Martin City murderer given 100 years in state prison

The Kila man convicted earlier this year of murdering Whisper Sellars during a dispute over a golf cart outside a Martin City bar received a 100-year sentence in the Montana State Prison on Tuesday.  

A jury found Del Orrin Crawford, 42, guilty of deliberate homicide, assault with a weapon and tampering with evidence following a multiday trial in Flathead County District Court in July. Judge Dan Wilson, who presided over the case, handed down the sentence on Nov. 26. He also ordered Crawford to pay $91,809.94 in restitution. 

Prosecutors brought Crawford up on the felony charges following his arrest in the wake of the deadly Aug. 27, 2022 confrontation in Martin City. A member of a wedding party celebrating the upcoming nuptials, Crawford left the South Fork Saloon to find Sellars, her husband Doug Crosswhite and several members of their family hanging out on a golf cart belonging to the groom, according to court documents and witness testimony.  

An argument arose after Crawford confronted the group, which led to Crosswhite shoving the 42-year-old onto the ground. Crosswhite testified he believed that Crawford had laid hands on Sellars during the escalating disagreement.  

After ending up on the ground, Crawford pulled a gun out and fired twice, hitting Sellars and Crosswhite. Sellars died in the parking lot of the South Fork Saloon.  

While Crawford maintained he acted in self-defense, prosecutors Special Deputy County Attorneys Thorin Geist and Selene Koepke argued the 142-pound Sellars posed no threat to him. Crawford, in their telling, struck first by pushing Sellars.  

No one else brought a weapon to bear during the argument, they said.  

“Everyone has seen or heard some sort of argument happen over the course of their lives; we’ve all seen them get heated too,” Koepke told jurors in her closing argument. “That doesn’t mean that you get to bust out a gun and shoot two people.”  

Crawford fled the scene following the shooting and hid his gun behind the wheel of his Jeep before surrendering to Flathead County Sheriff's Office deputies. Though Crawford refused to tell investigators what he did with the firearm, they later uncovered it.  

Crawford did not testify during the trial, his only words coming from a recorded interview with detectives in the hours after the shooting that was played for the jury.  

His attorney, Kris McLean, opted against presenting any evidence or calling witnesses, arguing that prosecutors failed to prove Crawford did not act in self-defense. 

News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or dperkins@dailyinterlake.com.