Ferndale shooter sentenced to 110 years, no parole

Ty Hampton / Northwest Montana News Network

POLSON - District Court Judge C.B. McNeil sentenced Ronald Lon Petersen to 110 years in Montana State Prison without parole on Monday for the shooting death of a 24-year-old Ferndale man on New Year's Eve 2007.

Emotions ran high as the Lake County district courtroom was filled with teary eyes for the sentencing hearing of the 20-year-old Bigfork killer who murdered Clyde "Colin" Wilson nearly 15 months ago.

Lake County Prosecutor Mitch Young called Wilson's brother and mother to testify in the hearing. Dianne Wilson played a 24-minute memorial DVD of Colin, including pictures set to music spanning the 24 years of the victim's life. The victim's mother said it was important for the killer to watch the DVD in order to show what he had taken from the family.

Petersen was scheduled to enter into a jury trial facing murder charges on Feb. 2, but pleaded guilty to deliberate homicide in Lake County on Jan. 2. Petersen's plea agreement called for a joint recommendation of one hundred years in prison with no chance of parole, and Judge McNeil added a 10-year concurrent sentence for committing murder with the use of a firearm.

When McNeil read aloud the judgment he stated that the murder was committed in a "senseless and cowardly manner."

For more on this story, see this week's Bigfork Eagle.