Father's death a factor in Arlee murder

By Ethan Smith

Leader Staff

Lake County investigators believe a disparaging remark about the suspect's dead father might have led to the murder of Tesheena Craft last week, as they prepare their initial report for the county attorney's office.

Kelly (Stanfield) Birmingham, 19, is being held without bond, following an initial appearance in Justice Court last Friday, but he has not been formally arraigned on charges of deliberate homicide, tampering with evidence, and two charges of attempted escape — all felonies.

Birmingham made his initial appearance via video camera last week because he was in a wheelchair, the result of allegedly jumping out of a Sheriff's patrol vehicle on Hwy. 93 shortly after his arrest. He suffered severe road rash all the way down his back, and was hospitalized for much of last week.

Sheriff's deputies and Tribal officers located Birmingham at his mother's residence south of Arlee early last Tuesday morning, May 29, and found Craft's body nearby. State crime lab technicians said the cause of death was due to "homicidal violence, including probable ligature strangulation."

According to initial reports by Sheriff's detectives, Birmingham eventually confessed to killing Craft, saying she made a disparaging remark about his father, Wayne Stanfield, who was killed in a motorcycle accident on Interstate 90 on Sunday, the 27th, just two days earlier. Undersheriff Jay Doyle said Birmingham eventually confessed to two Sheriff's investigators, following his stay at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula, where he was taken for his injuries.

"He did confess to both a deputy and a detective," Doyle said.

Detectives believe Birmingham visited Craft at a family member's house in Arlee early in the morning of May 29, and that the two knew each other through mutual friends, including Craft's boyfriend.

According to the investigators' report, Birmingham said Craft downplayed his father's death, saying Stanfield wasn't a very good person anyway. Shortly after 3 a.m., a person called 911 to report a possible kidnapping after allegedly seeing Birmingham drag the 18-year-old woman's body out of the house and into a nearby pick-up.

Deputies located Birmingham at his mother's house shortly before 7 a.m., just across the Missoula/Lake county line, and Tribal officers located her body a short time later, on property believed to belong to Birmingham's father, Wayne Stanfield.

Craft's death shook the small community of Arlee, including staff and students at the Nk"usm Salish language school, where Craft had many friends. A powwow scheduled for last weekend was postponed out of respect for the family, and will be rescheduled at a later date.

While being transported to the county jail, Birmingham kicked out a rear window of the SUV he was in, and crawled head first out of the window, escaping more serious injury only because deputy Levi Read managed to hit the breaks at the sound of breaking glass. Birmingham ran a short distance before being caught by Read.

He also allegedly attempted to escape while being interviewed by two other Sheriff's investigators in a makeshift interview area at the Arlee firehouse, shortly after Craft's body was discovered, hence the second escape charge.

Birmingham is still under a suicide watch, and will be for some time, Doyle said. He could be arraigned as early as this week.

A full obituary for Craft appears on page C4.