Murder suspect in court

A Polson man charged with deliberate homicide in the shooting death of his father made an initial appearance Tuesday in Flathead County Justice Court.

Ross Elliot Johnson, 20, was informed of his rights and read the charges against him during the hearing, his first in Flathead County.

He will enter a plea to the allegations during his Oct. 23 arraignment in Flathead County District Court.

Justice Court Judge Mark R. Sullivan on Tuesday ordered Johnson held in lieu of $500,000 bail. Should he post bail, Johnson must appear in front of a judge before being released.

Johnson was transported from the Sanders County jail and booked into the Flathead County Detention Center on Monday. Jurisdiction over the case was transferred after GPS mapping revealed the alleged crime scene was just inside the Flathead County line, not in Sanders County as previously believed.

Deliberate homicide charges filed in Sanders County will be dismissed.

Johnson did not contest the state's motion to transfer venue from Sanders to Flathead County, said Noel Larrivee, managing attorney of the Polson public defender's office.

Flathead County prosecutors are expected to request a mental health evaluation to determine whether Johnson is competent to stand trial. Acquaintances of the Johnson family have said Ross Johnson suffered a serious head injury about a year ago in a BMX bicycle crash.

"Early on in the case we realized there were mental health issues that need to be explored," said Larrivee, adding that he did not yet know whether the defense would seek a mental health evaluation independent from the state's.

Johnson was arrested Sept. 1 after a two-day standoff at his family's residence outside Polson. Investigators allege Johnson fled there after shooting his father, Roger Johnson, on Aug. 30 in the woods about 45 miles west of Kalispell.

The father and son reportedly had left the rest of the family, who were camping at a cabin near the U.S. Forest Service's Bend Guard Station, to go gopher hunting.

According to court documents, the hunting trip followed a disagreement in which Ross Johnson, who recently had threatened to kill his father, fired rounds from the shotgun into the woods.

After finding Roger Johnson's body, investigators tracked Ross Johnson to the family's home on Meadow Vista Way in Polson, where an armed standoff ensued. No shots were fired and no one was injured during the siege, which lasted more than 48 hours.

If convicted, Ross Johnson faces as long as 100 years or life in prison. He also could face an additional 10 years on any prison sentence because a firearm allegedly was used in commission of the crime.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com