Warrant issued for elusive theft suspect

A 23-year-old Kalispell man implicated among a group of alleged thieves is being sought by police on his third bench warrant in nine months.

Nathan Bayreuther failed to appear for his sentencing March 15 in Flathead District Court on felony criminal endangerment and assault on a peace officer charges connected to a 2010 case and a misdemeanor bail jumping charge.

He now will face a new charge of felony bail jumping, according to Deputy County Attorney Alison Howard.

According to court records, Bayreuther originally was arrested on a $25,000 warrant in November 2010. Two days after his arrest, his bond was reduced to $10,000, which he posted, so he was released.

He then failed to appear for his June 6, 2011, trial and a $30,000 bench warrant was issued. It was returned on Oct. 4, 2011, when he was again arrested and charged. He was charged with felony bail jumping.

Then, on Dec. 22, 2011, he pleaded guilty to the criminal endangerment and assault-on-an-officer charges, as well as a reduced charge of misdemeanor bail jumping.

Just 12 days later, he was released on his own recognizance.

Slightly more than three weeks after his release, Bayreuther again was arrested, this time for a robbery on North Ashley Lake Road.

Two other men with long criminal histories as well as a woman also were implicated in the robbery. One of the men and the woman also are charged in another four-person robbery on Spring Hill Road.

Bayreuther was charged with felony burglary and misdemeanor criminal trespass to vehicles, for which he faces up to 20 and a half years in jail and a fine of up to $50,500 if convicted.

The robbery was discovered in progress by the homeowner when he came home from work at about 3:30 p.m. and found a car parked halfway up his driveway.

According to court documents, he approached the car and contacted the driver, later identified as Ashley Ekern, 26, of Whitefish and the passenger, later identified as Jeffrey Weldele, 29, Whitefish. Ekern allegedly claimed she was looking for a friend named Jamie and took a wrong turn. The homeowner then moved his vehicle so they could leave.

After waiting a few minutes for them to leave, he drove toward his house and came upon two men just off the edge of his driveway. It was at that point he realized his house had probably been broken into.

He chased one of the men down the road and ended up catching up with the car driven by Ekern. He stopped them and told them he was getting their license plate number and calling the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office.

When he had enough reception on his cell phone, he made the call and returned to his home, where he saw two sets of footprints and discovered his door had been kicked in. He also discovered several guns were missing.

When deputies responded, they first found a cache of stolen firearms buried under the snow about 200 yards from the home.

A deputy patrolling the area stopped a car and spoke with the driver, who said she had been called by Bayreuther, her boyfriend, saying he needed a ride from the area. The call was found to have been made two minutes after the victim’s 911 call.

That call was traced to a nearby home, where the resident told police a man had come to his house asking to use the phone. He wouldn’t let him inside but brought his phone to the man, who told him his car was stuck and needed a ride. The man declined an offer from the resident to help pull him out. The resident also noticed a second man standing nearby.

Two deputies soon came across Bayreuther walking down North Ashley Lake Road and arrested him. He was wearing slipper-style shoes and was visibly cold and shaking.

Deputies tracked Bayreuther’s footprints back to a cabin property where there was also a shower stall, recreational vehicle, boat and shed. They found indications that someone had crawled underneath a wall surrounding the stall. The door to the stall was padlocked shut.

One of the deputies saw what seemed to be a person underneath a shower curtain sitting on a toilet inside and ordered him to crawl back out. The man did, and was identified as Brandon Stanfield, 30, Kalispell.

The RV on the property also had pry marks on the door and the handle area was damaged. A deputy who earlier had searched the area said the damage was new.

The burglary victim later told police that he knew both Bayreuther and Stanfield since they previously had done landscaping work for him.

Stanfield was charged with felony burglary and misdemeanor criminal trespass to vehicles, facing the same sentence of up to 20 1/2 years in jail and a fine of up to $50,500 if convicted. His next hearing is scheduled for April 11.

Following a bond reduction hearing, Stanfield had been released from the Flathead County Detention Center on his own recognizance less than three hours before the robbery.

He pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of solicitation for criminal distribution of dangerous drugs on Aug. 19, 2010. He faces between one year and life in jail and a fine of up to $50,000 if convicted.

Weldele’s lengthy criminal history includes felony charges of issuing a bad check and conspiracy, in a separate case, both in 2003. He was given a four-year deferred sentence on each offense, to be served concurrently.

He later pleaded guilty to felony criminal possession of dangerous drugs in 2005. He was given a five-year suspended sentence for the new conviction and concurrent four year suspended sentences for violating his probation on the 2003 convictions. A further misdemeanor charge of criminal possession of drug paraphernalia in the 2005 case was dropped.

In 2010, Weldele was charged with felony burglary, but pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of misdemeanor theft in March 2011 and was given a six-month suspended sentence.

On Feb. 23, he pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of accountability to burglary in connection with the North Ashley Lake Road robbery. His next hearing on the case is scheduled for April 11.

Ekern was charged with felony accountability to burglary and felony theft, for which she faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000 if convicted. She pleaded not guilty on Feb. 16 and her next hearing is scheduled for April 11.

She is the only defendant without a criminal history.

Weldele and Ekern are both being held in the Flathead County Detention Center on bonds of $20,405 and $20,000, respectively.

The two are also implicated in a burglary on Spring Hill Road sometime between Dec. 19, 2011 and Jan. 13, 2011, for which Kandice Tellegen, 25, Kalispell, and Aaron Zelenik, 34, Bigfork, also are charged.

In addition to their alleged criminal connection, Weldele and Ekern are or were in a relationship. Court documents allege — and Ekern confirmed during a bond reduction hearing — that when she first was arrested, she called Weldele.

Ekern claimed she was unaware that she was not supposed to be in contact with codefendants while the case was ongoing. She admitted that during the conversation, Weldele told her to tell the judge that she had no prior criminal history and that she would be living with her grandmother and her bond would be reduced.

Ekern’s attorney argued that while the contact should not have occurred, neither piece of information Weldele told her to share with the court was untrue.

Court documents go a step further and allege Weldele asked her what she told law enforcement officers about “the other one,” implying their involvement in the Spring Hill Road robbery.

Reporter Jesse Davis may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at jdavis@dailyinterlake.com.