Columbia Falls Man Enters Plea Deal in Homicide Charge

A 22-year-old Columbia Falls man has agreed to plead guilty to a mitigated deliberate homicide charge after he fatally shot another man on Flathead Drive in Evergreen in January.

Tanner Doyle White entered the plea deal at a July 20 hearing in Flathead County District Court before Judge Robert B. Allison. The charge was amended from a deliberate homicide charge, which the defendant pleaded not guilty to in February.

According to the amended charge filed by Flathead Deputy County Attorney John Donovan, White “purposely or knowingly caused the death of another human being but did so under the influence of extreme mental or emotional stress for which there is reasonable explanation or excuse.”

On Jan. 17, sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to 125 Flathead Drive for a report of gunshots fired where they found the victim, who authorities later identified as 42-year-old Luke Simpson, of Columbia Falls. He was dead on arrival, according to charging documents. White was not at the scene, but authorities spoke with a neighbor who heard eight to nine gunshots that “sounded like fireworks.” The neighbor also reported hearing a male’s voice and observed two vehicles in the area.

Flathead County law enforcement arrested White at a traffic stop almost a week later, on Jan. 23 in Columbia Falls, after an investigation linked him and his vehicle to the crime, according to law enforcement. Officers found a firearm inside the vehicle and placed White in custody at the Flathead County Detention Center, where he remains.

On Jan. 24, records state, White admitted to detectives that on Jan. 17 he followed Simpson to the scene of the murder on Flathead Drive and shot him with a handgun before leaving in a vehicle with his fiancé. White stated that his fiancé was on a date with Simpson earlier that day, which officials say may have motivated the killing.

Heino said at the time of the incident that narcotics were related to the incident and other individuals were likely involved in the shooting.

According to court documents, White was previously charged with felony assault on a peace officer causing bodily injury when he allegedly head-butted a sheriff’s deputy in 2019 during a warrant arrest.

Prosecutors have recommended a 35-year sentence in the Montana State Prison, which Judge Allison is not required to agree to. The sentence will run concurrent to a separate sentence the defendant is serving in Glacier County. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Sept. 22 at 9 a.m.