The Whitefish man accused of shooting at two motorcyclists earlier this month pleaded not guilty to charges of felony assault with a weapon in Flathead County District Court on Aug. 21.
Christopher Robert Showen, 34, is accused of firing a gun at two people on a motorcycle following a road rage incident near Columbia Falls on Aug. 2. No one was hit or injured during the incident.
Showen is being held on a $100,000 bond and his attorney, Brent Getty, argued that the amount should be reduced to $25,000. County Attorney Ed Corrigan urged the court to keep it as it is and judge Heidi J. Ulbricht agreed.
“Mr. Showen is a violent offender and the bond should be left as it is,” Corrigan said, before referring the court to parts of the 34-year-old’s long criminal history.
Showen was 19 years old when he stood trial for the murder of Carl John “C.J.” Storkson. According to court documents, Storkson, Showen and some other teens were snorting crank on the night of April 6, 1998, when Storkson was shot in the back of the head on a back road between Columbia Falls and Whitefish. Storkson, who lived in Olney, was reported missing three days later and his body was found in a shallow grave in the Stillwater State Forest. His burned-out vehicle was also found nearby.
During a three-week trial, prosecutors argued to a jury that Showen had killed his childhood friend and later buried the body. The jury found Showen not guilty after Showen’s attorney, Phyllis Quatman, orchestrated a defense that found numerous discrepancies in the witnesses’ versions of events.
Five years later, Showen pleaded guilty to misdemeanor misconduct involving weapons following a drive-by shooting in Wasilla, Alaska. According to a news story in the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, Showen was involved in an argument with a woman at a party on May 9, 2004, and as he left he leaned out of a vehicle’s passenger-side window and fired several shots into the air before firing several more at the woman. Showen spent a year in prison for the offense.
Less than two years later, Showen was involved in another shooting, this time at the Eureka police station. According to a Western News story, on the night of Dec. 18, 2005, Showen, Mark Nelson and Jennifer Nelson were arrested at the VFW in Eureka following an altercation with a police officer. Mark Nelson, Jennifer Nelson’s father, and Showen were charged with disorderly conduct and later released.
Jennifer, who was dating Showen at the time, remained incarcerated so that law enforcement could conduct a mental health evaluation. A short while later, Mark Nelson returned to the police station with a shotgun and demanded his daughter be released before firing a round of buckshot at an officer. The officer returned fire, hitting Nelson three times. Moments later, police found Showen sitting in Nelson’s car outside with the motor running and a handgun, a shotgun and a rifle.
Showen was charged with conspiracy to commit assault with a weapon. He entered an Alford plea, which means a defendant believes that they are innocent but knows the prosecution has enough evidence to find them guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. He was given a five-year suspended sentenced to the Department of Corrections. The suspended sentence was later revoked after he was arrested for violating his probation.
On Thursday, he was back in court facing new charges following the shooting near Columbia Falls on Aug. 2.
According to the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office and court documents, shortly after 7 p.m., Aug. 2, emergency dispatch received a report of shots being fired on Trumble Creek Road near Columbia Falls. The victim and his girlfriend told police that they were riding their motorcycle when a reckless driver passed them in the Creston area. As they passed, the occupants of the vehicle reportedly made obscene gestures at the bikers.
The couple on the motorcycle followed the vehicle in an attempt to get the license plate number. As the vehicle approached the intersection of Trumble Creek and Hodgson roads, a male passenger, later identified as Showen, reportedly leaned out of the car and began firing a handgun at the couple on the motorcycle. No one was hit or injured. The couple stopped following the vehicle and called police.
Police tracked the vehicle to Whitefish, where officers arrested Showen.
If convicted, Showen could spend 20 years in prison and face a fine of $50,000.
A trial is set for Nov. 3.