THOMPSON FALLS, Mont. (AP) â For a moment, the entire courtroom froze.
Judge Amy Eddy had spent the last several minutes winding her way through a painstakingly detailed explanation of her impending decision, touching on each argument she had been presented with while alternately glancing at prosecutors, defense attorneys and Rachel Ann Bellesen, the 37-year-old mother of four sitting stoically with the weight of the last seven months dangling over her head.
Then two heavy words knifed through the tension in the crowded room: âwith prejudice.â
When the power of those words eventually sunk in, Bellesen leaned back in her chair, opened her mouth wide and let out a long-stifled sigh, expelling much of the fear, anger and horror sheâd been carrying for the 229 days since she said she killed her ex-husband in self-defense.
Suspect killed after shooting at officers in Sanders County
Posted at 11:03 PM, Dec 11, 2020
and last updated 2020-12-12 14:08:38-05
GREAT FALLS â A man is dead after engaging law enforcement officers in a stand-off and shooting at officers, wounding one of them.
The Montana Department of Justice said in a news release that on Friday, December 11th at about 12:30 a.m., the Sanders County Sheriffâs Office received a call for assistance regarding a man armed with a handgun and an assault rifle who had entered the Naughty Pine Saloon in Trout Creek. The man barricaded himself inside an area of the saloon. A small group of customers were inside at the time of the incident. A Sanders County deputy arrived and began negotiating with the man.