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One Month After Sentencing, Clinic Vandal Files for Appeal

Zachary Klundt filed a notice of appeal with the Montana Supreme Court on July 22

By Justin Franz

The man who was sentenced to five years in prison for breaking into and destroying a Kalispell health clinic has filed a notice of appeal with the Montana Supreme Court.

Zachary Klundt filed the notice on July 22, more than a month after he received a 20-year sentence with 15 years suspended for vandalizing All Families Healthcare in March 2014. The crime made regional headlines because the clinic was the only one in the Flathead Valley that offered abortions.

Klundt has not been assigned a public defender and has not yet filed his opening brief making his argument for an appeal.

In March 2014, Klundt broke into the clinic and destroyed nearly everything in sight. He was arrested a few days later and charged with burglary, criminal mischief and theft. Earlier this year, Klundt pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced in June. At the three-day hearing, Klundt’s attorney tried to convince the judge that his client was drunk and looking for drugs when he broke into the clinic. But prosecutors argued it was politically motivated. Klundt’s mother, Twyla Klundt, was on the board of Hope Pregnancy Ministries, a local Christian group that opposes abortion.

“Zachary Klundt destroyed my office because he and his family are against abortions,” said Susan Cahill, the proprietor and physician at the clinic, while testifying as a witness for the prosecution at the hearing. “Destroying someone’s property because of a difference in beliefs is called terrorism.”

The detective who led the Kalispell Police Department’s investigation into the vandalism also offered testimony that revealed details of the day Klundt destroyed the clinic. According to Capt. Scott Warnell, Klundt texted his mother on the afternoon of March 3 asking for information about where Cahill’s new office was located. Cahill moved out of her old office on Meridian Road in early 2014 when Michelle and Kent Reimer purchased the building and evicted her. Michelle Reimer works as the executive director of Hope Pregnancy Ministries, the anti-abortion group.

Besides the 20-year sentence to the Montana State Prison (and two additional 10-year suspended sentences that run concurrently), Klundt must also pay $600,000 restitution to both Cahill and the landlord of the building the clinic was located in.