News briefs, May 13

Three Lake County students receive scholarships

Arlee High School's April Burnett and Mission High School's Jasmine Gilleard and Justin Evans each earned a ‘Youth Serving Montana' college scholarship. The scholarships are in recognition of the students who performed 100 hours of volunteer service, within the past year, for their communities. Criteria include completing an application, proof of volunteer service and enrollment to a Montana post-secondary institution.

Burnett plans to attend Montana State University, Gilleard plans to attend Carroll College and Evans plans to attend Montana Tech, UM.

-Reporter Heidi Hanse

Area legislator named to Education, Local Govt. Committee

Rep. John Fleming, D-St. Ignatius, has been appointed to the Education and Local Government Interim Committee of the Montana Legislature.

The first-term legislator, who represents House District 12 in Lake County, will fill a vacancy created by the resignation of Rep. Cheryl Steenson of Kalispell. Fleming taught for 36 years in the St. Ignatius schools.

The Education and Local Government (ELG) Interim Committee is a joint bipartisan committee of the Legislature that meets between legislative sessions. The committee monitors the operations of, and provides information to, the State Board of Education, Board of Public Education, Board of Regents of Higher Education and Office of Public Instruction.

The ELG also acts as a liaison with cities and counties, providing a forum for discussion of strong, effective governance at the community and county level.

The committee is studying the preservation of state historic sites, establishment of community colleges, the student loan system and shared policy goals and accountability measures for elementary, secondary and postsecondary education. Members may use the results of their studies to develop legislation to introduce during the 2011 session.

For more information about the committee, visit www.leg.mt.gov/elgic.

-Courtesy of Legislative

Information Office

Arrest in Ronan

LAKE COUNTY - The social networking website Facebook played a critical role in apprehending a female wanted for murder, said Lake County Sheriff's Office Det. Mike Sargeant.

Christina Rain Surechief, 18, was arrested and detained without incident last Wednesday at Kicking Horse Job Corps in Ronan and was federally charged with deliberate homicide. Sargeant said FBI agents in Browning, where the stabbing allegedly involving Surechief took place, contacted him about the wanted suspect. The federal agents told Sargeant a posting on the popular website Facebook indicated that Surechief may have been in the Lake County area.

"Again, it was great cooperation between the federal authorities and [the sheriff's office]," Sargeant said.

Surechief was transported to Missoula, where she appeared before the federal magistrate in U.S. District Court. Sargeant anticipates she will be moved to the Montana State Prison in Great Falls at some point.

A warrant for Surechief's arrest was issued from Great Falls on Jan. 29, and Sargeant said she had been on the run since that time.

"It appears that she was highly transitory and trying to elude authorities," he said.

-Reporter Sasha Goldstein

Leischner found guilty

POLSON - An Idaho man involved in a wild, high speed chase on Jan. 19 was sentenced last Thursday to 25 years in prison.

As part of a plea agreement, Steven Leischner, 23, of American Falls, Idaho, pleaded guilty to criminal possession with intent to distribute, Count II, and tampering with evidence, Count III, both felonies. Under the deal, four other felony charges were dropped: criminal possession of dangerous drugs, accountability (tampering with evidence), criminal endangerment and accountability (criminal endangerment).

On Count II, Leischner was sentenced to 15 years in prison with 10 years suspended. He received 10 years in prison with five suspended on his Count III conviction. The two five- year sentences will run concurrent to each other.

The charges stem from a high speed chase through the southern part of Lake County. Speeds reached more than 120 miles per hour as a Cadillac driven by Leischner's accomplice repeatedly eluded police. The chase ended just south of Charlo when spike strips in the roadway disabled the vehicle. Officers found methamphetamine, 9 mm handgun ammunition and plastic baggies in the vehicle after they stopped. Leischner's accomplice, Dustin Morgan, 23, pleaded guilty to the same charges, and should be sentenced in the next few weeks. Both Leischner and Morgan have remained in custody since the incident.

Both men face charges in Idaho as well, and possess extensive criminal records.

-Reporter Sasha Goldstein

Oldhorn appears

POLSON - A man facing a felony charge in connection with the 2005 murder of Harold Mitchell appeared in Lake County District Court last Wednesday.

Clifford Oldhorn, 23, entered a plea of not guilty to the charge of deliberate homicide, a felony, in Judge C.B. McNeil's courtroom last week. Oldhorn will remain in custody and have an omnibus hearing on June 9.

Oldhorn is the second man arrested in connection with the July 2005 murder of Harold Mitchell, 73, of St. Ignatius. Nathan Aaron Ross, 21, was arrested in connection with the murder on March 29, and has also been arraigned. Ross pleaded not guilty to felony charges of deliberate homicide and tampering with physical evidence on April 14. He will have an omnibus hearing on May 19.

According to a criminal affidavit related to the case, Oldhorn wrote a letter to LCSO Undersheriff Jay Doyle in April 2008 saying that he was a witness to the homicide of Mitchell, and that he was willing to give a statement about the incident. Both Doyle and Det. Mike Sargeant, who was undersheriff at the time of the crime, traveled to Great Falls, where Oldhorn was incarcerated on an unrelated conviction.

During the subsequent interview, Oldhorn said that he, Ross, Nigel Ernst and Kyle Brown traveled to St. Ignatius with the intent of robbing Mitchell. Once there, Oldhorn said Brown started beating Mitchell at his home to force him to reveal the location of the money they thought he had on hand. The scene apparently became too much for Oldhorn, who claimed he couldn't bear to watch the beating, and exited the house. He said he stayed close to the residence and could hear Mitchell yelling inside.

As he waited outside, Oldhorn said Ross came out and grabbed a gas can from one of their vehicles and took it inside the house with him. A while later, the affidavit states, Ross and Ernst exited the residence and the two men and Oldhorn returned to Dixon in Ernst's vehicle.

After the interview with Oldhorn, the two detectives interviewed Ross a few weeks later. Ross confirmed what Oldhorn had said, and added new details about the night from the perspective of someone inside the residence. The affidavit states that Ross said that after Mitchell was dead, Ernst told Ross to "clean up the scene." Ross then said he went outside to retrieve the can of gas and brought it back inside the house, where a blood-covered Mitchell lay on the floor. Ross doused the body in gasoline before leaving for Dixon in Ernst's vehicle.

Though he wouldn't name a name, Sargeant said that more arrests could happen.

"The case is continuing," he said. "We have one more [arrest] that Jay [Doyle] and I anticipate doing."

-Reporter Sasha Goldstein