A jury in Sidney found a man guilty on Thursday of killing missing Kalispell woman Nicole Waller. 

According to employees at the Richland County District Court office, Cody Wayne Johnston, 36, was found guilty of felony deliberate homicide and tampering with evidence. The jury took less than three hours to deliberate before returning a verdict. A sentencing date was not immediately available.

Johnston was charged in August 2015, more than two years after Waller, 31, went missing in February 2013 while traveling from Fairview to Kalispell after breaking up with Johnston. Her vehicle was found abandoned near Poplar with her pet guinea pigs left alive inside the vehicle.

In court documents, prosecutors claimed Johnston killed Waller and disposed of her body in a barrel. Her body was never found.

Waller’s sister, Carmen Kiebler, also of Kalispell, had mixed emotions after the verdict.

“In a way we’re thrilled that the individual who did this has been found guilty. But it still doesn’t give us Nicky,” Kiebler said. “You can’t give her a funeral. You can’t say goodbye properly.”

Kiebler said that during the trial, Johnston played off his involvement in the incident as a “childish prank,” in which he moved Waller’s vehicle and tried to send misleading social media messages to make people think Waller was OK.

“There was no apologizing,” Kiebler said. “He played it off like it was a big childish joke.”

Kiebler said that while her own family is hurting, she also feels bad for what Johnston’s family lost because of his poor choices.

“Not only did this cause heart break for my family, but it caused heart break for his family as well,” Kiebler said. “He is a dad... I’m truly sorry for his family.”

She was thankful to the multiple law enforcement agencies that worked the case, including local authorities in Flathead County that drove over for the trial.

“Law enforcement has been really amazing,” Kiebler said.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or [email protected].