Justine Winter: Parole denied

An Evergreen woman who as a teenager killed two people in a vehicle crash in 2009 was denied parole Monday.

For Justine Winter, however, the Montana Board of Pardons and Parole endorsed a prerelease placement for extended stay or inmate worker, according to Julie Thomas, a senior parole analyst.

Winter is serving a 15-year prison sentence at the Montana Women’s Prison in Billings after a Flathead County jury convicted her of two counts of deliberate homicide in 2011.

“Basically what it means is, if accepted, that she’ll be at the prerelease center for about a year,” Thomas said. “She’ll have to apply for inmate worker and prerelease.

“Normally a prerelease stay is about six months, but when the board endorses a longer stay, it’s about a year.”

If accepted, Winter could work at a pre-release center as a cook or dishwasher, Thomas said. If she is not accepted into the work program, the board can review her case again in one year.

Winter will appear before the Board of Pardons and Parole again in August 2015.

In March 2009, Winter crashed her car head-on into another vehicle on U.S. 93 north of Kalispell.

The crash killed both occupants in the other vehicle — 35-year-old Erin Thompson, who was four months pregnant, and her 13-year-old son, Caden Odell.

Winter had texted her boyfriend just prior to the crash, threatening to crash her car and kill herself.

Winter, who was 16 at the time, was severely injured in the crash.

Reporter Brittany Brevik may be reached at 758-4459 or by email at bbrevik@dailyinterlake.com.