Court Denies Motion to Dismiss Murder Charge in Hillious Case
Attorney for Bradley Hillious argued state denied him opportunity to conduct independent autopsy on wife’s body since she was cremated before he was charged
By Andy Viano
Flathead County District Court Judge Robert Allison has denied a motion by the attorney for accused murderer Bradley Hillious to dismiss the charge against him on the grounds that the state’s release of Amanda Hillious’ body for cremation constituted improper destruction of evidence, despite the fact that Bradley authorized the cremation.
Allison filed his decision on Wednesday, agreeing with County Attorney Travis Ahner, who argued that when the state released Amanda’s body to her husband, it no longer had an obligation to preserve her remains as evidence. Bradley Hillious ordered his wife’s cremation on Dec. 23. He was charged with deliberate homicide the next day.
Prosecutors allege Bradley attacked his wife at their home on Dec. 15, causing multiple injuries to her head, neck, ribs, legs and liver. Bradley claims his wife fell down the stairs. Amanda died at the hospital on Dec. 19. The Montana State Crime Lab in Missoula then conducted an autopsy on Amanda’s body and determined her death was a homicide caused by “blunt force injuries associated with neck compression.”
In late March, attorney Jami Rebsom moved for the case to be dismissed, arguing that Bradley did not have a chance to conduct an independent autopsy of Amanda’s remains and that such an investigation could have revealed exculpatory evidence. Rebsom argued that prosecutors planned to charge her client at the time they released Amanda’s body and, therefore, should have taken steps to preserve her remains.
“The state knew that it would be charging Mr. Hillious with deliberate homicide, as reported by search warrants later received,” she wrote. “There is no reason the state should have released the body.”
Rebsom went on to write that Amanda’s cremation “destroyed” her clients’ chance to “clear his name.”
In his ruling, Judge Allison cited Ahner’s argument that it was Bradley Hillious who caused the destruction of evidence and, therefore, the responsibility did not lie with the county attorney’s office. Ahner added that Bradley knew, or should have known, he was under investigation when he authorized Amanda’s cremation, since a search warrant “for the purpose of locating evidence of attempted deliberate homicide” had been left at the home on the day of the alleged attack and, one day later, law enforcement secured a second warrant and seized Bradley’s phone.
Allison further explained his decision by noting that a significant amount of evidence was preserved by the medical examiner following Amanda’s autopsy and can therefore be reviewed by defense experts and challenged at trial. That evidence includes X-rays, scans, electrocardiograms, blood analyses, photographs, tissues and other samples.
“It is not as though (Bradley) lacks comparable evidence which could prove favorable in addition to the medical records,” Allison wrote.
Bradley Hillious has been in custody at the Flathead County Detention Center since Dec. 24 and is currently being held on $500,000 bail. His trial is tentatively scheduled to begin July 26.