Mom charged with hiding bullet homicide probe
BILLINGS (AP) — The mother of a Billings man accused of killing a neighbor over a long-running dispute pleaded not guilty to lying to investigators and hiding a bullet in her shoe while detectives searched her residence six days after the March 2013 shooting.
Darlene Johnson Durand, 66, entered her plea to charges of perjury and tampering with evidence Monday. District Judge G. Todd Baugh allowed her to remain free without bond.
Durand’s son, Patrick Neiss, 43, pleaded not guilty on Aug. 14 for the March 8, 2013, shooting death of his neighbor, Frank “Trey” Greene III. Neiss has previous federal convictions on drug and weapons charges and was not allowed to possess firearms.
Prosecutors say Durand lied by saying there had been no weapons at her residence after her son was released from prison in 2008 and had been living with her. An officer searching the house saw a live .22-caliber bullet on top of a pellet stove in the living room but later noticed the bullet was gone. Officers found it in Durand’s shoe, court records said.
She told investigators in January that she heard gunshots all the time at her property but had not seen anyone shooting there, court records said. She also stated that she had not seen any brass shell casings since her son got out of prison.
Officers interviewed three other witnesses, including Neiss’ ex-girlfriend and his 8-year-old son, all of whom said they had seen guns fired or fired guns at Durand’s property after Neiss was released from prison.
Police said they found .40-caliber shell casings on the property that had been fired by the same weapon as casings found at the crime scene. The gun has not been found, court records said.
The Yellowstone County sheriff’s office on Tuesday asked that anyone who may have been involved in or is aware of any firearm transactions involving Neiss or Durand to contact the sheriff’s office.
Greene, 47, was shot three times, once at close range in the back of the head. Greene’s girlfriend found him and while on the phone with dispatchers said Neiss’ pickup drove by slowly.
State crime lab reports from this spring said Neiss had gunshot residue on his face and hands when he was stopped on the night of the killing, court records said.
The shooting apparently occurred as a result of a long-running battle between Neiss and Greene. Neiss believed Greene had stolen a vehicle engine from him and sold it while he was in prison. The sheriff’s office investigated and found Neiss’ claim was unsubstantiated.