Parole denied for man who shot deputy

The Montana Board of Pardons and Parole on Wednesday refused to release from prison an anti-government extremist who shot a Missoula County sheriff’s deputy in 1992 in the Swan Valley.

Gordon Sellner, now 77, holed up for three years after the shooting at his Condon ranch before being arrested after a shootout with law officers in July 1995.

Parole Board Analyst Christine Slaughter said that Bob Parcell, the deputy shot by Sellner but saved by a bulletproof vest, testified against releasing Sellner.

“Parcell did mention the impact it has had on him and how it was really unprovoked,” Slaughter said.

Others from the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office also testified at Sellner’s parole hearing at the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge.

“They all spoke to the board about the impact of the crime on the community,” Slaughter said.

The board noted the random nature of the shooting in denying Sellner’s release. Sellner spoke on his own behalf, but did not have any other support present, Slaughter said.

“The board did note that there was continued impact to the community due to the nature and severity of the offense,” Slaughter said. “The board did commend [Sellner] for positive institutional conduct.”

Sellner will come before the parole board again in August 2019.

Sellner is serving a life sentence plus 10 years for attempted deliberate homicide. Sellner shot Parcell in June 1992 after Parcell tried to conduct a traffic stop. Parcell said he believed Sellner might have been a witness to a crime earlier that evening. Sellner’s only defense for shooting Parcell was that voices told him to do it.

Sellner was only arrested three years later, after authorities arranged for an undercover purchase of timber from Sellner’s lumber mill. Sellner was shot in the neck during a shootout with officers. During the raid, deputies found dynamite gel, 23 firearms, a pipe bomb and ingredients for more pipe bombs, gas masks, blasting caps, a detonating cord, thousands of rounds of ammunition and vests for carrying combat gear.

Anti-government militia signs also were found on the property. During the three years between the shooting and his arrest, Sellner told multiple media outlets that he had not paid his taxes in 20 years since abortion was legalized and that he was subject only to “God’s law.”

He had warned that there would be bloodshed if law enforcement came to arrest him.

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