GREAT FALLS (AP) – A Browning man accused of killing his brother-in-law and leaving the body at the bottom of an overlook was found guilty of deliberate homicide Friday.
Michael “Max” Miller was accused of killing LaMar Windham, 45, in June 2006.
“They got him,” said Mary Griffin, Windham’s sister-in-law. “I feel good now. I can sleep at night.”
Miller stared straight ahead as the verdict was read. Meanwhile, family members of the victim hugged each other and cried.
Autopsy reports showed Windham died from blunt force trauma and a broken neck. But attorneys disagreed about how he was killed.
Prosecutors told jurors that Miller possibly strangled Windham during a day of drinking and arguing, and then left the body below the Rainbow Dam Overlook just east of Great Falls.
Defense attorneys said the men were drunk when they walked down a trail toward the Missouri River, where Windham stumbled off steep terrain and plunged to his death.
Defense Attorney Carl Jensen vowed to appeal.
“I’m very disappointed,” he said. “Some of the prosecution witnesses were not candid on the stand and I’d hoped (the jury) would see that as an indication of Mr. Miller’s innocence.”
Miller’s sentencing is set for Jan. 17.