Former Kalispell man jailed
The Daily Inter Lake
Showen has long history of run-ins with the law
A former Kalispell man who was acquitted of murder as a teenager is back in jail on a charge of probation violation.
A jury found Christopher Showen innocent in 1999 when he was 19 and accused of killing Carl C.J. Storkson near Olney.
Showen later moved to Alaska, where he was charged in a shooting at a bon fire in 2004. Charges there were reduced to a misdemeanor.
Last December, he was arrested again in Lincoln County, where he was convicted of assault with a weapon. He received a five-year suspended sentence in February. He faced as long as 20 years in prison.
He was arrested in Kalispell this week for allegedly violating the terms of his suspended sentence.
According to the Adult Probation and Parole Office, the alleged violations involve Showen's residence, employment, required reporting to a probation officer, illegal drug use, frequenting a bar and alcohol use, failing to undergo a chemical-dependency evaluation and a mental-health evaluation, and associating with a person he was ordered to not have contact with.
That person is Jennifer Nelson, with whom Showen was arrested in Eureka after a shoot-out at the Eureka police station in which a man was critically hurt. Showen was not involved in the shooting.
He and Nelson were cited for disorderly conduct after an incident at the Eureka VFW club. She remained in custody, awaiting a mental-health evaluation.
Her father, Mark Nelson, reportedly went to the police department and demanded his daughter's release. Police reports say Nelson fired a shotgun at an officer and was shot by return fire.
Showen was found in car parked outside the police station with the engine running. Officers said they found a loaded handgun, shotgun, and hunting rifle within Showen's reach.
He was charged with conspiracy to commit assault with a weapon. He entered an Alford plea, not admitting guilt, but accepting a conviction. An additional charge of evidence tampering was dismissed.
He was returned Wednesday to the Lincoln County jail. A bond hearing will follow and Showen will go to court to admit or deny he violated the terms of his probation.
At Showen's murder trial in Kalispell, three youths testified that he killed Storkson. Showen didn't testify.