New details emerge in clinic vandalism

Zachary Jordan Klundt had texted his mother the day before he entered All Families Healthcare to cause extensive damage. He asked where the office was located.

That was revealed by Capt. Scott Warnell, a Kalispell police officer, during a string of testimony Tuesday in Flathead County District Court during Klundt’s sentencing hearing.

Klundt, 25, has pleaded guilty to felony burglary, criminal mischief and theft for ransacking the clinic in March 2014. 

Tuesday’s sentencing hearing ended before all witnesses could be heard and will resume this morning at 10 a.m. before Judge Ted Lympus.

Warnell was the first witness called by Deputy County Attorney Stacy Boman. He talked about the investigation after Klundt’s arrest.

Klundt sent texts to his mother, Twyla Klundt, on March 3, the evening before the break-in.

“He was trying to find out exactly where Mrs. Cahill’s office was,” Warnell said.

Klundt then asked what the “abortionist’s name” was, according to Warnell’s testimony. Twyla Klundt responded with Susan Cahill’s name.

Cahill was the owner and practitioner at All Families, a Kalispell clinic that provided a range of services including first-term abortions. 

Klundt broke into the clinic overnight on March 4, 2014, and caused massive damage. He broke sewer lines, smashed family photos, threw paperwork and medical equipment around and covered patient files in iodine.

Claw marks from the back of a hammer were found in the faces of Cahill’s family photos. The damage was described as complete and extensive. 

Warnell said that in his 21 years as an officer, he hadn’t seen such extensive property damage in a crime. 

Police investigators also found that Klundt took cellphone video of the damage on the night of the incident.

That evidence, as well as other witnesses called by Boman, attempted to poke holes in Klundt’s previous reasoning for the crime. 

Defense attorney Peter Leander had painted the picture that Klundt was under heavy influence of medication and alcohol during that time and that he acted in an intoxicated haze. He noted that Klundt was still intoxicated hours after being arrested, according to police tests.

Early witnesses called by Leander attested to Klundt’s character.

“That’s not the Zach that I know, and I’ve experienced him many times,” said Dr. Mark Elliott, a Missoula radiologist and family friend who said Klundt has done odd jobs for him over the years.

But the most powerful testimony came from Cahill herself, who spoke about losing everything in Klundt’s raid. She hadn’t been able to sleep after the incident and sought counseling. Cahill is requesting hundreds of thousands of dollars in restitution from Klundt.

Cahill said that she believed she wasn’t the target of a random act but rather a religiously motivated attack on a clinic that handles abortions.

“These are not the actions of someone who did not know what he was doing,” Cahill said.

She talked about how Hope Pregnancy Ministries, a pro-life advocacy group, bought her out of the original All Families office on Meridian Road just weeks before the crime. Cahill was forced to move to a new space. 

Klundt’s mother, Twyla Klundt, was on the board of directors for Hope. She resigned shortly after Klundt’s arrest.

Questions about the motivation behind Klundt’s actions have swirled around this case. It wasn’t a question to Cahill, who lost nearly everything in the damage.

“The feeling of hate in my destroyed office was palpable,” she said.

Most of Tuesday’s hearing was from witnesses called by the prosecution. Klundt could face up to 40 years for his crimes.