Homicide suspects plead not guilty in district court

| February 24, 2005 10:00 PM

Posted: Wednesday, Feb 23, 2005 - 12:15:15 pm PST

By Ethan Smith

Leader Staff

The three men charged in the deaths of two people appeared in district court last week and pled not guilty as more than two dozen members of the victims' families looked on.

Glen Joseph Gardipee, 29, Troy Allen McDonald, 19, and Jeremiah Chalwin Green, 19, all pled not guilty last Thursday to two counts of deliberate homicide and one count of tampering with evidence. They are charged in the deaths of Catherine Madplume and Gerald Sirucek, both 20, who were found shot to death behind a trailer on Eagle Pass Trail south of Ronan on Feb. 3.

Tribal and Lake County law enforcement officials arrived at 3692 Eagle Pass Trail around 1 p.m. that day after Green allegedly walked into Tribal police headquarters that morning, claiming that McDonald and Gardipee had killed two people and threatened to kill him if he told anyone, according to court documents.

Court documents allege that Sirucek was shot while inside Green's Jeep, and his body was taken out back and dumped behind a trailer located behind the main residence. The house in question belongs to one of McDonald's relatives who wasn't home at the time.

Green allegedly told law enforcement officials that the men planned to get Sirucek drunk and take about $200 in student loan money from him, but that they ended up killing him instead, according to court documents.

Madplume happened to go looking for Sirucek later in the evening, and was shot when she walked around the back of the house, court documents say. The men are charged with evidence tampering for attempting to hide Sirucek's and Madplume's bodies.

Chief deputy county attorney Mitch Young outlined the state's charges last week in District Court Judge Kim Christopher's courtroom, and agreed not to seek the death penalty for the deliberate homicide charges. The men face up to life in prison on the deliberate homicide charges and 10 years in prison and a $50,000 fine on the evidence tampering charge.

Gardipee is being represented by local public defender Ben Anciaux. McDonald is being represented by Thompson Falls attorney John Putikka, who requested a psychiatric evaluation for his client. Christopher granted his request.

According to court documents, McDonald admitted under questioning to shooting both Sirucek and Madplume, but said that it was Green's idea. Green allegedly told McDonald and Gardipee that he was going to get something to eat that morning, and drove to Tribal police headquarters instead.

Law enforcement officials found Green's Jeep at a relative's residence in Pablo shortly after Green came into the Tribal office. The Jeep had blood stains inside it, according to court documents.

Green's attorney, Larry Nistler, asked for funding for an investigator to help with his client's case, and Christopher authorized $2,000 in agreeing to his request.

In information taken the day after their arrest, all three men listed the Eagle Pass Trail house as their primary residence, but McDonald later provided a Pablo address while Gardipee provided a St. Ignatius mailing address. Green listed his address as Charlo.

All of the men face a pretrial hearing on April 21 at 9 a.m. and are being held without bond. Under the deliberate homicide charge, all three could be found guilty of mitigated deliberate homicide, a lesser offense.

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