The Lincoln County Attorney’s Office will not press charges against the 57-year-old woman who shot and killed a Kalispell man on Dec. 26.
In a letter to Sheriff Roby Bowe, County Attorney Bernard Cassidy wrote that Lois Olbekson had acted in self-defense when she fatally shot her son-in-law, Michael Roloff, 31, in her driveway in Libby.
The county attorney sent the case in early March to the Montana Attorney General’s Prosecution Services Bureau for review. Cassidy wrote that after consulting with Assistant Attorney General Brent Light, he decided against charging Olbekson with homicide.
“Although this is not an easy decision to make, a prosecutor’s duty is to follow the law and seek the truth. A prosecutor is also ethically forbidden from charging an offense when he or she does not believe beyond a reasonable doubt that the evidence and the law will support a conviction,” Cassidy wrote. “While I understand that the loss of a loved one is never easy on anyone and many will not agree or be happy with this decision, I will not file charges against Lois Olbekson.”
On Dec. 26, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a shooting on Glendora Avenue in Libby. When police arrived, officers found Roloff lying unresponsive in the driveway. He was taken to Cabinet Peaks Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at about 11 p.m.
According to Cassidy’s letter, Roloff and his wife of six years, Megan Cody, had a long and troubled relationship. Cody had filed multiple restraining orders against Roloff over the years because of abuse, most recently in 2014, after he “snapped and grabbed her throat and shoved her through the TV into a wall,” according to police documents.
According to Cody’s petition for a restraining order in 2014, Roloff violently attacked her in front of their two sons.
“I am afraid for my safety,” Cody wrote. “In the past he strangled me until I passed out. When I woke up, I tried crawling to the door screaming for help (but) he kicked me in the stomach and told me to shut the [expletive] up.”
In an interview with the Beacon, Cody said that Roloff had been diagnosed with intermittent explosive disorder. Her claim was backed up in a restraining order filed in Flathead County District Court.
According to the Mayo Clinic, people diagnosed with intermittent explosive disorder often have “repeated episodes of impulsive, aggressive, violent behavior or angry verbal outbursts in which you react grossly out of proportion to the situation.” A report from the National Institute of Mental Health states that the disorder affects up to 16 million Americans.
Roloff was also found guilty of felony criminal possession of dangerous drugs and driving under the influence in 2012. In 2013, he was given a three-year deferred sentence for the drug charge and a six-month suspended sentence, to run concurrently, for the DUI charge. Roloff was still on probation when he was shot in late 2014.
In the days before the shooting, Cody said that Roloff was extremely agitated and that his anger came to a head on Dec. 26. Cody, Roloff and their two children were in Libby for Christmas visiting Cody’s family. According to Cassidy’s letter, “several people observed that Roloff was highly intoxicated, belligerent and threatening. Megan Cody said that Roloff was threatening to kill everyone in the house except for the kids. He later threatened to harm everyone on the block and in town.”
A toxicology test taken at the State Crime Lab after the shooting indicated that Roloff had a blood alcohol level of .191 at the time of his death, at least two and a half times above the legal limit to operate a vehicle.
According to Cassidy’s letter, Olbekson was aware of the past abuse between her daughter and her son-in-law when she reportedly pulled a gun on Roloff in her driveway on the evening of Dec. 26. Witnesses told police they had heard Roloff yelling at Cody and Olbekson moments before the shooting. The autopsy and blood splatters on the ground showed that Roloff was shot at close range and indicated he was lunging toward Olbekson just before he was shot, according to authorities.
Both the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and Attorney’s Office investigated the shooting before sending the case to the Attorney General for review. According to John Barnes, director of communications for the Montana Department of Justice, the state’s Prosecution Services Bureau annually reviews about 100 cases at the request of local prosecutors.
In the end, Cassidy did not bring charges against Olbekson because Montana Code Annotated states that someone is justified to use force “likely to cause death or serious bodily harm” if the person reasonably believes his or her life is in danger.
“This issue is not whether Lois Olbekson shot and killed Michael Roloff on the evening of Dec. 26, 2014. There is no doubt she did,” Cassidy wrote. “The issue is whether Lois Olbekson acted in self defense or defense of others when she shot Michael.”