Judge tells clashing couple to stay apart

Flathead District Court Judge Amy Eddy told a couple on Wednesday that she did not want the pair to have any contact with each other as they go through the court process facing allegations they got to a drunken argument, crashed vehicles into each other and fired shots in a residential neighborhood. 

Joslynn Walker, 25, and Gary Schaeffer, 28, each pleaded not guilty to a felony count of criminal endangerment.

Walker is accused of firing several .40 caliber rounds at approximately 4 a.m. on Oct. 30 in the area of Fourth Avenue South in Hungry Horse. According to court documents, the shots were allegedly fired after Schaeffer and Walker left Packer’s Roost bar and got into a fight. Schaeffer allegedly ran his vehicle into Walker’s on her way home from the bar at least twice.

Deputies noted that Schaeffer’s truck had several bullet holes in it from the incident.

The pair’s attorneys asked Eddy on Wednesday for Walker and Schaeffer to be able to speak to each other, so long as it was not about the pending case. Prosecutor Stacy Boman said she would prefer the pair not be able to contact each other.

The couple said they had previously lived together, but have not been living together since their release from jail.

Schaeffer’s attorney, Greg Rapkoch, was hesitant to say the couple is still together, as he requested the ban on the couple speaking to each other. He said it is a “long-term hope” the pair might be reconciled.

But Walker said the two are still together, and that she has taken steps to help her manage anger and alcohol problems that contributed to the alleged incident.

“I’m going to counseling and I’m on an ankle monitor so I’m not drinking any more ... We are still in a relationship, we just can’t have any contact,” Walker said.

Eddy said she did not want the pair to have contact because “it appears as alleged, you were shooting at each other and running your vehicle into each other,” which was “generally endangering not only yourselves but other people in the community.

“I’m going to keep the prohibition in place for the time-being. If you want me to revisit it in 30 days, I will revisit it once you’ve had a chance for these proceedings to sit for a while,” Eddy said.

A jury trial was set for 2017.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.