Swan Smith sentenced to life in prison, plus 20 years

POLSON - Swan Delavergn Smith, 34, of Charlo was sentenced last Thursday to life in prison plus 20 years.

In mid-April, a Lake County jury found Smith guilty of killing 44-year-old Raymond Dunnwebber of Charlo five years ago, concealing the victim's body, and threatening the only witness to his crime.

Smith was convicted of three felony charges: deliberate homicide, tampering with evidence and tampering with witnesses.

District Judge C. B. McNeil ruled that Smith should spend life in prison for the homicide, and 10 years each for the two tampering charges. In handing down the sentence, Judge McNeil noted that the defendant "brutally kicked his friend to death, hid the body, and showed no remorse until the remains were found by a hiker."

According to Montana law, Smith's sentence translates to an actual 35 years behind bars before he could become eligible for parole.

Dunnwebber disappeared April 30, 1999.

His remains were discovered years later by a man hiking with his dog at the foot of the Mission Mountains, in the vicinity of St. Mary's Lake.

Smith's girlfriend at the time, Mary Ann Cahoon Bird, had been partying with Dunnwebber and Smith in the St. Mary's Lake area southeast of St. Ignatius. At some point, she said, she set up a can for a shooting target and both she and Dunnwebber took a shot at the can and each missed.

The gun was handed to Smith, who did not fire it, she testified.

Smith began fighting with Dunnwebber, allegedly pushed him to the ground, and allegedly kicked and stomped him.

Bird said that she did not report the killing earlier because Smith threatened to kill her if she ever told anyone about the crime.

She also said that shortly after the killing, she was at home sleeping and awoke to find Smith allegedly standing over her holding a club.

During last week's sentencing hearing, Smith's attorney, Greg Jackson, requested that Judge McNeil give Smith no more than 25 years of incarceration with no parole restrictions.

One of the defense witnesses testified during the sentencing hearing that Smith has "accepted the Lord."

Before being sentenced, Smith apologized to both Dunnwebber's family and his own family. "This wasn't my intention," he said.

Jackson said after the hearing that he plans to appeal the sentence to the Montana Supreme Court's sentence review division.

That appeal would be heard in Helena.