Trial begins for man accused of making meth inside camper

By CHERY SABOL

The Daily Inter Lake

A man accused of making methamphetamine in a camper west of town is on trial in Kalispell.

Gordon Makarchuk, 48, is charged with operating a clandestine laboratory three years ago. A jury was selected Monday and the trial began in the court of District Judge Kitty Curtis.

Deputy County Attorney Dan Guzynski said sheriff's officers went to the dairy on Sept. 22, 2003, for a complaint about Makarchuk trespassing there. Eventually, they discovered components and equipment for making the illegal stimulant, Guzynski said.

Guzynski said the process and ingredients for making methamphetamine are simple. Among the items investigators found in or around the camper were iodine, striker plates for matches soaking in a solvent, sulfuric acid, salt, and a generator.

There also was a glass vial containing methamphetamine on which was written the word, "Meth." It also bore a "Made in Montana" sticker, Guzynski said.

It was common knowledge and Makarchuk told officers that he lived in the camper at the corner of Springcreek Road and West Reserve Drive, Guzynski said. He originally had permission from the people who ran the dairy, but they later decided they wanted him to leave.

When officers returned to the camper on Sept. 26, 2003, because of another complaint that Makarchuk was still living there, he at first wouldn't come out. Then, Guzynski said, "he slithers out." Makarchuk quickly shut the door behind him and said it was locked and he had no key. A search warrant was executed and chemical evidence was collected.

The local drug team said there was the distinctive smell of methamphetamine manufacturing inside the camper, Guzynski said.

Makarchuk's public defender, John Putikka, said Makarchuk didn't own the camper or the pickup on which it sat.

When the directors of the dairy told Makarchuk he had to move out of the camper, he started staying at Spruce Park campground, but continued working as a mechanic every day at the dairy. He also was building a trailer so he could haul away a tractor he had at the dairy, Putikka said.

By the time officers searched the camper, Makarchuk "had not been in the camper for quite some period of time."

He already had removed his valuables from the camper and was not in control of what went in or out of the camper, Putikka said.

The trial is expected to last four days.