BILLINGS — A Montana man who pleaded guilty to starting a trailer fire in April 2013 that killed four people has been sentenced to 60 years in prison.
District Judge Gregory Todd sentenced Robert Bottenhagen on Tuesday, saying the Billings man had failed to take responsibility for his actions.
Prosecutors said Bottenhagen, 22, and co-defendant Zaccary John Kern had been at a $5 “all-you-can-drink” night at a bar with the four victims and were still in the trailer in Lockwood when the others went to bed early on April 18, 2013. Kern said he set fire to a napkin and that it burned out. He said Bottenhagen then used an apron to set a fire that spread to the kitchen counter. Kern said they both ran out of the trailer without awakening the victims or calling 911.
Kern, 22, pleaded guilty to four counts of accountability to negligent homicide and is serving a 25-year prison sentence.
Bottenhagen pleaded guilty in April to four counts of negligent homicide for the fire that killed Amber-Marie Beyers, 33; Donovan Fogle, 25; Brandi Hansen Moats, 25 and Troy Saylor, 28.
“Particularly troubling in the nature of this offense is that it so easily could have been avoided,” Yellowstone County Attorney Scott Twito said Tuesday.
The lead investigator, sheriff’s Detective Frank Fritz, testified that there was a fire extinguisher in the trailer’s pantry and the victims were sleeping in rooms only feet away from the kitchen.
Todd also was troubled by statements Bottenhagen made to officials compiling a pre-sentence report.
“I believe the court should be pretty lenient on me because I have no prior felonies,” Bottenhagen stated. “I was too drunk to recognize what I was doing and I believe that one drinking accident should not imprison me for the majority of my life. It could happen to anyone.”
Public defender Gregory Paskell argued Kern threw Bottenhagen “under the bus,” and that the two were actually equally responsible for the fire and should get the same sentence.
Todd also heard from family members of the victims and from Bottenhagen’s father.
Bottenhagen apologized during the sentencing hearing.
“The first thing I would like to say here today is that I take responsibility for my actions and what has happened,” Bottenhagen said Tuesday. “To the family of the deceased, I can’t fully understand your loss and I know that nothing I can say or do can ever replace them.”
Todd also ordered Bottenhagen to pay $18,700 in restitution.