Robbery trial

Alleged victims testify

Two Missoula men told a terrifying story Tuesday about being robbed and beaten by three men who had befriended them in January in Whitefish.

Matt Madsen and Brian Hughes testified at the robbery trial of Kyle Kolb, 20, of Whitefish.

The Missoula men arrived in Whitefish on Jan. 14 for a ski trip. They met three men, including Kolb, at a downtown bar and left with them when the bar closed.

At 2:30 a.m. Jan. 15, Whitefish police received a hysterical call from Hughes, saying he and Madsen had been robbed at gunpoint.

"They seemed like really nice guys" at first, Madsen said of Kolb and his friends. They all went back to the Super 8 motel, where the Missoula men were ambushed, they said.

One forced Madsen down onto the bed. Madsen, 26, said the man hit him, went through his pockets, and "told me he wanted everything I had."

The man told Madsen that Hughes "needs to stop fighting back or they're going to kill him."

Hughes, 23, testified that one of the men put him in a choke hold and threw him on a bed.

"He asked me if I wanted to die. He told me to give him all my money.

"I told him where my wallet was, my money," he testified.

The man said, "Hand me the .44. I'm going to kill this [expletive]," Hughes said.

"I told him, go ahead. I want to die."

A third man whom Hughes believes is Kolb then hit him.

Madsen said one of the men handed a gun to the man on top of him, and then the assailants fled.

Injured, Hughes chased them into the parking lot. He was hysterical when he called police.

Madsen and Hughes told the story to Whitefish police, Missoula police and Deputy County Attorney Dan Guzynski.

Eventually, their story changed.

During the night, Hughes had agreed to buy marijuana from one of Kolb's friends.

When police first asked whether the events that night involved a drug transaction, Hughes lied.

"I feel horrible" about lying, he said.

"Mr. Hughes' credibility really, I think, is the sole issue in this case," according to Kolb's attorney, Scott Hilderman.

He asked District Judge Kitty Curtis for a mistrial during Hughes' testimony Tuesday.

Hughes said that though he was dishonest about the marijuana, "There's no reason to lie about a robbery."

Hilderman will begin his defense case today.

The trial is expected to go to the jury today or Thursday.