No reduction in bond total for ex-deputy

Judge leaves intact $100,000 bail for Richard Rossmiller, 37

Bond remains at $100,000 for a former law-enforcement officer accused of stalking a Kalispell woman after she testified during a bond hearing Thursday that she is afraid of him.

Richard Rossmiller, 37, is a former sheriff's deputy from Chouteau County. He moved to Kalispell last year to work for Flathead County Sheriff's Office. He never did; the county SWAT team arrested him in June on suspicion of possessing property he allegedly stole in Chouteau County and brought to Kalispell. He also is charged with official misconduct in Chouteau County. His trial on those charges will begin within a month.

Rossmiller was arrested again in December on suspicion of stalking, burglary and felony criminal endangerment.

Those charges involve the woman who testified Thursday.

She has a restraining order against him, she said. She alleges that he has broken into her home and sabotaged her wiring, damaged her car, and called her constantly.

"This man has put me through so much. … My children talk about what to do if Richard comes to the house" or what to do if they find her dead, she said.

Rossmiller's attorney Sean Hinchey asked her why she had a restraining order against Rossmiller modified and about a half-dozen calls she has made to him in the past month or so.

She said they dated for about two years. She originally obtained a court order of no-contact against him in Chouteau County, which he violated and was jailed. She had that modified so he could go to her home, where, as a single parent, she needed help, she said.

She also wrote a letter in September to say she wasn't afraid of Rossmiller. He blackmailed her into doing that, she said.

Since then, his behavior has escalated, she said.

Rossmiller said if he is released from jail, he could move to Missoula or would be willing to be held on house arrest. He has a job, he told District Judge Stewart Stadler, and four children who rely on his child support. If he were to be released, he would "absolutely" not have contact with the woman he is accused of stalking, he said.

Deputy County Attorney Tim Wenz argued against bond reduction.

The woman said there is "no doubt in my mind" that Rossmiller would contact her if he is released.

"The only time I have slept at night is when I know he can't get to me. When he can, he does," she said.

Stadler left the $100,000 bond amount unchanged.

Rossmiller's trial is set for March in Flathead County.