Guilty verdict assures life sentence

James Montano, on trial for a murder and assault in rural Carlton County in April 2018, was found guilty on all three of the charges against him Wednesday: first-degree premeditated murder and intentional second-degree murder for the shooting death of his uncle, Andrew Gokee; and the attempted premeditated first-degree murder of his cousin, Hudson Gauthier.

The jury heard closing arguments Tuesday afternoon after six days of testimony and deliberated late into the evening before reaching the verdict just after midnight Wednesday. Premeditated first-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence under Minnesota Statutes §609.185. Montano will be sentenced by Judge Leslie Beiers at a later date.

Prosecutor Matthew Frank, on loan from the Minnesota Attorney General’s office to assist Carlton County Attorney Lauri Ketola and Assistant Carlton County Attorney Jeff Boucher, gave the closing argument for the prosecution.

“Don’t be distracted by the coated bullet casings,” Frank told the jury, referring to the defense’s theory that the bullets found at the scene didn’t match the fragments found in the victim’s skull. “There were bags of ammo in that house, all different kinds from all different manufacturers.”

“Jimmy shot his uncle dead, according to his plan,” Frank said. “He reloaded his gun. He pulled back the hammer, cycled the revolver, and chose to fire the gun again. That’s premeditation. It’s not weeks of planning. But it’s enough. The summation lasted nearly an hour and Frank referred to the defendant as “Jimmy” during his close.

Public Defender Nicole Bettendorf-Hopps made the closing statement for the defense. Hopps, along with local criminal defense attorney Joanna Wiegert, defended Montano.

“It’s not your job to decide whether it was actually Hudson Gauthier who shot Andrew Gokee. You don’t need to decide Hudson’s motives for doing so. You only need to decide if the state proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt that James Montano did it. And they didn’t. Because James Montano didn’t shoot anyone,” Hopps told the jury.

Hopps said the physical evidence didn’t match the witness testimony. “Physical evidence doesn’t change. But witnesses statements do change. Witnesses forget things. They lie. They are inconsistent. But the physical evidence doesn’t change,” she said.

Hopps said the gun fragments found in the victim’s head were inconsistent with casings found at the scene, and unspent casings found in the weapon. “The fragments found [in the victim’s skull] were not copper-coated shells. But the casings found at the scene were copper-coated. And the bullets left in the gun were copper coated .22 shells. It wasn’t James’ gun that killed Gokee. It was Hudson’s,” Hopps said.

“And despite Hudson telling you that he and James had been firing the revolver earlier in the day, James’ DNA wasn’t found on the gun. It wasn’t on the bullets. There is no evidence James fired that gun. The only evidence is that Hudson fired it,” Hopps said.

“And Hudson said he’d been rolling around on the ground. He even testified he was scooting on his behind at one point. Yet, even though all the law enforcement officers on the scene reported wet, messy, and muddy conditions on the property, no one noticed any mud or dirt on Hudson. His stories don’t add up. And that is reasonable doubt,” Hopps said.

“Law enforcement decided right away that it was James who fired the fatal shots, and never even considered Hudson, or even James’ father Michael, as potential suspects. So, they didn’t gather any evidence. They didn’t even separate the two,” Hopps said, suggesting that the two had an opportunity to collaborate on their stories. “With law enforcement focused on their assumption that James was the suspect, they never even considered any other option.”

The evidence was uncontested that Montano was also shot, in the chest, by his cousin Hudson Gauthier. While the shot was painful to Montano, it was not life threatening. The prosecution said Gauthier shot Montano after Montano had shot Gokee, in self-defense, as Montano was coming after Gauthier to kill him, too. The defense claimed it was the other way around: “Gauthier was trying to kill both Monsanto and his own father.”

But Frank had the last word: “Jimmy killed his uncle. He tried to kill his cousin. We don’t know why, exactly. We don’t need to explain his motive. But he did it. And he ran into the woods and hid for hours after he did it. If it really was someone else, as the defense would have you believe, he could have called 911 and said ‘My uncle’s been killed, and he tried to kill me, too.’ But he didn’t. He hid,” Frank said. “Don’t be swayed by the defense’s alternative scenario. Remember, it’s beyond reasonable doubt, not beyond all doubt,” Franks said.