A Lake County man once facing life in prison without parole likely will be released March 3, 2017, after the Montana Board of Pardons and Parole refused to grant him early release on Monday.

Clifford Oldhorn, 29, could come before the board again for early discharge before his projected release date, but only if he meets certain good behavior criteria and completes a chemical dependency treatment program, according to Timothy Allred, executive director of the Montana Board of Pardons and Parole.

“That’s a decision he has to make,” Allred said.

Oldhorn is serving 15 years, with 10 years suspended, for felony theft, burglary, and deceptive practices that occurred a few months before a high-profile 2005 murder that Oldhorn once confessed being a part of.

Harold Mitchell, 73, a former tribal council member for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, was found beaten with this throat slashed, body doused in gasoline and burned in an apparent attempted robbery in July 2005.

Authorities did not have enough evidence for a conviction in the case until Oldhorn came forward in 2007.

At the time, Oldhorn was halfway through a five-year sentence in Great Falls Regional Prison. Oldhorn had a close friendship with his cellmate Robert Gardner who was serving a 50-year sentence for homicide. Oldhorn offered to tell Gardner about a “murder rap” he knew about so Gardner could try to offer the information in exchange for a reduced sentence.

Gardner met with Lake County Detective Jay Doyle on Dec. 3, 2007, at the prison and said he would offer information about Mitchell’s murder if he and his friends were offered immunity.

Lake County Attorney Mitch Young wrote Gardner the following letter in response to the immunity: “After speaking with Detective Doyle, I would agree not to file charges against your sources for any collateral crimes committed by them in the course of this incident. I will not, however, offer immunity for any acts which would constitute accountability for the homicide of Mr. Mitchell. If either of the sources was involved in the homicide, their cooperation with the police would certainly be viewed favorably in any subsequent proceedings.”

Doyle gave Gardner a letter stating: “Mitch [Young] did agree to give immunity to your friends.”

In April 2008 Oldhorn admitted to detectives that he was outside Mitchell’s home at the time of the murder and gave the names of two people who allegedly killed the man. After being reassured by investigating deputies that they would be lenient with him, he  gave a full account of what happened and admitted being inside the trailer during the robbery. .

Oldhorn was transported to Polson in April 2010 after Young filed charges against him and three others for deliberate homicide. Oldhorn was reassured by deputies that Young had not changed his mind about trading Oldhorn’s confession for immunity. He was then interviewed but was not told he had been charged with Mitchell’s murder.

Later, Oldhorn stopped working with deputies. Without Oldhorn’s testimony to convict them, charges against three others allegedly involved in the crime were dropped, though those men agreed to testify against Oldhorn.

A jury trial ended with Oldhorn being sentenced in June 2011 to 100 years in prison without possibility of parole.

But the Montana Supreme Court took issue with the case and in January 2013 Oldhorn was released from prison. Two days after his release from prison, Oldhorn was picked up by police on a probation violation for other felonies because he was caught drinking.

In June 2014, the high court ruled that prosecutors could not re-try Oldhorn based on his previous confession made to Doyle and Detective Mike Sargeant.

“The District Court also found Oldhorn was not told until the end of the 2010 interview that he had already been charged with deliberate homicide,” Chief Justice Mike McGrath wrote. “The transcript of the interview shows Doyle and Sargeant carefully and deliberately avoided contradicting Oldhorn’s belief he had been granted immunity by ignoring his questions and affirmatively telling him Young had ‘not changed his mind.’ We will not condone the use of deception to obtain a confession.”

Oldhorn was resentenced that same month for his parole violations. Judge C.B. McNeil tried to send Oldhorn away for the maximum 15-year sentence for three charges, but the Montana Sentence Review Board overruled the judge, saying that Oldhorn should have 10 years suspended.

Oldhorn was first evaluated by the Montana Board of Pardons and Parole in November 2014, when he was ordered to obtain anger management treatment.

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