Man found guilty in Echo Lake murder trial
A jury found Robert Matthew Wittal, 29, of Kalispell, guilty of deliberate homicide on Thursday for the May 26 stabbing death of 35-year-old Wade Rautio.
The jury spent four hours determining that Wittal killed Rautio with a knife after a four-day trial in Flathead District Court. Wittal will face up to 100 years in prison and a $50,000 fine at sentencing on Jan. 17.
Prosecutors did not comment after the verdict, making note that three other defendants are still set to go to trial next year for Rautio’s killing. Family members and friends on both sides of the courtroom broke down in tears after the verdict was read. Wittal’s mother sobbed uncontrollably and loudly said, “I love you,” as Wittal was escorted from the court room, tears streaming down his face.
It was an emotional ending to the trial in which testimony established that Wittal, Rautio, David Toman, 20 and Chris Hansen, 29, had left an Evergreen home belonging to Melisa Crone, 29, in the early morning of May 26.
Two weeks after the murder, Toman led investigators to Rautio’s body near Echo Lake, saying that he had witnessed a homicide. A medical examiner determined that Rautio had been stabbed 25 times with blows that punctured a lung and severed his carotid arteries and jugular vein.
Testimony indicated that Rautio had gotten into a disagreement with either Crone or Wittal the morning of the murder, and that Rautio had been kicked out of the drug house. Rautio did not return with the rest of the group a few hours later, and Crone testified that Wittal told her “he stabbed him about 100 times. He said (Rautio) had a strong soul and he didn’t want to go down. His soul wasn’t ready to leave.”
Testimony from Hansen and Toman indicated that Wittal had stabbed Rautio with a long and thick knife, which he dropped in Brown’s Creek before Hansen allegedly handed him another smaller knife to finish the killing. One knife was recovered from the creek. The other was recovered from an outbuilding at Lonesome Dove Ranch, where Hansen told investigators he had buried it.
Defense attorney Steven Scott claimed in closing arguments that it was Crone, Hansen and Toman who actually killed Rautio. Scott said the trio went to elaborate lengths to fabricate evidence to pin the murder on Wittal.
Wittal testified on the penultimate day of trial that he did not commit the murder and that he had been set up.
Scott pointed to inconsistencies in the witnesses account of what happened, and the fact that everyone who testified other than police or medical examiners had admitted to some level of drug usage.
“Their stories are hopelessly irreconcilable,” Scott said.
Scott also noted that there was no DNA, footprints, fingerprints or other physical evidence linking Wittal to the crime.
Scott told the jury that someone should be convicted in the murder, but not his client.
“They are going to be held accountable,” Scott said. “Their day in court is coming... We are confident that at the end of deliberations you will find Robert Wittal not guilty.”
In the end, the jury believed the prosecution’s version of what happened. Prosecutors John Donovan and Andrew Clegg had established through testimony, interview transcripts and text messages that Wittal had bragged about being a drug “enforcer,” had been involved in violent incidents before and had made multiple threats to stab Rautio before the murder.
“Robert Wittal brutally murdered Wade Rautio for stealing from him and the enforcer couldn’t have that,” prosecutor John Donovan said in closing statements.
Crone, Toman and Hansen are all set to go to trial next year on charges of accountability to deliberate homicide.
Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.