Jury finds Roedel guilty of murder

Ferndale man convicted of shooting to death his common-law wife in August 2005

It took only an hour and a half Thursday for a Flathead County jury to convict Lawrence Roedel of murdering his common-law wife, Dawn Thompson.

After their verdict, jurors learned that Roedel, 68, has a history of abusing his five wives, according to Flathead County Attorney Ed Corrigan.

"They were very relieved to know they had done the right thing," Corrigan said of the jurors.

Thompson died of a gunshot that entered her back, tore through her lungs, stomach, spleen and two vertebrae, and exited her left side. Experts said she died quickly of internal bleeding.

Roedel called 911 that night, Aug. 27, 2005, saying he thought he had shot his wife. Officers found her body at the bottom of stairs that lead to his bedroom from the garage in the couple's Ferndale home. Nearby was a broken wine glass that Thompson presumably carried when she was hit by one of three bullets fired that night.

Roedel told officials that Thompson had been the aggressor and he had shot her accidentally and in self-defense.

In his closing statement to the jury Thursday morning, Corrigan said the case isn't complicated.

"There were three shots fired that night, the third one killing Dawn."

No evidence exists that Thompson pulled the trigger on the .357-caliber gun that killed her, Corrigan said, despite Roedel's assertion that she fired two shots at him.

Roedel later said it is possible he fired all three shots that came from the weapon, Corrigan said.

"In this case, the trigger was pulled once, twice, three times and it was cocked for a fourth time," when Thompson was hit, he said.

In Roedel's defense, his attorney Jack Quatman replayed for the jury the 911 call that Roedel made on the night of the shooting.

Roedel was "emotional, crying, wailing, hysterical, panicked," on the call, Quatman said. He called for help for Thompson and told a sheriff's dispatcher that Thompson "threatened my life" with the gun.

Quatman said there is no question that Roedel pulled the trigger, but there was no evidence he did it purposely.

"The question is, what kind of state was he in when he pulled the trigger?" Quatman said.

Roedel's emotional state was evident from the 911 recording, he said. That evidence was spontaneous, recorded before Roedel had time to think or talk to anyone, Quatman said.

Corrigan disagreed. He said two or three minutes elapsed between the time Roedel shot Thompson and when he called 911. For effect, Corrigan stopped talking for 25 seconds. In two or three minutes, Roedel had plenty of time to think, Corrigan said.

He has a different opinion from Quatman about Roedel's demeanor on the phone.

"The emotion you hear on this tape is the emotion of a man who all of a sudden realizes, 'What have I done? I've just killed someone.'"

The couple's teenage daughter, Emily, testified that her father told her the shooting happened as Thompson was climbing the stairs to Roedel's room, carrying a gun.

The physical evidence belied that, Corrigan said, and Roedel told a different story later.

What the evidence showed, according to Corrigan's witnesses, was that Thompson was shot in the upper back from 10 feet away as she walked down the stairs. Three bullet holes in the wall demonstrate how Roedel tracked her with the gun, shooting as she retreated, Corrigan said.

The jury came back in near-record time with their affirmation that the shooting happened as Corrigan described.

The verdict was just what Flathead County Sheriff's Office detective Jeanne Landis hoped for.

"This was a long time coming," she said. "It was a tough case, not because of the crime scene, but because of the family dynamics."

Thompson leaves behind five children and they were on Landis' and Corrigan's minds Thursday.

"I wish the system could do more for the kids," Corrigan said.

Landis said her office and the County Attorney's Office were committed to getting the verdict they did.

"I can't thank them enough," she said of Corrigan and Deputy County Attorney Lori Adams. "They educated us and assisted us and worked alongside us the entire way."

With the conviction they sought, officials are looking ahead to May 11, when Roedel will be sentenced. He faces as long as 100 years in prison for the murder, plus 10 for the use of a gun in its commission.

Corrigan already knows the sentence he'll recommend to District Judge Kitty Curtis.

"I'll recommend he dies in prison," Corrigan said.

Quatman said Roedel has indicated he will appeal.

Reporter Chery Sabol may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at csabol@dailyinterlake.com.