STATE v. McKENZIE

Procedural entryThis page is a short order in STATE v. McKENZIE. Read the opinion of the Court — 186 Mont. 481
Montana Supreme Court·Decided June 7, 1978·No. 13011·Published

Opinion

No. 13011

I N THE SUPREME COURT O THE STATE O MONTANA F F

1978

THE STATE O MONTANA,

F

P l a i n t i f f and Respondent,

DUNCAN PEDER McKENZIE, J R . , Defendant and A p p e l l a n t .

Appeal from: D i s t r i c t Court o f t h e Eighth J u d i c i a l D i s t r i c t , Honorable R. J . Nelson, Judge p r e s i d i n g .

Counsel o f Record:

For Appellant:

Barney Reagan a r g u e d , Cut Bank, Montana F o r Respondent:

Hon. Mike G r e e l y , A t t o r n e y G e n e r a l , a r g u e d , H e l e n a , Montana

Michael McCarter, A s s i s t a n t A t t o r n e y G e n e r a l , a r g u e d , H e l e n a , Montana Douglas Anderson, County A t t o r n e y , a r g u e d , Conrad, Montana

Submitted: March 1 3 , 1978 Decided : jUN 1 !$re

Mr. Chief J u s t i c e Frank I . Haswell d e l i v e r e d t h e o p i n i o n of t h e C o u r t .

Defendant Duncan Peder McKenzie, J r . , was c o n v i c t e d of t h e c r i m e s o f d e l i b e r a t e homicide and a g g r a v a t e d k i d n a p p i n g by j u r y v e r d i c t i n t h e D i s t r i c t C o u r t of Cascade County and t h e r e a f t e r was s e n t e n c e d t o d e a t h . The c o n v i c t i o n and s e n t e n c e were a f f i r m e d on a p p e a l by t h i s C o u r t . S t a t e v. McKenzie, (1976), Mont. , 557 P.2d 1023, 33 St.Rep. 1043.

Thereafter , t h e United S t a t e s Supreme C o u r t g r a n t e d c e r t i o r a r i , v a c a t e d t h i s C o u r t ' s judgment and remanded t h e c a u s e t o u s f o r f u r t h e r c o n s i d e r a t i o n i n l i g h t of P a t t e r s o n v . New York, ( 1 9 7 7 ) , 432 U . S . 197, 97 S.Ct. 2319, 53 L Ed 2d 281. T h i s o p i n i o n c o n s t i t u t e s t h e judgment of t h i s C o u r t f o l l o w i n g remand.

The v i c t i m i n t h i s c a s e was Lana Harding, a 23 y e a r o l d r u r a l s c h o o l t e a c h e r i n Pondera County, Montana. On Tuesday morning, J a n u a r y 2 2 , 1974, s h e f a i l e d t o a p p e a r a t s c h o o l . A t t h e P i o n e e r School t e a c h e r a g e where s h e l i v e d , t h e bed was found i n a d i s h e v e l l e d c o n d i t i o n . The s h e r i f f of Pondera County was c a l l e d and o f f i c e r s w e r e d i s p a t c h e d t o t h e s c h o o l , a r r i v i n g t h e r e mid-morning.

I n v e s t i g a t i o n t h a t day r e v e a l e d : (1) A r e d t e n n i s s h o e b e l o n g i n g t o Lana Barding j u s t o u t s i d e t h e s c h o o l ; (2) a d r a g t r a i l from the t e a c h e r a g e t o a nearby r o a d ; ( 3 ) blood n e a r t h e end of t h e d r a g t r a i l ( l a t e r i d e n t i f i e d a s L a n a ' s t y p e and Rh f a c t o r ) ; and ( 4 ) a w r i s t w a t c h b e l o n g i n g t o Lana i n t h e same a r e a a s t h e b l o o d . Lana Harding was l a s t s e e n i n Conrad, Montana, some 1 3 m i l e s from t h e t e a c h e r a g e , on Monday, J a n u a r y 21, a t a b o u t 5:00 p.m.

D e f e n d a n t had r e c e n t l y moved i n t o t h e community and was working f o r t h e K & K W h o l e s a l e Seed Co. l o c a t e d a p p r o x i - m a t e l y t h r e e m i l e s from t h e P i o n e e r S c h o o l t e a c h e r a g e . A day o r s o b e f o r e J a n u a r y 21, h e made a r r a n g e m e n t s t o buy a 1948 b l a c k Dodge p i c k u p , r e c o g n i z a b l e t o most i n h a b i t a n t s o f t h e a r e a b e c a u s e i t had b e l o n g e d t o o n e l o c a l owner f o r a l o n g p e r i o d o f t i m e . On J a n u a r y 21, d e f e n d a n t had worked on t h e p i c k u p a f t e r work. H e was s e e n l e a v i n g K & K Wholesale Seed Co. a t a p 2 r o x i m a t e l y 6:45 p.m., h e a d i n g toward h i s p l a c e o f r e s i d e n c e ( n o t f a r from t h e t e a c h e r a g e ) i n t h e black pickup. The p i c k u p was s e e n a b o u t 7:00 p.m. about a m i l e from t h e t e a c h e r a g e .

A p p r o x i m a t e l y a n hour l a t e r , a r o u n d 8:00 p.m., defendant knocked o n t h e d o o r o f t h e P e a r s o n f a r m r e s i d e n c e , l o c a t e d a c r o s s t h e r o a d from t h e t e a c h e r a g e . H e asked f o r a s s i s t a n c e i n s t a r t i n g h i s pickup. I t was l a t e r d e t e r m i n e d t h e p i c k u p was p a r k e d i n t h e r o a d a t a p o i n t where t h e d r a g t r a i l ended and where t h e b l o o d and w a t c h w e r e found t h e f o l l o w i n g d a y . A t t h e Pearson r e s i d e n c e defendant asked d i r e c t i o n s t o h i s own r e s i d e n c e and c a l l e d h i s w i f e t o s a y h e was coming home. Don P e a r s o n p u l l e d t h e p i c k u p , g o t i t s t a r t e d , and n o t e d d e f e n d a n t d i d n o t d r i v e on toward h i s p l a c e o f r e s i d e n c e . S h o r t l y t h e r e a f t e r , t h e p i c k u p was s e e n b e i n g d r i v e n toward t h e d r i l l s i t e where L a n a ' s body was f o u n d t h e f o l l o w i n g

day.

H e r body was f o u n d c l o t h e d o n l y i n a s h i r t , s w e a t e r and

b r a . I t was d r a p e d o v e r t h e t o n g u e o f a g r a i n d r i l l . She had b e e n s e v e r e l y b e a t e n a b o u t t h e head and body. The

f o r e n s i c p a t h o l o g i s t who examined t h e body t e s t i f i e d t h e d e a t h blow had been d e l i v e r e d t o t h e head and l a i d open t h e

right side. A r o p e was t i e d a r o u n d h e r neck; t h e r e was e v i d e n c e s h e had been s t r a n g l e d ; however, p r e s s u r e had been r e l e a s e d s o s h e d i d n o t d i e of s t r a n g u l a t i o n . A c o i l of w i r e was e n t a n g l e d i n h e r h a i r , l a t e r shown t o have come from a r o l l of w i r e found i n t h e back of d e f e n d a n t ' s p i c k u p .

During t h e s e a r c h f o r t h e body and t h e i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f t h e homicide, t h r e e a d d i t i o n a l i t e m s were found: (1) A p a i r of g l o v e s , worn by d e f e n d a n t a t work, were found i n a f i e l d

n o t f a r from where t h e body was d i s c o v e r e d w i t h human blood on them; (2) o v e r s h o e s w i t h L a n a ' s t y p e blood and b r a i n

t i s s u e on them were found a b o u t a q u a r t e r o f a m i l e away, and i m p r e s s i o n s from t h e s o l e s matched t h e h e e l s of b o o t s l a t e r t a k e n from d e f e n d a n t ' s home; and ( 3 ) L a n a ' s p u r s e was found n e a r t h e p l a c e where t h e o v e r s h o e s were r e c o v e r e d .

A s a r e s u l t o f t h e i n v e s t i g a t i o n by t h e s h e r i f f and h i s d e p u t i e s , t h e c o u n t y a t t o r n e y , on Tuesday a f t e r n o o n , J a n u a r y 22, f i l e d a c o m p l a i n t c h a r g i n g d e f e n d a n t w i t h a s s a u l t b e f o r e t h e j u s t i c e of t h e p e a c e . The c o u n t y a t t o r n e y a l s o o b t a i n e d

a w a r r a n t f o r t h e a r r e s t of d e f e n d a n t and a s e a r c h w a r r a n t .

Defendant was t h e r e a f t e r a r r e s t e d a t h i s home. The

b l a c k Dodge p i c k u p was s e i z e d and impounded. Human b l o o d

was found i n t h e bed of t h e pickup and on t h e s p r i n g s ; t h e back end of t h e p i c k u p had been r e c e n t l y s p r a y e d w i t h b l a c k

p a i n t ; t h e s p r a y p a i n t was l a t e r i d e n t i f i e d by F B I e x p e r t s a s i d e n t i c a l t o a p a i n t brand named "Weekend" which was n o t a v a i l a b l e i n t h e Conrad, Pondera County, a r e a . A c a n of t h e b l a c k s p r a y p a i n t w a s found i n t h e c a b of t h e p i c k u p , and

a n o t h e r was l a t e r found a t d e f e n d a n t ' s home.

The f o l l o w i n g i t e m s w e r e found i n t h e back of t h e

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STATE v. McKENZIE, (Mo. 1978).

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