Convicted murderer sentenced to 70 years

Cecil Thomas Rice was sentenced Thursday to 70 years at Montana State Prison for the murder of Anthony Walthers.

Walthers was pushed off the Old Steel Bridge in Evergreen last April. His body was recovered in Flathead Lake about a mile from the river’s mouth more than a month later.

A jury came to a guilty verdict after 90 minutes of deliberation in Flathead District Court in Kalispell on Dec.5.

“The victim, Anthony Andrew Walthers, suffered death by drowning in the frigid water of the Flathead River. As he was swept down the river by the powerful current, the last long moments of his life must have been filled with terror as he realized he could not save himself,” said Flathead District Court Judge Dan Wilson during Rice’s sentencing. “The defendant made no attempt at rescue or to call for aide,” Wilson added.

The judge said Rice had an “utter disregard for the death he consigned Mr. Walthers to suffer” as well as little or no remorse and “the lack of capacity to experience such emotion.”

Walthers’ ex-wife took the stand at Rice’s sentencing. They had two children together. Christina Walthers revealed Rice had met Walthers’ children just days before he was killed. She said her 6-year-old son suffered a panic attack when he learned of Walthers’ death.

She said her ex-husband will never get to be part of his children’s lives, and his children will be impacted forever.

“He won’t see how his daughter learned to play the clarinet. He missed my son’s kindergarten graduation,” Christina Walthers said.

“My whole family is destroyed by this,” the victim’s brother, Jesse Walthers, said after taking the stand. “Anthony was one of the most kind-hearted people I knew,” he said. Jesse Walthers asked the judge to give Rice the maximum sentence. Christina Walthers tone was slightly different.

“In all this pain, I want to see something positive. I want to see Cecil have some remorse and change his life,” she said.

Rice told the judge he’d been thinking for nine months for what to say, but offered little consolation.

“No one knew Anthony Walthers was going to die that day,” Rice said. “No apology would suffice for an incident like this,” he said.

Rice’s attorney said he couldn’t recommend a jail sentence to the judge.

“My client is steadfast and adamant to me that he is innocent,” said attorney Steven Scott. “Because of that, I can not ask you to send him to prison for any amount of time.”

Prosecuting attorney John Donovan said Rice “coaxed” and “enticed” Walthers onto the bridge in premeditated murder.

“This was a calculated act. It was a heinous act. It caused the death of another human being in a horrible way,” Donovan said.

State prosecutors asked the judge to sentence Rice to a 60-year commitment at state prison. Defense attorney Scott asked for court fines and fees to be waived. Wilson prescribed a 70-year sentence with no time suspended — 10 years longer than the state’s recommendation. The judge also denied the attorney’s request to waive court fines and fees, saying Rice could work in prison.

Reporter Breeana Laughlin can be reached at 758-4441 or blaughlin@dailyinterlake.com.