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Creston Murder Suspect Sentenced to Prison for Dealing Meth

Melisa Ann Crone was sentenced to 40 years in prison with 20 years suspended

By Justin Franz
Melisa Ann Crone appears in Flathead County District Court on May 25, 2017. Justin Franz | Flathead Beacon

Melisa Ann Crone, the woman prosecutors say ordered the murder of a 34-year-old Kalispell man last year, has been sentenced to the Montana State Prison for dealing methamphetamine.

Crone appeared in Flathead County District Court on May 25 during an emotional hearing where she was sentenced to 40 years in prison with 20 years suspended for felony criminal distribution of dangerous drugs. Crone was one of four people arrested and charged with crimes related to the murder of Wade Allen Rautio in the woods near Creston in May 2016.

Crone was previously charged with accountability to deliberate homicide but that charge was amended to criminal distribution in a plea agreement signed in March.

Although she was not convicted of being directly involved with Rautio’s murder, prosecutors said she “created the environment” for such violence at her Evergreen home where she sold drugs.

According to court records and charging documents, Robert Wittal, Christopher Michael Hansen and David Vincent Toman stabbed Rautio to death in the woods east of Creston over a drug debt. Wittal, Hansen and Toman were all arrested in June 2016 after Rautio’s body was discovered in a creek. Crone was arrested soon after and prosecutors initially believed that she had orchestrated the crime. Wittal was charged with deliberate homicide and Crone, Hansen and Toman were charged with accountability to deliberate homicide.

Before Judge Dan Wilson handed down his sentence, the court heard testimony from friends and family of the victim. Kylie Adams, Rautio’s fiancée, cried on the stand recalling how much the victim had loved his family.

“I was taught at a young age that there is no such thing as monsters, but I’m here to tell you that there are monsters in this world and you’re one of them Melisa,” she said.

The victim’s mother, Tommy Rautio, said Rautio was devoted to his family although her son had become addicted to drugs and had fallen into the wrong crowd. She said even when he was at his lowest with his addiction he always called her on Mother’s Day but that call never came this year.

“My son did not deserve to die like this,” she said. “You signed his death warrant the night you let him go out the door (with Wittal, Hansen and Toman).

“Because of you my daughter doesn’t have a brother now. My grandchildren do not have an uncle now. My husband does not have a son now. And I don’t have a son now.”

Before the imposition of the sentence, Judge Wilson allowed Crone to make a statement to the family. Crone, who had been subdued throughout the hearing, broke down into tears as she turned and looked at Rautio’s family.

“I’m so sorry for what happened,” she said. “Wade was a wonderful person and had I known what (Wittal) was going to do to him I never would have let them leave.”

During Wittal’s October 2016 murder trial, where he was convicted of stabbing Rautio more than two dozen times, the violent drug culture that the defendants lived in came up on numerous occasions.

“I should have just gotten clean,” Crone said, as she turned back to the judge for her sentence.

Wittal was sentenced to 110 years in prison earlier this year. Hansen and Toman have both pleaded guilty for their roles in the murder and will be sentenced this summer.