The Montana Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of a Kila man who killed one person and wounded another during a 2022 shooting in Martin City.  

In his appeal, 44-year-old Del Orrin Crawford argued that Flathead County District Court Judge Dan Wilson erred in allowing prosecutors to use as evidence statements he made to investigators after asking for a lawyer. In a majority opinion issued Sept. 26, Justice Beth Baker wrote that any mistake by the court was negligible, and that Crawford voluntarily spoke to detectives after twice being made aware of his rights. 

A jury found Crawford guilty of felony deliberate homicide, assault with a weapon and tampering with evidence following a multiday trial in 2024. Crawford, who shot and killed Whisper Sellars and wounded her husband Doug Crosswhite following an argument over a golf cart outside a Martin City bar on Aug. 27, 2022, unsuccessfully argued he fired in self-defense.  

Crawford fled after the shooting but later surrendered to a Flathead County Sheriff's Office deputy after hiding his firearm. Although Crawford requested a lawyer after being read his Miranda rights, the deputy continued asking him for the whereabouts of his gun, citing the risk it posed to public safety.  

Crawford was later turned over to a pair of detectives, who were unaware he had requested an attorney. As they swabbed him for gunshot residue, Crawford inquired about the investigation and offered up information about the shooting. After getting read his Miranda rights a second time, Crawford answered the detectives' questions without an attorney present.  

Crawford's attorney, Colin Stephens of Missoula-based law firm Stephens Brooke, argued in the appeal that both sets of statements should have been left out of trial owing to the 44-year-old's request for a lawyer.  

Regarding the statements Crawford made about the whereabouts of his gun, which were later used to demonstrate he misled investigators, prosecutors argued that they were admissible under a public safety exception to Miranda. They argued that even if the justices found Wilson made a mistake, it was a harmless error.  

Given the rest of the evidence that showed Crawford lied to the authorities about the whereabouts and condition of his gun, Baker wrote that the high court needn't determine whether Wilson erred.  

"All of this properly admitted evidence proved the same fact: that Crawford hid the gun and then lied to the law enforcement officers about where it was," Baker wrote. "The quality of the tainted evidence ... was minimal when compared to that of the cumulative admissible evidence." 

As to the statements Crawford later made to the detectives, the 44-year-old's lawyer argued that they were inadmissible because he had earlier sought an attorney. Prosecutors noted that Crawford initiated the conversation with the detectives, waiving his earlier request.  

The justices noted that Crawford was not yet charged with a crime when he spoke to the detectives and that the 44-year-old repeatedly struck up a conversation with deputies and detectives after surrendering to the authorities.  

"I'll tell you, I'll tell you what I can," Crawford told the detectives at one point. "I don't think I need an attorney." 

The justices agreed with Wilson that Crawford waived his request for an attorney by repeatedly asking the authorities about the investigation and volunteering up information regarding the shooting.  

"When subsequent questioning is reopened at the instance of the accused themselves, rather than by law enforcement, such questioning is permitted," Baker wrote in the opinion.  

Justices Cory Swanson, Katherine Bidegaray, Ingrid Gustafson and Jim Rice all concurred with Baker's opinion.  

Crawford received a 100-year prison sentence in November 2024 following his jury trial. He is being held at the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility, a privately-run prison operated by CoreCivic in Mississippi.  

News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 406-758-4430 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.

    Del Orrin Crawford. (Courtesy the Montana Department of Corrections)