A 21-year-old man charged in the beating death and robbery of a medical marijuana patient in Kalispell has pleaded guilty to deliberate homicide and evidence tampering.
KOFI-AM reports Robert Lake of Kalispell entered his pleas in District Court on Monday. Prosecutors dropped a robbery charge as part of a deal.
They say Lake and Jeffrey Nixon beat 49-year-old Wesley Collins to death April 12 to steal his money, marijuana, prescription drugs and other items. Lake says he beat Collins with a hammer and strangled him with a cord. He also says Nixon, who is awaiting trial set for next month, also beat Collins with a hammer.
Lake’s common-law wife, Karrolyn Robinson, has been sentenced to eight years in prison for taking marijuana from Collins’ apartment and for asking Lake’s brother to delete text messages from Lake’s phone before she turned it over to police. Another man, Cody Naldrett, is accused of helping dispose of Collins’ body.
Lake faces up to 110 years in prison, but prosecutors will not ask for parole restrictions as part of the plea deal.