Witnesses Say Defendant Initiated Physical Contact Prior to Martin City Shooting
As testimony continued in the deliberate homicide trial, witnesses said neither the victims nor the members of their group were armed during an altercation with defendant Del Orrin Crawford
By Maggie Dresser
A Flathead County jury on July 23 heard more witness testimony in the case against 42-year-old Del Orrin Crawford, who is standing trial for fatally shooting a Hungry Horse woman and seriously injuring her husband outside of a Martin City bar in 2022.
Crawford has pleaded not guilty to a felony count of deliberate homicide and a second felony count of attempted deliberate homicide for the August 2022 death of Whisper Sellars and the shooting of her husband, Doug Crosswhite. He has also pleaded not guilty to a felony count of evidence tampering and two felony counts of assault with a weapon.
Flathead County District Judge Dan Wilson is presiding over the trial, which began July 22 with jury selection, opening statements and initial witness testimony.
On the second day of trial, the jury heard from witnesses who described competing versions of the events that unfolded outside the South Fork Saloon on Aug. 27, 2022; however, the witnesses all agreed that the circumstances involved intoxicated individuals engaged in a heated argument, physical shoving and aggressive behavior before the victims were shot. Several witnesses said nobody in the victim’s party was armed and that the defendant initiated physical contact.
According to Alicia Crosswhite, who is the sister of Doug Crosswhite, a group of five acquaintances went outside to smoke when Sellars noticed the golf cart, got inside and started “goofing around” in it. Around that time, Crawford and Chelsea Bauska walked outside and confronted them.
“He had said, ‘is this how you guys do it here in the canyon?’” Alicia said, referring to the interaction with Crawford.
At this point, Alicia told Montana Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General Selene Koepke, who is serving as a special deputy county attorney in the case, that she removed herself from the confrontation and sat in the backseat of an SUV that members of her group had taken together to the South Fork Saloon.
From her vantage inside the vehicle, Alicia Crosswhite said she observed hand gestures and yelling among three members of her group along with Crawford and Bauska. She then went back inside the bar to retrieve Kristen Lundstrom, who became involved in the altercation. Alicia Crosswhite said she watched Crawford shove Sellars and Lundstrom, prompting Doug Crosswhite to shove Crawford to the ground. The defendant then started shooting a firearm, Alicia Crosswhite testified, killing Sellars and injuring her husband.
Alicia also witnessed Crawford point the pistol at Lundstrom, who dropped to the ground and told the defendant she had kids. He then addressed Alicia and said, “Do you want some too, b****?” she told jurors.
According to testimony from Bradley Crosswhite, the younger brother of Alicia and Doug and the boyfriend of Lundstrom, he watched Doug shove Crawford, who then exclaimed, “Why the [expletive] am I on the ground right now,” before firing the gun.
After Crawford fell backwards, Lundstrom told the court she approached him, got down to eye level and sternly told him he “needed to get out of here,” at which point he got up and slammed Lundstrom into the golf cart and pointed the barrel of his gun at her forehead.
“He looked demented,” Lundstrom said.
Lundstrom then told defense attorney Kris McLean during cross examination that her memory becomes fuzzy after the gun is pointed at her head.
Chelsea Bauska, who was exiting the bar with Crawford in the moments before the incident, told Assistant Attorney General Thorin Geist her version of events, beginning when she and Crawford approached the group at the golf cart, which Bauska said it appeared as though they were going to steal.
According to Bauska, the arguing intensified but Crawford remained calm and unthreatening. She tried to speak to Bradley Crosswhite to defuse the situation, Bauska said, before she heard a noise and saw Crawford on the ground, followed by the sound of gunshots.
Following the gunshots, Bauska saw Sellars on the ground and immediately approached her, checking for a pulse and initiating CPR, which she performed until paramedics arrived, according to her testimony.
Other witnesses included law enforcement officers who described a chaotic scene at the South Fork Saloon following the shooting.
Flathead County Sheriff’s Office Corporal Aaron Westphal made initial contact with Crawford, who immediately claimed self-defense in the shooting.
According to Westphal, he placed Crawford into custody and, when he searched him, did not find a firearm. Crawford refused to tell law enforcement where the gun was located, only saying that it was safe.
“He seemed angry – angry we were giving him these commands and he seemed angry about the situation,” Westphal said.
Westphal then transported Crawford to the Flathead County Detention Center and noted that the defendant was calm and polite during most of the ride, but made a few derogatory comments about the residents of Bad Rock Canyon.
“He made a comment – and I’m paraphrasing – that it’s a messed up situation when people treat people like that,” Westphal said. “And that the canyon’s trying to get better, but people won’t let it.”