Man convicted of murder in Glendive stabbing death

GLENDIVE(AP) — A Glendive man charged with fatally stabbing a person whom he believed was a drug informant has been found guilty of murder.

Levi Stark was convicted Friday of killing 25-year-old Matthew Wisman, whose body was found in his trailer home in December 2012.

Stark also was convicted of arson and evidence tampering. Prosecutors argued that Stark, with the help of two others, tried to cover up the murder by burning evidence, including a vehicle locked in a Dawson County impound lot.

Court documents alleged that several people told investigators that Starks’ girlfriend, Jessica Miller-Grossman, believed that Wiseman had snitched on her in a drug case.

Miller-Grossman previously pleaded guilty to her role in Wiseman’s death. She is awaiting sentencing.

Stark took the stand at trial and admitted he killed Wiseman after Miller-Grossman, pregnant at the time with his child, was arrested on drug charges.

Stark insisted the arrest caused him extreme stress and that he killed Wiseman in self-defense.

“I never planned to harm Mr. Wiseman. The thought never crossed my mind,” he testified.