Parole denied in 1989 murder case

A man convicted of murdering his girlfriend in Whitefish in 1989 has been denied early release from the Montana State Prison.

John Gambrel Jr., 56, was sentenced in 1990 to 110 years in prison for killing Lori Schwegel on Feb. 5, 1989, after shooting her five times with a .22 rifle at their Iowa Avenue apartment.

On Friday, a parole board at the prison in Deer Lodge decided Gambrel will have to serve the maximum of six more years until he comes up for parole again in 2020. He was denied parole in 2006, as well.

Schwegel’s sister, Luanne Sagen, said she is relieved to know Gambrel will stay locked up.

“It’s a big relief for us that he has to stay [in prison],” she said. “We feel he should serve all 110 years.”

According to Sagen, Gambrel admitted to the murder in a letter given to the parole board prior to his hearing.

“We’re shocked he admitted killing her,” Sagen said. “He had never taken responsibility for what happened.”

Sagen and other family members traveled to Deer Lodge last week to ask the board to deny Gambrel’s early release.

“It was traumatic to have to go to the hearing,” Sagen said, “but we’ll do it again in six more years if we need to.”

Sagen said many community members and law enforcement officers wrote letters and called the parole board asking that Gambrel stay locked up.

According to past reports about the murder, investigators concluded that after a night of bar-hopping downtown, Gambrel returned home, got into a heated argument with Schwegel and shot her five times. He then allegedly returned to the Palace Bar to establish an alibi.

When he returned to his apartment after the bars closed, investigators said, Gambrel turned the rifle on himself twice. One bullet went through his chin and hit the ceiling, and another went through is chin and exited right between his eyebrows.

Schwegel’s sister testified at the murder trial that Gambrel had bragged about having learned in mercenary school how he could shoot himself so it looked like a mortal wound.

Gambrel’s attorney argued that Schwegel was killed by drug dealers who also shot Gambrel as he entered his apartment after closing down the Palace Bar.

Five days after the trial began, the jury spent 11 hours deliberating before returning the guilty verdict.