Killer's appeal denied

By NICHOLAS LEDDEN - for the Bigfork Eagle

The Montana Supreme Court rejected the appeal of a Ferndale man convicted for the murder of his common-law wife last week.

Lawrence Roedel, 68, is serving a 90-year prison sentence for the Aug. 27, 2005, shooting death of 36-year-old Dawn Thompson.

Roedel appealed his conviction on the grounds that he received ineffective assistance from his counsel and that the state had insufficient evidence to convict him.

He also challenged the District Court's decision to admit at his sentencing hearing a certain tape recording, saying he had not been given a copy beforehand.

The state Supreme Court, however, found no basis to support any of Roedel's claims.

In his appeal, Roedel asserted he received ineffective counsel because his lawyer failed to obtain certain testimony.

The court ruled that his lawyer, Jack Quatman, "provided assistance that met an objectively reasonable standard."

Roedel also claimed the jury had insufficient evidence to convict him.

But after reviewing testimony from the trial, the court concluded that the state, through numerous witnesses and forensic evidence, did present "sufficient evidence to allow the jury to find that Roedel acted purposely or knowingly in causing [Dawn Thompson's] death."

Finally, Roedel appealed the District Court decision at his sentencing hearing to allow prosecutors to play a profanity-ridden tape recording of a phone call between himself and a deputy after a 13-year-old girl accused Roedel of kissing her on the mouth, arguing that not having a copy of the tape beforehand denied him the opportunity to prepare a rebuttal.

The court found that the rules of evidence don't apply to sentencing hearings, and that Roedel's due-process rights were not violated because he was given a chance to respond.

A Flathead County jury took only 1 1/2 hours to find Roedel guilty of deliberate homicide after an April 2006 trial.

According to investigators, Roedel called 911 the night of the shooting to report he thought he had shot his wife.

Responding officers found her body at the bottom of a stairway that led to his bedroom from the garage in the couple's Ferndale home. Nearby was a broken wine glass that Thompson presumably carried when she was hit by one of three bullets fired that night.

Roedel told officials that Thompson had been the aggressor and he had shot her accidentally and in self-defense.

However, no evidence existed that Thompson pulled the trigger of the .357-caliber handgun that killed her.

And Roedel later admitted it was possible that he fired all three shots that came from the weapon, according to testimony.

At trial, the couple's teenage daughter testified that her father told her the shooting happened as Thompson was climbing the stairs to Roedel's room, carrying a gun.

But physical evidence belied that version of events, prosecutors said.

According to the state, Thompson was shot in the upper back from 10 feet away as she walked down the stairs. Three bullet holes in the wall demonstrate how Roedel tracked her with the gun, shooting as she retreated, prosecutors said.

At his sentencing, Roedel, who didn't testify during the trial, called the jury a lynch mob. He accused prosecutors of rushing to judgment about his guilt and alienating his children. He blamed a "homeless" woman to whom he gave power of attorney for selling his and his children's assets. He blamed a former wife who testified that he abused her, for allegedly receiving love letters from an old flame. He blamed Thompson for allegedly having affairs and scheming about property they owned.

But all to no avail. Roedel was given 80 years for Thompson's murder, with an additional 10 years tacked on for the use of a firearm in the commission of the crime. He most likely will die in prison.