Jury Convicts Kila Man of Martin City Murder
Del Orrin Crawford, 42, was also found guilty of attempted deliberate homicide, assault with a weapon and evidence tampering while he was found not guilty of assault with a weapon; the Flathead County jury delivered the verdicts on Thursday evening
By Maggie Dresser
A Flathead County jury on Thursday evening found 42-year-old Del Orrin Crawford guilty of deliberate homicide and attempted deliberate homicide in the August 2022 death of Whisper Sellars, and the shooting of her husband Doug Crosswhite in the parking lot of the Southfork Saloon in Martin City. He was also found guilty of assaulting Kristen Lundstrom with a weapon and evidence tampering while he was found not guilty of assaulting Alicia Crosswhite with a weapon.
The verdict came in at about 8:50 p.m. following a four-day trial and nearly five hours of jury deliberation. Crawford was remanded to the custody of the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office after Judge Dan Wilson revoked his bail. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Sept. 19 at 1:30 p.m.
Judge Wilson presided over the Flathead County District Court trial that began July 22, and he instructed the defendant and attorneys to remain seated during the verdict announcement. To prevent the possibility of outbursts from members of the packed courtroom gallery, a slew of Flathead County Sheriff’s Office deputies and detention officers were present in the tense moments before the jury delivered its verdicts.
“There’s bound to be a groundswell of emotional release once the verdicts are announced, but that is not a time for anyone in the room to shout, to make any sort of threats, to make any sort of of physical gesture, and if there is any disorderly conduct, the security officers are already authorized to remove anyone from the courtroom who violates that,” Wilson told those seated in the gallery.
The judge acknowledged that members in the courtroom had maintained a polite and civil demeanor throughout the trial, but said he chose to take extra precautions based on anticipated emotional responses.
Supporters of the victims remained quiet while the verdict was met with tears from the defendant’s friends and family.
Closing arguments ended on Thursday afternoon, with Montana Department of Justice Assistant Attorneys General Selene Koepke and Thorin Geist maintaining that Crawford’s actions were not justified when he shot the two people on Aug. 27, 2022, killing Sellars and injuring Crosswhite.
Throughout the trial, they presented evidence and testimony that portrayed Crawford as the prime aggressor who initiated physical contact when he pushed Sellars, before Crosswhite shoved the defendant to the ground during a heated altercation surrounding the use of a golf cart outside the bar. The prosecutors also emphasized the consistent nature of testimony of witnesses who said no one in the victims’ party was armed with any weapons when the defendant fired his 9mm Smith & Wesson pistol.
“He intended to kill Whisper,” Koepke said. “He knew they would die. He shot them with the purpose to kill them, and that’s undisputed. It wasn’t an accident or a mistake.”
Geist argued that Crawford acted out of anger, and that he had no reason to believe his life was in imminent danger because he had not sustained injuries beyond a minor scrape in the moments before the shooting.
“You don’t get to fire a gun during a verbal argument,” Geist said. “You don’t get to a fire a gun in a fist fight. You only get to pull that trigger if you are confronted with imminent death.”
Defense attorneys Kris McLean, Tyson McLean, Jordan Pallesi and Peter Lacny maintained throughout the trial that Crawford acted in self-defense, feeling threatened when Crosswhite, Sellars and Lundstrom stood over him in the parking lot of the Southfork Saloon.
Kris McLean said Crawford had no choice but to defend himself against the trio, who he described as aggressive. He argued that the witnesses in the victims’ party were not credible, citing their competing versions of events. Despite the absence of other weapons, McLean called the defendant’s actions justifiable under the circumstances.
“You need to consider the defendant’s belief,” McLean said. “It must be reasonable even if it’s mistaken.”
The defense team pointed to the numerous explanations of self-defense that Crawford gave to law enforcement following the shooting, including his 911 call to dispatchers and his interview with detectives. In the interview, Crawford told authorities conflicting accounts of the proceedings that led to the shooting, but said multiple times that he “shot in self-defense” and that he was in fear of his life.
“Del’s recorded statements that you listened to in the 911 calls as well as the interview with police provide ample evidence that he acted in self-defense,” McLean said. “He was justified in using deadly force to defend himself.”
After Crawford fled the scene, prosecutors say he hid the pistol and refused to tell law enforcement where it was located, finally revealing to law enforcement that it was safe in a tree well. Authorities eventually found it in his vehicle’s suspension.
According to the defense team, Crawford’s behavior was a response to trauma. They attributed his false statements to “extreme stress.”
During the crime scene investigation, McLean said the investigation was insufficient and noted that law enforcement collected blood samples and submitted them to the state crime lab, but the state never got them tested, which meant the investigation did not disclose all evidence.
But prosecutors argued the blood testing was not necessary.
“Don’t let the defense lead you down a rabbit hole that the investigation wasn’t sufficient,” Koepke said.
In reference to the accusations of assaulting Kristen Lundstrom and Alicia Crosswhite, McLean said that the conflicting statements discount the allegations.
“We submit neither assault happened,” McLean said. “It was a wild and chaotic scene. People had been shot. People testified that their memories were wrong.”