Woman sentenced for role in Arlee murder

Family members of an 18-year-old man who was murdered and hidden in an Arlee trailer this spring were in tears Wednesday as a Western Montana woman received a partially suspended sentence for her role in concealing the killing. 

Lake County District Court Judge James A. Manley accepted a plea deal committing Kassandra Seese, 24, to the Montana Department of Corrections for 20 years with 15 suspended for accountability to homicide in the February death of her husband’s nephew, Richard Warner.

Warner’s body was discovered in early June, decomposing under a heap of clothes and trash in the bathroom of a trailer that Kassandra and Stephen Seese had shared with their two children, according to court documents.

“I don’t agree with the plea deal,” the victim’s stepmother Tabitha Warner said during Wednesday’s sentencing. “To me it feels like she’s getting a slap on the wrist.”

Tabitha and two other family members read prepared statements describing the gruesome and disturbing nature of the crime.

She said that following her stepson’s disappearance, Kassandra maintained that Richard Warner had left for North Dakota after getting into an argument with Kassandra and her husband. Tabitha said Kassandra then continued to interact with the victim’s family, borrowing money and even volunteering to have the victim’s own 9-year-old brother sleep over in the trailer.

“What would you have done if he would have opened the door and found his brother?” Tabitha asked Kassandra. “Would he have been next?”

According to court documents, Kassandra confessed to law enforcement officers that her two children were present at the time of the murder.

Tina Medrano, who identified herself as Kassandra’s mother-in-law, said that the sentence was “ludicrous” and the crime has caused lasting damage to the children involved.

“Now I have a 2 1/2-year-old little girl who wakes up screaming saying, ‘Grandma, kiss it better.’ But I can’t kiss it better. There’s nothing wrong with her,” Medrano said.

Prosecuting attorney Steve Eschenbacher told the court he agreed that the sentence was “insufficient,” however it was necessary in order to seek punishment for both parties involved.

“These are the only two people who know what happened in that trailer,” he said.

An autopsy revealed Warner was bludgeoned to death, but Eschenbacher said the body was so badly decomposed that it was difficult to gather evidence.

Moreover, both husband and wife have accused the other of killing Warner. If the case went to trial, Eschenbacher said the couple could not be forced to testify against each other.

“I’m facing the possibility that both parties could be acquitted,” he said. “I hope somehow this can bring some kind of resolution. It’s the only sentence appropriate.”

Eschenbacher said that without the plea deal, he might not be able to successfully prosecute Stephen Seese, who he believes to have actually committed the crime, based on the strength of the blows.

Stephen Seese is scheduled to plead guilty to accountability to negligent homicide on Dec. 7. His agreement calls for a maximum 40-year commitment to the Montana Department of Corrections with no time suspended.

Judge Manley agreed with Eschenbacher’s assessment, however he acknowledged that the sentence was difficult to accept.

“I understand imperfect justice is injustice,” he said. “But I’m also mindful of the practical nature of the agreement.”

In addition to the rigid legal parameters, family members also expressed frustration over the investigation process.

The victim’s father, Joseph Warner, said he was told multiple explanations about the fate of his son’s remains. Initially, he said investigators informed him the body wouldn’t be released until trials were completed. But Joseph said in September he learned the cremated remains were given to a grandmother, despite that fact both parents were still alive.

“I feel the system has left us out,” he said.

Manley apologized to Joseph for the way the remains were processed.

“As for the disrespect, we should all be sorry,” he said. “You deserve better than that.”

After family member testimony was completed, Kassandra Seese expressed remorse as well.

“I know they won’t take the apology, but I’m sorry,” she said through tears, as she received her sentence.

For the Warners, however, the damage was already done.

“We will never see our son again, physically or emotionally,” Joseph Warner said during his statement. “We will never have closure.”