A man who murdered his two children and buried their bodies south of Libby more than 30 years ago is up for parole.

Richard Garry Sweet, 68, has been incarcerated in the Montana State Prison since 1994 following two guilty pleas to mitigated deliberate homicide in Lincoln County District Court.

Sweet shot his 8-year-old daughter Anna and 6-year-old son Erik each twice in the back of the head Sept. 8, 1993, with a .22-caliber rifle. He then placed them in their dinosaur sleeping bags inside his own sleeping bag, drove to a forested area about six miles south of Libby and buried his children in a shallow grave.

Sweet’s ex-wife and the mother of both children, Jan Gairrett, issued a plea Jan. 31 on Facebook asking people to write letters opposing his release.

Sweet’s hearing is scheduled for some time in April, but prison officials said an exact date has not been set yet. Letters should be addressed to the Montana Board of Pardons and Parole, 1002 Hollenbeck Road, Deer Lodge, MT 59722. His Department of Corrections number is 36078.

Sweet, who is serving two 40-year sentences, became eligible for parole Jan. 29, 2004, and has been denied multiple times, including in 2004, 2009, 2020 and 2024.

2024 and 2020. Sweet was also denied parole in 2009, 2014, 2020.

After the 2014 hearing, Parole Board Chairman Mike McKee told the Inter Lake Sweet refused to answer questions about the crime and “that made pretty short work of the hearing.”

Following the 2020 hearing, Montana Board of Pardons and Parole Chair Annette Carter said Sweet was denied by the board because of the gravity of the crimes he committed and the impact his release could have on the community.

“Those factors made us decide parole was not appropriate at this time,” Carter said. “He is still accountable to what he did and he expressed a lot of remorse for his actions.”

Previous Daily Inter Lake articles indicate Sweet married Janice in April 1982. But marriage troubles arose for the couple. Sweet worked in Alaska and was only a part-time resident of Kalispell.

Sweet picked up the children from Janice to go camping near the Fisher River in Lincoln County, according to then-Lincoln County Sheriff Ray Nixon.

Following their deaths, Sweet’s brother contacted the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office three days later after Sweet showed up at his Libby home and told him about killing the children and his plan to head to Kalispell, where Janice was living.

Lincoln County authorities called law enforcement agencies in Flathead County and Kalispell to alert them of Sweet possibly coming to the area. Sweet was found near the old Kmart on Montana 35 in Kalispell and was arrested without incident.

“We were all afraid of what he was coming back here to do,” then-Flathead County Sheriff Jim DuPont said at the time.

Sweet’s brother said he thought that if Sweet couldn’t have his children, his wife was not going to have them either.

In the meantime, Sweet’s two brothers and another man found the children’s gravesite the morning of Sept. 11, 1993. County deputies found the bodies later that afternoon.

Following Sweet’s arrest, attorneys from the state Public Defender’s Office sought a psychological evaluation. They argued that his actions suggested he may suffer from a mental disease or defect.

Following an exam by Dr. William Stratford, Sweet’s attorneys indicated they would introduce evidence at his trial that, due to a mental disease or defect, he didn’t have a particular state of mind that is essential element of the charged offense.

In the charging document, an autopsy confirmed the cause of death, but also indicated signs of carbon monoxide poisoning. Sweet told deputies from the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office that he placed a hose of the Jeep in the tent where he and the children slept. He said he woke up, but the kids didn’t.

Later in the day, Sept. 11, 1993, Sweet told county Det. Craig Martin he tried to kill himself and the kids by carbon monoxide poisoning. He said he woke up and the children were in distress. He said he shot them so they wouldn’t suffer.

Sweet said he threw the rifle in the Kootenai River at a bridge that crosses the river in Libby. It was recovered Sept. 12, 1993, by two juveniles.

In June 1994, Lincoln County Attorney Scott Spencer filed an amended information charging Sweet with two counts of mitigated deliberate homicide. The document said Sweet was under the influence of extreme mental stress.

Fourteen years after he began serving his sentence, Sweet applied for a job with the prison’s Wildland Fire Suppression Crew, according to an April 13, 2007, letter from a prison official to District Judge Michael Prezeau. He did not oppose Sweet’s effort.

According to the state Department of Corrections website, its Wildland Fire Crew has assisted the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation since 2002 fighting fires or on community service projects.

Sweet had the backing of corrections officials. They cited his completion of anger management and other programs meant to improve reasoning and decision making.

The request also indicated Sweet completed and passed a pack test in 2007 at Shelby Regional Prison. At the time, the convict was in the process of being screened for placement on a fire crew list. Progress reports also said he completed all recommended treatment, had positive job and housing reports and maintained clear conduct.

According to state Department of Corrections officials, records indicate Sweet was not approved to work on the Fire Crew in 2007.

    Anna Sweet
  

    Erik Sweet