Saturday, July 19, 2025
63.0°F

Polson man faces murder charge in death of father

NICHOLAS LEDDEN/Daily Inter Lake | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 16 years, 9 months AGO
by NICHOLAS LEDDEN/Daily Inter Lake
| September 26, 2008 1:00 AM

Charges against a Polson man suspected in the shooting death of his father were filed Thursday in Flathead County.

Ross Elliot Johnson, 20, is charged with one count of deliberate homicide, according to the Flathead County Attorney's Office.

Jurisdiction over the case was transferred from Sanders County to Flathead County after GPS mapping revealed the alleged crime scene was inside Flathead County.

Sanders County prosecutors are expected today to dismiss deliberate homicide charges filed there.

Johnson, who was arrested

Sept. 1 after a two-day standoff at his residence outside Polson, is being held in the Sanders County jail. A date for his transfer to the Flathead County Detention Center, where he initially will be held on $500,000 bail, has not been set.

Prosecutors are also expected to request a mental-health evaluation to determine whether Johnson is competent to stand trial. Acquaintances of the Johnson family have said Ross Johnson suffered a head injury about a year ago in a BMX bicycle crash.

Investigators say Ross Johnson fled to Polson after shooting his father, Roger Johnson, on Aug. 30 in the woods 45 miles west of Kalispell.

A couple dirt-biking near Rock Creek Road found Roger Johnson's body and notified authorities. He had been hit once in the head with a shotgun blast.

The father and son reportedly had left the rest of the family, who were camping at a cabin near the U.S. Forest Service's Bend Guard Station, to go gopher hunting.

Investigators tracked Ross Johnson to the family's home on Meadow Vista Way in Polson, where an armed standoff ensued. After negotiations - which sometimes took place as often as every 15 minutes - failed, officers lobbed more than 40 canisters of tear gas into the home.

Johnson still refused to come out, until officers gave him a series of commands via the Missoula County SWAT team's remote-controlled robot. Officers then moved into the home and used a Taser to subdue Johnson, more than 48 hours after the standoff began.

No shots were fired, and no one was injured during the siege.

Ross Johnson had threatened to kill his father prior to the shooting, according to court records.

If convicted, Ross Johnson faces as long as 100 years or life in prison. He also could face an additional 10 years on any prison sentence, because a firearm allegedly was used in the commission of the crime.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com

MORE IMPORTED STORIES

Homicide prosecution moved to Flathead
Valley Press-Mineral Independent | Updated 16 years, 9 months ago
Murder suspect in court
Daily Inter-Lake | Updated 16 years, 9 months ago
Flathead County gets case
Daily Inter-Lake | Updated 16 years, 10 months ago

ARTICLES BY NICHOLAS LEDDEN/DAILY INTER LAKE

February 28, 2009 midnight

Gun-toting boy, 14, put on probation

A 14-year-old boy who brought a handgun to Smith Valley School earlier this month will remain under Youth Court supervision until he is 16.

August 28, 2009 midnight

Drunk driver conviction upheld

Schauf expected to head to prison

May 7, 2009 1 a.m.

Boy charged with killing father

An 11-year-old Kalispell boy arrested in connection with the shooting death of his father was charged Wednesday with mitigated deliberate homicide, a felony.