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Supreme Court Won’t Hear Case of Montana Man Who Shot Student

Markus Kaarma was convicted of the 2014 death of 17-year-old Diren Dede in Missoula

By Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is leaving in place a 70-year prison sentence for a Montana man convicted of shooting a German exchange student who was trespassing in his garage.

The Supreme Court declined Monday to hear the case of Markus Kaarma.

Kaarma was convicted of the 2014 death of 17-year-old Diren Dede, who had apparently gone into Kaarma’s garage in Missoula to steal beer. Kaarma had argued the shooting was in self-defense. Prosecutors said Kaarma and his girlfriend were trying to lure a burglar into the garage by leaving the garage door open despite having been burglarized twice before.

Kaarma told the Supreme Court that he didn’t get a fair trial because media coverage of the case prejudiced the outcome.

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