sherlock granted an injunction mid-afternoon today effectively stopping the execution of Smith, who shot cousins Harvey Mad Man and Thomas Running Rabbit near [...]

Cops and Courts Quote of the Day

“He put my mom in a turmoil. He didn’t only kill my brother and my cousin, but he also killed my mother (of a broken heart) … and he didn’t have no remorse.”

Kevin Mad Man, brother of Harvey Mad Man and cousin of Thomas Running Rabbit, killed in 1982 by Ronald Allen [...]

Cops and Courts Catch-up – Suicide suit verdict. Bank robbery hearing. Execution date pending. Horsehair thievery.

Whew. One day out of Missoula (to cover closing arguments, and the eventual verdict, in a lawsuit stemming from the 2004 suicide of a 16-year-old at Spring Creek Lodge Academy for troubled youth near Thompson Falls) and all heck breaks loose on the cops and courts beat.

Frightened Horse (Eugene Delacroix)

While [...]