A 27-year-old Whitefish man admitted to murdering his father during an episode of “extreme mental stress” in July 2018.
Tanner Hosek appeared via video from the Montana State Hospital at a change of plea hearing in Flathead County District Court on Nov. 21. During the hearing, Hosek pleaded guilty “by reason of mental disorder” to an amended charge of mitigated deliberate homicide.
Hosek will be sentenced on Jan. 23, 2020.
According to court documents and law enforcement, Flathead County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a reported altercation between two men along Wilderness Lane near Whitefish at approximately 8:30 p.m. on July 9, 2018. When law enforcement arrived they found Eric Kevin Hosek, 65, dead from multiple stab wounds. Officers found and questioned the younger Hosek who, according to court documents, admitted to stabbing his father.
Later that month, Hosek pleaded not guilty to a single count of deliberate homicide.
According to court records, Hosek has long struggled with a serious mental health disorder and was living under the ward of his parents. Documents from 2015 note that Hosek was prone to “episodes where his judgment is impaired to the degree that he needs monitoring and supervision for his own safety and protection.” Hosek was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia.