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0:31

Carvana. Sarah

0:40

Crane Murdoch's been on our show before. She

0:42

reports on Indigenous communities out west. Back

0:45

in 2023, she got a call from a man in

0:47

Montana, Kevin Howard. He

0:50

said his daughter, Micah, had been killed in a

0:52

hit -and -run. Local police were dragging their feet. He

0:54

thought the driver might get away with it. The

0:57

driver was white, Micah was native,

0:59

a citizen of the Blackfeet Nation. Lots

1:02

of Native people are killed in hit

1:04

-and -runs. And the drivers are

1:06

rarely brought to justice. And Sarah

1:08

thought she might be able to document why

1:11

by diving into Micah's case, because

1:13

Micah's parents had recordings of nearly all

1:15

their interactions with law enforcement. Micah's

1:18

parents did some other things, too.

1:20

They were very strategic. They did

1:22

some extraordinary things other families had not

1:24

tried to make sure Micah's case was

1:26

one that the authorities could not ignore.

1:29

That story, and how it

1:31

unfolded, and what it's like to

1:33

be a couple making that happen. That's

1:35

going to be our whole show today. From WBEZ

1:38

Chicago, this American life, I'm

1:40

Ira Glass. And with that, I

1:42

handed over to Sierra. Micah's

1:45

family lives on the Flathead Indian Reservation. It's

1:48

in a valley surrounded by big, toothy

1:50

mountains. Micah was 22 years

1:52

old the night she was killed. She'd been

1:54

out with her younger brother. They'd

1:56

gone to a bar to buy cigarettes. On

1:59

their way home... Michael couldn't find

2:01

her phone and thought she'd

2:03

left it at the bar. She told

2:05

her brother to let her out of

2:07

the car. She'd go back to the bar

2:10

to get it and then she'd

2:12

walk home. Hours later, around 4am,

2:14

a tribal police officer found her

2:17

body on the side of the road.

2:19

Highway 93. The officer, a friend

2:21

of Kevin's, drove to his house and

2:23

woke him up. You know, they told

2:25

us, Michael was deceased and then right

2:27

away. They were like, yeah, it was

2:29

some tweaker from Butte. And in my

2:31

mind, I was like just like happy

2:34

that they apprehend, you know, so and

2:36

I just, you know, I gave the

2:38

cops a hug and I was like,

2:40

thank you guys or whatever, you know,

2:42

I'm glad that you guys were there.

2:44

Later that day, Kevin and his

2:46

wife, Karissa Heavy Runner, Michael's mother,

2:48

took a cross and a Teddy

2:50

bear to the roadside where she'd

2:53

been found. When they got there,

2:55

investigators, investigatorsators from Montana Highway Patrol

2:57

were flying a One of them

3:00

was named Wayne Bieber. He asked

3:02

Kevin and Chrisa if they had

3:04

Micah's phone. It had actually been

3:06

in her brother's car that night,

3:09

slipped between her seat and the

3:11

console. Bieber said he needed

3:13

it. Chrisa couldn't understand why.

3:15

He was adamant about following us home

3:17

to get it and, you know, I

3:20

repeated, she did not have her phone

3:22

on her. It was in her brother's

3:24

car. Why do you need it? What's

3:26

it gonna... you know, show or whatever.

3:29

And then he said, we need to

3:31

look at all aspects. I was torn,

3:33

fought with myself, and I thought

3:35

I was helping. And so, I

3:37

gave him the phone up here

3:39

at our house. When you're

3:41

handing it to him, I was

3:43

like, oh, my kid's just freaking,

3:46

just pissed off right now. Like,

3:48

she would not like this at all.

3:50

And I like said that out loud.

3:52

Shouldn't have done it. But in

3:54

a joking manner, I guess. But

3:57

I really did feel that way. Like, Michael's

3:59

like, no. No, don't give it down. Yeah,

4:01

well, you tell me more about that. Like,

4:03

if you knew Micah, probably the most

4:05

stubborn person I know, like, she would

4:08

just fight tooth and nail over the

4:10

dumbest thing to the bitter end. Micah

4:12

was constantly challenging her parents,

4:14

but not in a get-in-trouble kind

4:17

of way. They were close. Back when

4:19

she was a teenager, when she

4:21

realized marijuana eased her anxiety,

4:23

instead of lying to them,

4:25

she crafted a PowerPoint presentation

4:27

about its medical benefits. She

4:29

wrote poetry. She was really

4:31

into philosophy, especially the Tao.

4:33

Breaking the habit of being

4:35

yourself was the title of

4:37

the book she was reading

4:39

when she died. Also, she

4:41

was loud. You could hear,

4:43

like, probably even in the

4:45

garage, just laughing in her

4:47

laugh was just so loud.

4:49

Like, her sound just echoed. Or

4:52

if she was mad, just like,

4:54

hahaha, like, you know, just had

4:56

to let that energy out and

4:59

just... Things like that, she would

5:01

do run into our room for

5:03

run away. Just laughing all the

5:05

way. She was like that.

5:08

A week after mica's death,

5:10

Kevin got a text from

5:12

a friend. The driver who

5:14

killed mica wasn't in jail,

5:17

like he'd been told. Her

5:19

name was Sunny White. She

5:21

was 28 years old. Police

5:23

were looking for her. Not

5:26

because she'd killed mica.

5:28

but because she'd allegedly

5:30

just kidnapped her two kids, there

5:32

was a police alert out for

5:34

her. And it had like the names

5:36

of the kids and all that?

5:39

She had a four-year-old daughter

5:41

named Aryan, and I believe a

5:43

two-year-old son named Nation. Aryan

5:45

and nation. Carissa also

5:47

got a text from a friend

5:50

around the same time. She said

5:52

that a tribal police officer pulled

5:54

over a woman. non-native and she

5:56

had said I came here to

5:59

kill Andan. I remember I was

6:01

a speechless after that. It was

6:03

just like, you know, like thinking,

6:05

could it have been a hate crime?

6:07

You know, could she have driven by,

6:09

turned around, came back in Hinner, and

6:11

thought, oh, I'm not going to get

6:13

caught. Like, we were always warned as

6:15

kids, like, yeah, watch out, like, Nazis

6:18

and stuff, though, intentionally, just, that's

6:20

how they get away with killing

6:22

Indians. They just run them over on

6:24

the side of the side of the

6:26

road. So to me it was like,

6:29

holy shit, this is real, this is

6:31

what happened, you know, she was murdered.

6:33

Curissa and Kevin had so many

6:35

questions. First, why wasn't Sunny white

6:37

in jail? Hours after she hit

6:40

and killed Micah, Sunny had been

6:42

arrested for child endangerment, not vehicular

6:44

homicide. They learned she spent seven

6:47

days in jail, and then was

6:49

released, the charges dropped. Also, what

6:52

happened to that investigator from

6:54

the Montana Highway Patrol? Wayne Beber,

6:56

who took Micah's phone. He'd promised

6:58

to call, but he never did.

7:01

Carissa and Kevin started blowing up

7:03

his phone. They called every day

7:05

for a week, nothing. Then a

7:08

friend dialed him from her phone,

7:10

a number he didn't recognize, and

7:12

he picked up. Can I ask who

7:14

was calling again one more

7:16

time? Sorry about that. Carissa

7:18

Heavy Runner, the mother of

7:20

Michael Westwolf. You gave me your

7:22

number when we were putting across

7:24

on the side of the road

7:26

and there was you and another

7:28

trooper there? Yep. So I haven't

7:31

gotten, I've been to be honest

7:33

with you, I've been running around

7:35

with my head cut off the

7:37

last couple of weeks trying to get

7:40

caught up on a bunch of other

7:42

stuff. Have you talked to anybody

7:44

else as far as things go?

7:46

No, because I don't know who else

7:48

to talk to. I've had some other

7:50

things coming up with work that

7:53

I've been trying to get taken

7:55

care of. Beaver tells Carissa he's

7:57

applied for some warrants and

7:59

then... keeps talking about how busy

8:02

he is. Just how come how

8:04

come she's she's not in jail

8:06

still? So it's one of those

8:09

things she was put in jail

8:11

we still have to finish up

8:13

with the rest of our investigation.

8:16

And that includes waiting for toxicology

8:18

stuff to come back along with

8:20

trying to get everything in line

8:23

that may be associated with evidence

8:25

with evidence for that. Okay. I

8:27

will try and get back to

8:30

you as soon as I can,

8:32

but to be honest with you,

8:34

every time I try and seem

8:37

to do something lately, it ends

8:39

up going to poop and I

8:41

end up not going in the

8:44

direction that I want to go

8:46

for the day to try and

8:48

get some stuff done. Okay. How

8:51

confident did you feel in the

8:53

investigation at that point? Not confident

8:55

at all. He told us on

8:58

the phone. Everything I touch turns

9:00

to poo. Everything I touch. And

9:02

you just, I'm just thinking like,

9:05

that's, that's not what you want

9:07

to hear. Like, it'd be funny

9:09

if it was, I guess. This

9:12

is who's investigating our daughter's case.

9:14

This is who we're supposed to,

9:16

you know, rely on to give

9:19

us information and who we're supposed

9:21

to trust. Like, this guy is

9:23

inept. Sarah

9:30

Crane Murdoch. Coming up, Kevin and Chris

9:32

will realize that if they want anything

9:34

to happen in the case, they'll need

9:36

to take matters into their own hands,

9:38

which they do, stay with us. This

10:11

is a message from Noom. When it

10:13

comes to weight loss, no two people

10:15

are the same. That's why Noom's

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10:19

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Moreover, start building better habits

10:27

with Noom. Get your personalized

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plan today at noom.com. This

10:32

American Life. Sarah Crane Murdoch

10:34

picks up the story of

10:36

Michael Westwolf and her parents.

10:38

The distrust needs You

12:55

cannot even be on the shoulder.

12:57

You have to be walking off

13:00

into the ditch or using a

13:02

designated walk path. A walk path.

13:04

He's not talking about Sunny White's

13:07

intoxication. He's talking about Micah's. This

13:09

is the first time anyone in

13:11

law enforcement has mentioned to Kevin

13:13

and Carissa that Micah might have

13:16

been drunk. It's also the first

13:18

time anyone has told them that

13:20

being drunk and walking on the

13:23

side of the road is a

13:25

crime in Montana. And it's the

13:27

first time anyone has suggested that

13:30

if you get hit, your drunkenness

13:32

could mean your death was your

13:34

own fault. Then their tribal advocate,

13:37

Erica, asks, So what's that have

13:39

to do with her being out?

13:41

The totality of the circumstances, looking

13:44

back at the whole thing as

13:46

a offense. The totality of the

13:48

circumstances. Bieber will repeat this phrase

13:51

11 times in the recording. It's

13:53

pretty vague what he means, and

13:55

you hear Kevin trying to get

13:57

Bieber to clarify, to pick apart

14:00

his logic. Well, I mean, if

14:02

the other person was in violation

14:04

of the law as well, wouldn't

14:07

Mike could be charged with intoxicated

14:09

on a roadway and then the

14:11

other person be charged with vehicular

14:14

homicide because she was intoxicated driving

14:16

operating a vehicle. That is why

14:18

I'm saying review. So Mike is

14:21

toxicology though, came back where she

14:23

was impaired. These are things that

14:25

take time and over the process.

14:28

Well, right. I guess my concern

14:30

would be like that's kind of

14:32

your justification for her not being

14:35

currently in jail would be Mike's

14:37

potential intoxication. The question that we

14:39

come back to is exactly what

14:41

I was telling you was if

14:44

you were intoxicated and walking on

14:46

the road. But we don't know

14:48

that, right? of the circumstances. Kevin

14:51

asks him if he's gathering any

14:53

of the surveillance footage from the

14:55

night mica was killed, the footage

14:58

they'd been working to preserve. Maybe

15:00

this could tell them something, like

15:02

if Sunny swerved or if she

15:05

stopped when she hit mica or

15:07

sped up. What would be that

15:09

you're trying to look for? Anything

15:12

and everything to get like the

15:14

total the total grasp of the

15:16

situation, like... For instance, if it

15:18

is a white supremacist, maybe it

15:21

was an intentional hit and run.

15:23

So now all of a sudden

15:25

it's deliberate homicide and we're we're

15:28

not investigating it as such. What

15:30

is it that's here? I mean,

15:32

it's about her children's name. Arion

15:35

and nation. I can't tell you

15:37

how to name your child. Yeah,

15:39

but if you if you name

15:42

your kids Arion and nation, chances

15:44

are you're an affiliate. Look at

15:46

that. And I shouldn't look. at

15:49

it as that. Well then you

15:51

shouldn't look at it as Michael

15:53

was drunk on the side of

15:56

the road so we don't. to

15:58

treat it. To me. Because I

16:00

can tell you got pent up

16:02

aggression. Oh, no, no, no. To

16:05

me. Curza is quiet. She's now

16:07

suspicious of Bieber. He has made

16:09

his phone with him and he

16:12

asks her for the code to

16:14

open and search it. She refuses.

16:16

I have to take this. I

16:19

have to seal this up now

16:21

because this goes into, I have

16:23

to go apply for a warrant.

16:26

So can we hold on to

16:28

it until you get the warrant?

16:30

Oh. He says no. Kevin told

16:33

me Bieber held up the phone

16:35

in an evidence bag, sealed it

16:37

shut. So I guess I'm confused

16:40

as to, that's our property, it's

16:42

my property. It wasn't, it wasn't

16:44

on the scene. And now it

16:46

has to get a warrant to

16:49

collect any information that may be

16:51

valuable to the investigation. I can

16:53

tell you 100% after that. We

16:56

knew that we spooked him, you

16:58

know, and so... You could tell

17:00

he was clearly mad after that.

17:03

You could tell he was flustered.

17:05

I wish we would have recorded

17:07

him trying to leave our driveway.

17:10

He went around the light pole

17:12

thing once because he didn't know

17:14

which way he was going. And

17:17

he had trouble trying to back

17:19

up over and it's like these

17:21

tires were just spinning and we're

17:24

just standing at the window like

17:26

laughing. And I was like, did

17:28

that really just happened? When the

17:30

Montana Highway Patrol applied for the

17:33

warrant to search Micas phone. a

17:35

listed intoxication while walking on a

17:37

road as the crime they were

17:40

investigating, not the crime that killed

17:42

Micah. Kursa and Kevin have been

17:44

together for 18 years. Kursa is

17:47

native, black feet, and denay. Kevin

17:49

is white, but he grew up

17:51

on the flathead reservation. A lot

17:54

of his family is Salish Kootenai,

17:56

including his son. They met a

17:58

single parents when Kevin's son was

18:01

three years old and Michael was

18:03

six. They became a tight family

18:05

unit. Kevin built them a house

18:08

at the foot of the mountains.

18:10

Their albums are full of photos

18:12

of them camping and hunting together.

18:14

They told me mica was a

18:17

good shot, but she always intentionally

18:19

missed. How has losing mica impacted

18:21

your marriage? It's been hard. I

18:24

find myself where... Kevin's

18:26

wanting to, you know, get me

18:29

outside, go take a ride up

18:31

the mountain, and then I'm being

18:33

reluctant because I'm already thinking in

18:36

the back of my mind as,

18:38

this is making me sad, I'm

18:40

going to cry, I don't want

18:43

to do that, you know, and

18:45

I feel bad about that because

18:47

I know he's just trying to

18:50

get me outside and do the

18:52

things that we love and Michael

18:54

loved. Pray for me, I drive

18:57

93. Carissa and Kevin could name

18:59

three other native people who'd been

19:02

killed in the last five years

19:04

while walking this same stretch of

19:06

highway. In none of those cases

19:09

had the driver been prosecuted or

19:11

even arrested. They wanted to know

19:13

why. So a few weeks after

19:16

their meeting with Bieber, they invited

19:18

the mothers of the victims over

19:20

to their house for dinner. They

19:23

all sat in the living room.

19:25

It was a little awkward. Bonnie

19:27

Esoncio's daughter Marina was killed in

19:30

2022. I wasn't sure what to

19:32

say or what to do. It

19:34

was a little bit solemn, kind

19:37

of. And then when I started

19:39

talking about Bieber calling me, they

19:42

were just like, oh my gosh.

19:44

They learned they'd all had the

19:46

same investigator, James LaPaca, who Chrisa

19:49

and Kevin hadn't heard from yet.

19:51

I remember, like, I was like,

19:53

what the fuck, serious? You know,

19:56

we all looked at each other,

19:58

us, all our friends, and like,

20:00

oh my gosh. We cannot let

20:03

them get away with this. Same

20:05

lead prosecutor, same lead investigator. Marina

20:07

was Bonnie's second child to die

20:10

on the road. Her first, Ruby,

20:12

had been riding with a friend

20:14

when he crashed their car and

20:17

killed her. He was intoxicated. He

20:19

survived. Bonnie says the friend told

20:21

Bieber that Ruby had been driving.

20:24

But Bonnie's family didn't believe him.

20:26

They did their own investigation. found

20:29

witnesses, including a farmer who said

20:31

he'd seen the friend in the

20:33

driver's seat. He went to prison,

20:36

but if Bonnie and her family

20:38

hadn't investigated, he might not have

20:40

been charged. Two years later, when

20:43

Marina died, no one was charged.

20:45

Even though the Montana Highway Patrol

20:47

knew who the driver was and

20:50

the family says told them that

20:52

she was over the legal limit

20:54

for THC. Bonnie met with the

20:57

county prosecutor, James LaPaca. They told

20:59

us specifically at that meeting that

21:01

they could not win a case

21:04

if they passed charges, that it

21:06

just wasn't enough. And he said,

21:09

I just know, I've done enough

21:11

of the, I know that we

21:13

can't win. And I'm not going

21:16

to take a case to court

21:18

that I can't win. It felt

21:20

Abani like Lepaka had written her

21:23

daughter off. She obsessed over the

21:25

particulars of her daughter's case. She

21:27

wanted to rent a billboard on

21:30

the highway and brainstormed messages like,

21:32

how hard is it to gather

21:34

evidence? And whose reservation is this?

21:37

And who is protecting who? But

21:39

she didn't have money for a

21:41

billboard. She checked herself into the

21:44

mental health department at a hospital.

21:50

I talked to another mother,

21:52

Trisha Finley. Her son, Aden,

21:54

was killed in a hit

21:57

and run in 2018. She

21:59

says it was almost six

22:01

years before. anyone in law

22:03

enforcement shared anything with her

22:05

about her son's case. The

22:07

county attorney LaPaca invited her

22:10

to his office. A witness

22:12

to Aden's death had come

22:14

forward and named the driver,

22:16

but there was a problem.

22:18

Bieber had taken four months

22:21

to locate the driver and

22:23

get his confession. During that

22:25

time, the statute of limitations

22:27

had passed. So they couldn't

22:29

find him from November till

22:32

April. That's what it looks

22:34

like. Honestly, if all of

22:36

this police work would have

22:38

been wrapped up in November,

22:40

we could charge him. Because

22:43

we didn't. Because they couldn't

22:45

find him? That's what it

22:47

looks like. Because I'd have

22:49

had until the first week

22:51

in December. But they knew

22:54

where he lived. I mean,

22:56

it's not that hard to

22:58

find somebody. My guess is

23:00

they weren't in a really

23:02

big hurry to... to do

23:05

anything in November and probably

23:07

didn't understand that there was

23:09

a statute of limitations window

23:11

closing. I bet they weren't

23:13

paying attention to that at

23:16

all. Isn't that their job

23:18

though? Yeah, yeah it is.

23:20

So because of that... There's

23:25

like they're getting away

23:28

with it. I hope

23:30

not, but that's a

23:33

possibility. The driver did

23:35

get away with it.

23:37

LaPaca couldn't find a

23:40

way to charge the

23:42

case. I reached out

23:44

to Montana Highway Patrol

23:47

about Bonnie and Trish's

23:49

cases, but they declined

23:52

to answer my questions.

24:00

There were two harms when Michael

24:02

was killed. The first when she

24:04

was hit, the second when she

24:07

was left on the side of

24:09

the road to die alone. Nationally,

24:11

native pedestrians are six times likelier

24:14

to be killed in a hit

24:16

and run than white pedestrians. I

24:18

tried to figure out why. I

24:21

learned that when states were building

24:23

their highway systems in the 1920s

24:25

and 30s, they put them through

24:28

reservations, instead of around them, because

24:30

if they ran through reservations. The

24:32

federal government had to pick up

24:35

the tab. Fewer native people own

24:37

cars, so they're more likely to

24:39

be walking along these roads. They're

24:42

dying where there are no sidewalks,

24:44

no street lamps. In Montana, native

24:46

pedestrians make up more than half

24:49

of hit and run fatalities, even

24:51

though they're just 8% of the

24:53

population. And what happens to the

24:56

drivers? I scoured Montana newspapers and

24:58

court records trying to figure out

25:00

which cases got prosecuted. I calculated

25:03

that between 2011 and 2022, in

25:05

cases where the victim was native,

25:07

it was much less likely for

25:10

the drivers to be found. And

25:12

when they were found, their sentences

25:14

were much lighter. During that period,

25:17

the drivers who killed native pedestrians

25:19

in Montana, if you added up

25:21

all their sentences, it was a

25:24

total of 51 years. Those who

25:26

killed non-native pedestrians, 265 years. Curissa

25:33

and Kevin feared their case

25:36

could end the same way

25:38

that Trishas and Bonnie's did,

25:40

with no one charged, even

25:42

though law enforcement had found

25:44

the drivers. They had a

25:46

new goal, Get Sunny White

25:48

arrested. Their strategy was public

25:50

pressure. They would bring attention

25:52

to Micah's case and also

25:54

to Bonnie and Trish's kids'

25:56

cases, since police had stopped

25:58

investigating. That night they met

26:00

with the mother's other house.

26:02

they came up with this

26:04

idea. They do a four-day

26:06

walk along Highway 93. They

26:08

ended the walk on the

26:10

steps of the Lake County

26:12

Courthouse. The march was all

26:14

over local and national media.

26:16

Kevin's a mailman and remembers

26:18

how excited people on the

26:20

reservation were when he delivered

26:22

the state's biggest newspaper with

26:24

Michael's face on the front

26:26

page. Curissa created a Facebook

26:29

group called Micah Matters and

26:31

quickly collected over a thousand

26:33

followers. She started getting invitations

26:35

to speak at big events.

26:37

Like at the grandstand for

26:39

the Missoula County Fair. Imagine

26:41

if this was your child.

26:43

There's this one video that

26:45

Curissa shared with the media

26:47

that blew up. It's of

26:49

Micah. She's in their laundry

26:51

room with a ukulei, singing

26:53

a parody she wrote of

26:55

Vance Joy's Riptide. She's

26:59

singing, I was scared of

27:01

res dogs in the wild.

27:03

I was scared of drunk

27:05

drivers and catching headlice. It's

27:07

clever, drunk drivers and catching

27:09

headlice of all about his

27:11

cousins and friends. It's clever,

27:13

funny. She never wanted to

27:15

make the video, but when

27:17

she played the song for

27:19

Kevin, he begged her to

27:21

let him film it. Was

27:23

there an aspect of mica's

27:25

case that felt to you

27:27

like... Oh this has the

27:29

potential to become big? Oh

27:31

yes, I believe it was

27:33

because of the woman that

27:35

hit her and her children's

27:38

names. And the contrast of

27:40

them with Micah, like Sunny

27:42

who appears to be like

27:44

a, you know, like hateful

27:46

person or whatever, and then

27:48

Micah who's this like, you

27:50

know, hippie child or whatever

27:52

that like loves everybody and

27:54

all that. Yeah, did it

27:56

ever feel to you, you're

27:58

like, oh, this is sort

28:00

of like... perfect victim and

28:02

perfect villain narrative. Right. Yeah,

28:04

the Americans are dumb like that.

28:06

They just, they need, you know,

28:09

like the big villain and the

28:11

kind, sweet-hearted victim or whatever. So

28:13

it's like, you're twisted, you know,

28:16

it's like, one hand, it's really

28:18

sad. And you think of like

28:21

all the other people that no

28:23

one cares about. It's like, because

28:25

Mike is this young, beautiful, talented

28:28

woman. People care about her. This

28:30

perfect, dumb, American narrative of victim

28:32

and villain, innocent and guilty, Kevin

28:34

and Curissa realized that mikas could

28:37

be the case that got people

28:39

to care about all these hidden

28:41

runs. And they decided Curissa

28:43

would be the public face of

28:45

their movement. She comes from a

28:47

politically active family. Her dad was

28:49

a state legislator and a tribal

28:51

councilman. Kevin told me he felt

28:53

a little cynical about all the

28:56

public events Curissa was having to

28:58

do. He didn't know of any

29:00

white families who had to make

29:02

a spectacle of their kids' cases

29:04

to get justice, but he wanted

29:06

to support Carissa and went to

29:08

her events. We're definitely yin and yin.

29:10

Like, if it was just me, like,

29:13

I'm gonna be, no one's gonna like

29:15

me, no one's gonna talk to me,

29:17

I'm gonna piss everyone off, and it's,

29:20

I'm not gonna get anything accomplished by

29:22

myself. Whereas, Chrisa is... the complete opposite

29:24

everyone is going to want to

29:26

talk to her everyone likes her

29:28

you know so it's I think

29:30

it's it's nice to sneak in a

29:33

couple like you know right hooks or

29:35

whatever that maybe knock some sense into

29:37

some people without them even

29:40

realizing it and then she's going

29:42

to be able to make it

29:44

so everyone isn't just seeing this

29:46

angry like Debbie Downer type deed

29:48

that hates everything. Yeah, I'm really struck

29:51

by that. It's like... It makes

29:53

for a very difficult relationship though,

29:55

because you never really agree on

29:57

anything. So it's like, she accepts...

29:59

that I'm wrong and I accept

30:02

that she's wrong in our own

30:04

minds, you know what I mean? And we're

30:06

starting to learn that neither

30:08

one of us are really wrong? What's

30:10

going through your head, Chris? I

30:13

just, oh no. I appreciate my

30:15

husband so much for his truth

30:17

and his fearlessness that he's just

30:19

gonna come out and say whatever.

30:22

That's how we're a good team

30:24

is that we are able to

30:26

cover all sides of it. Coming

30:35

up, Sierra talks to the county

30:38

prosecutor about what the hell with

30:40

not charging and arresting Sunny White.

30:42

That's in a minute from Chicago Public

30:44

Radio, when our program continues. This

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message comes from Oderna. When

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31:48

This American Life from Ira Glass Today

31:50

Show, how to tell a dumb American

31:52

story. Sir Ukraine Murdoch, picks up

31:55

where she loved off. The prosecutor for

31:57

Lake County is James LaPaca.

31:59

Histress... is basically the

32:01

entire flathead reservation. He's

32:03

from Wisconsin, but has worked for

32:05

Lake County for most of his

32:08

career. He's white in his early

32:10

40s, smiling. He looks like a

32:12

Boy Scout. Michael's case had drawn

32:14

more media attention than any other

32:17

case he'd worked on because of

32:19

Chris's organizing. Let me try and

32:21

dig this out. A hundred pages

32:23

of comments from Facebook, articles from

32:26

the New York Times. I got

32:28

a text message from somebody who's

32:30

not my friend on Facebook saying,

32:32

you racist piece of shit, you

32:34

will not try that stupid white

32:37

supremacist bitch because she's white, you're

32:39

garbage. It was annoying, but the attention

32:41

also got him more resources from

32:43

the FBI and the state. He

32:45

met with Chris and Kevin briefly a

32:47

couple of times in the months after

32:49

Micah died. I tried to assure them,

32:51

like, I'm not a white supremacist comfort

32:53

up a homicide for my white supremacist

32:56

friend. That's not what this is about.

32:58

And I think I got some of

33:00

that through to them, but I think

33:02

that they were also, you know, a

33:04

little righteously upset that we weren't moving

33:06

faster. He acknowledged that Montana Highway

33:09

Patrol had made mistakes that slowed

33:11

down the investigation. He had to

33:13

let Sunny White out of jail because

33:15

investigators hadn't collected enough evidence to charge

33:18

her. He also needed Sunny's blood test

33:20

results to prove she had been intoxicated,

33:22

but orders at the Montana Crime Lab

33:25

were backed up. He told me he

33:27

never found anything that proved Sunny hit

33:29

Micah because she was native. He couldn't

33:32

verify the rumor that Sunny had come

33:34

to the reservation to kill an Indian.

33:36

So he couldn't charge her with a

33:39

hate crime. I got the sense that

33:41

he wanted to do a good job

33:43

for Micah's family. The first time we

33:46

met... I was struck by his genuine

33:48

warmth whenever he talked about mica. She

33:50

was a delightful kid. Really? You can tell

33:52

that just by looking through her phone. What

33:54

were some of the feeling, like, do

33:56

you remember anything in particular that really endeared

33:58

you to her? Um, she... did a lot

34:00

of videos and a lot of pictures of

34:03

her, a lot of selfies, and they were

34:05

rather innocent, kind of like a

34:07

little kid. It made me like Michael

34:09

a lot more. It was sweet, but

34:11

also it made me wonder, if he

34:14

didn't have those photos of Michael, would

34:16

he like her? Would he have felt

34:18

as motivated to work on her

34:20

case? He didn't talk this way

34:22

about Bonnie and Tricia's kids, Maureen

34:24

and Eden. He called what happened

34:27

to them tragic, but... He also

34:29

said he didn't think a jury would

34:31

have much sympathy for them. He said

34:33

they made choices that put themselves at

34:35

risk. Highway Patrol concluded that Aden

34:37

was lying in the road when

34:39

he was hit. He'd sent text

34:41

messages to friends suggesting he was suicidal.

34:44

And someone reported Marina

34:46

stumbling intoxicated just before she

34:48

was killed. LaPaca told me he didn't see

34:50

any way he could win at trial, in

34:53

either case. But his explanations left out

34:55

some key details. like the fact

34:57

that the driver who killed Marina

34:59

was intoxicated too, or that in

35:02

Aden's evidence file, the coroner said

35:04

that Aden's injuries indicated that he'd

35:06

been standing when he got hit,

35:08

not lying down. All of this

35:10

was the sort of reasoning that

35:12

caused so much agony for Trish

35:15

and Bonnie. The feeling that law

35:17

enforcement assumed their kids were responsible

35:19

for their own deaths. Six

35:26

months after Michael was killed in

35:28

October of 2023, LaPaca was finally

35:30

close to filing charges against Sunny

35:33

White. He invited Chris and Kevin

35:35

into his office to hear about the

35:37

evidence he had compiled against her. I

35:39

was kind of excited. I'm like, hey guys,

35:41

look, I've Look, we did it. Look, I have

35:44

all this stuff. This is what we've got.

35:46

Let me show you the whole thing. And

35:48

then this is this is the timeline and

35:50

what to expect. That's how I felt that

35:52

meeting was what that meeting was for.

35:54

That's not how cursing Kevin felt

35:56

about the meeting. One of the pieces of

35:59

evidence he shared. them was body cam

36:01

footage from the day Michael was

36:03

killed just hours after Sunny hit

36:05

her. Her SUV, a Cadillac Escalade,

36:07

had broken down in a church

36:09

parking lot. It was missing the

36:11

passenger side mirror. Police had found

36:14

the mirror not far from Michael's

36:16

body. In the video, the officer talks to

36:18

Sunny outside her car. Her two young

36:20

kids are in the back. And she's

36:22

like... totally just like manipulating the

36:24

shit out of the sheriff or

36:26

deputy like she's crying and oh

36:29

my gosh I don't know what's

36:31

happening and that sheriff's like oh

36:33

it's okay letting her smoke cigarettes

36:35

like she's not contained like if

36:37

this was a native woman she

36:39

would be stuffed and cuffed like

36:41

immediately I saw this video the

36:43

deputy does actually cuffs sunny for

36:45

a few minutes he tells her she

36:47

didn't hit a deer she had a person

36:50

and she starts crying asks if

36:52

she's going to prison forever.

36:54

Not forever, he says. But then

36:56

he takes the cuffs off.

36:58

Her brother-in-law had shown up to pick

37:00

up her kids. Sunny starts moving

37:03

car seats and bags into

37:05

his truck. I'm like, LaPaca, what

37:07

the hell, like this is a

37:09

potential crime scene, and he's letting

37:11

her move items from the vehicle.

37:14

I was quiet that whole thing.

37:16

I didn't say one thing because

37:18

I was mad. Like, is everyone this dumb?

37:20

In this world that are in these

37:22

positions of power and we're like telling

37:24

them what they need to look for

37:27

or do how to do their... I

37:29

don't know, I mean, Kevin's look at

37:31

each other and like, oh my God,

37:33

like, it's crazy, you know, like, I

37:35

can't believe it sometimes. LaPaca thinks that

37:37

Sunny's phone was probably in

37:40

one of those bags. Highway

37:42

Patrol never found it. That

37:44

slowed down the investigation. He

37:46

suspects there were drugs in

37:48

paraphernalia in those bags too.

37:50

Her toxicology came back positive

37:52

for methamphetamine and fentanyl. I

37:55

will readily acknowledge that in hindsight

37:57

we should have not let her

37:59

remove evidence. from the vehicle while

38:01

we're doing an investigation. That should

38:03

not have happened. But he also

38:06

told me one of the kids

38:08

was in a diaper and needed

38:11

clothes, so he could see why

38:13

the officer let Sunny move some

38:15

bags. I kept noticing this dynamic

38:18

whenever I asked LaPaca about a

38:20

mistake law enforcement made. He'd readily

38:23

acknowledge it, but then he also

38:25

always had an explanation that assumed

38:27

the officers had good intentions. Like

38:30

when I asked him about Bieber,

38:32

taking Mica's phone. He said, yeah,

38:35

his bedside manner sucked, but Bieber's

38:37

also a good guy, and he

38:39

needed her phone to quickly rule

38:42

up suicide. If she had been

38:44

suicidal, it could cause problems for

38:46

them at trial. Montana Highway Patrol

38:49

finally arrested Sunny White, just a

38:51

few days after LaPaca showed cursing

38:54

Kevin the body cam footage. She

38:56

was charged with negligent vehicular homicide,

38:58

leaving the scene. drug possession, and

39:01

child endangerment. LaPaca called Carissa to

39:03

tell her the news. I couldn't

39:06

believe that, you know, it was

39:08

happening. Yeah, it was, it was,

39:10

like, shocking, like, if you just

39:13

think about the fact that it

39:15

took us seven months to get

39:18

to square one. Would you have

39:20

brought charges without the amount of

39:22

media attention that Kevin and Carissa

39:25

brought to this case? It might

39:27

have taken a little longer and

39:30

it might not have been as

39:32

good. I think eventually we would

39:34

have brought charges. Honestly, the amount

39:37

of media attention made it easier

39:39

for me to get help from

39:41

people. So our case ended up

39:44

being better because of what they

39:46

did, but they didn't have to

39:49

do that to get my attention.

39:51

Sunnywhite pleaded not guilty and posted

39:53

bond immediately. a hundred thousand dollars.

39:56

I reached to her for an

39:58

interview and didn't hear back. Now

40:01

that Sunny had been arrested, Kevin

40:03

and Carissa had a new goal.

40:05

They announced it to the media

40:08

at a press conference outside the

40:10

Lake County Courthouse. I'm thankful that

40:13

today finally happened where Sunnywhite was

40:15

read her charges. I don't want

40:17

the judge and the county to

40:20

take the easy way out. do

40:22

a plea bargain. I would like

40:25

to see this go to trial.

40:27

What did a trial mean to

40:29

you? Like what would a trial

40:32

have given you? I was thinking

40:34

like, yeah, a plea bargain, that's

40:36

the easy way out, that's keeping

40:39

it hush-huh, sweeping it under the

40:41

rug, that's, you know, cutting the

40:44

media out and all that, you

40:46

know what I mean? It's ending

40:48

it abruptly when we did all

40:51

this and... looking at the bigger

40:53

goal is it would be trial

40:56

and everything would be laid out

40:58

and all that you know that's

41:00

what I visualize. If it was

41:03

to go to trial LaPaca and

41:05

Lake County would have had in

41:08

the Montana Highway Patrol would have

41:10

had to present it to the

41:12

world exactly how they investigated this

41:15

case any halfway decent attorney would

41:17

have been able to pick apart

41:19

their so-called investigation and evidence. Yeah,

41:22

that's so interesting, like, what do

41:24

you say you wanted the state

41:27

to lose? I mean, absolutely, which

41:29

is kind of probably sounds ridiculous.

41:31

So, I mean, you know, mica

41:34

is gone. There's nothing that's gonna

41:36

ever bring her back. So I

41:39

would, I would sacrifice mica's personal

41:41

justice for a big picture justice.

41:43

You know what I mean? Like,

41:46

that would be a very easy

41:48

sacrifice for me personally. Kevin

41:51

kept thinking about this one time, shortly

41:53

before Michael was killed. He was in

41:55

the kitchen. I came into house to

41:58

eat something, and Michael was in her

42:00

room when she comes like... like bolting

42:02

out like, hey bro, if someone murked

42:04

me, you'd forgive him, right? And I

42:07

just remember like, what are you talking

42:09

about, weirdo? And she's like, well, you

42:11

would, right? And I was like, I

42:14

don't, would you want me to? She

42:16

said, well, yeah. And I was like,

42:18

well, then yeah, I guess. To me,

42:20

it was like some dumb thing she

42:23

would say and it. But then later

42:25

she's dead by the hands of someone

42:27

else, and I was like, Like, and

42:30

I did, I didn't know. Forgiving Sunny

42:32

was easier than he thought. He wasn't

42:34

angry at her. He was angry at

42:36

Montana, and Lake County, for how they

42:39

handled this case, for how they handled

42:41

Bonnie's and Tricia's cases, too. It was

42:43

the state's fault that a driver could

42:46

leave a native pedestrian to die on

42:48

the side of the road and think

42:50

she'd get away with it. A

42:59

trial date was set for December

43:01

2024. LaPaca invited Karisang Kevin to

43:03

his office for another meeting. He

43:05

had some good news. The case

43:08

had become so high profile that

43:10

the Montana Attorney General's office sent

43:12

in one of its best trial

43:14

attorneys, Thorin Geist, and he'd gotten

43:16

Micah's blood alcohol content excluded from

43:18

trial. This was a big win

43:21

for Karisang Kevin. Micah had been

43:23

over the legal limit for walking

43:25

on the road. But within a

43:27

couple of minutes, the real point

43:29

of this meeting became clear. Sunny's

43:31

attorney came to us a couple

43:34

of weeks back and wanted to

43:36

talk about what we think would

43:38

be a fair resolution to this

43:40

case, but we wanted to consult

43:42

with you before we made any

43:45

formal offer. So that's a plea

43:47

bargain, right? Yeah. A plea bargain.

43:49

Krista is caught off guard. She

43:51

thought she'd made it clear to

43:53

LaPaca that they wanted a trial.

43:55

LaPaca says he is ready to

43:58

go to trial, but he also

44:00

wants to offer a plea because

44:02

anything can happen at a trial.

44:04

They could lose the whole thing

44:06

on one jury member. And even

44:08

if they did win, Sunny would

44:11

likely file an appeal. It could

44:13

take years to work its way

44:15

through the courts. LaPaca is in

44:17

this dance with the family. He

44:19

doesn't have to do what the

44:21

family says, but he has an

44:24

incentive to get them on his

44:26

side, because if the family doesn't

44:28

want to plea bargain, the judge

44:30

could reject it. So LaPaca keeps

44:32

pressuring them to consider a plea

44:34

deal, but then he also keeps

44:37

trying to make it seem like

44:39

he's not. We are not afraid.

44:41

I don't want you to think

44:43

we're just trying to settle this

44:45

so we can go over. This

44:48

is an opportunity to make a

44:50

change. I don't know. The state

44:52

prosecutor Thorne Geist says he'd like

44:54

to make a plea offer tomorrow.

44:56

He needs some to think about

44:58

numbers. If Sunny pleads guilty to

45:01

the first two counts, vehicular homicide

45:03

and leaving the scene. That gives

45:05

them up to 40 years in

45:07

prison. But she wouldn't serve all

45:09

of the years she sentenced to.

45:11

They'd have to offer to suspend

45:14

some of that time. The question

45:16

then becomes this. What does justice

45:18

look like to this family? To

45:20

me, the whole point of this

45:22

trial would be to discourage future

45:24

freaking homicides. And so my concern

45:27

is like, and I know that

45:29

Michael would feel the same way,

45:31

is. these other Aryan nations, we've

45:33

had an influx of these groups

45:35

moving here recently, they need to

45:37

see these hard numbers. So there's

45:40

got to be like 40 years

45:42

is like, oh shit, that's my

45:44

life, my life is essentially done.

45:46

So what do you think is

45:48

appropriate? Forty years. Forty straight. Kevin

45:51

told me his strategy at this

45:53

point was to offer a sunny

45:55

and unrealistic deal. So trial would

45:57

be her only option. Lapaca turns

45:59

to Carissa. Chrisier up for quiet

46:01

over there, you were starting to

46:04

say something. Um, I'm just thinking,

46:06

when would you like us to

46:08

tell you what turn? I mean

46:10

today, today, if we could get

46:12

something from you by Tuesday that

46:14

would help us out. And a

46:17

sooner, we'll, yeah. Up until this

46:19

meeting, Kevin and Carissa had presented

46:21

a united front, even when they

46:23

disagreed. But this question of whether

46:25

to keep pushing for trial or

46:27

to sign off on a plea

46:30

deal, revealed a fracture between them.

46:32

They didn't discuss it anymore on

46:34

the way home. Kevin wanted a

46:36

trial. Carissa understood. But she also

46:38

understood that prosecutors were going to

46:40

offer a plea no matter what.

46:43

She felt caught between aligning with

46:45

her husband and showing willingness to

46:47

work with the state so they

46:49

didn't cut her out. She didn't

46:51

want to lose what little control

46:54

she had. So when LaPaca called

46:56

her a few days later to

46:58

ask for a number, she told

47:00

him 40 years with 20 suspended.

47:02

I tried calling Kevin after to

47:04

see how he felt. He didn't

47:07

pick up. Instead, I got a

47:09

call from Carissa. She sounded worried

47:11

that I'd heard they had a

47:13

disagreement. A week passed. Sennie still

47:15

hadn't accepted the plea deal, which

47:17

was about to expire. Carissa and

47:20

Kevin headed to court. They sat

47:22

in the front row. I sat

47:24

behind them, waiting for their case

47:26

to come up. Suddenly LaPaca approached.

47:28

He leaned over to whisper in

47:30

Chris's ear. Then she leaned over

47:33

and whispered to Kevin. They followed

47:35

the pocket out of the courtroom.

47:37

When they returned a few minutes

47:39

later, I couldn't read their faces.

47:41

Chris had whispered to her dad.

47:43

I just wanted to be over.

47:46

The judge called up their case.

47:48

Okay, so now we'll go to

47:50

DC 2334, 44 State of Montana

47:52

v. Sunny Catherine White. The courtroom

47:54

door opened again and Sunny walked

47:57

in. I have just been handed

47:59

a plea agreement. Is that correct?

48:01

That is correct. Your Honor, I'm

48:03

sorry for our chartiness. Oh, it's

48:05

OK. All right. So I noticed

48:07

that Sunny had a new tattoo

48:10

on her forehead over her right

48:12

brow. It said Aryan in blue

48:14

cursive. So Miss White, with your

48:16

rights in mind, are you ready

48:18

to enter into a plea based

48:20

on the plea agreement? Yes. As

48:23

to counts one and two, how

48:25

do you plead? Guilty, Your Honor.

48:27

Sunny's defense attorney read the facts

48:29

she was pleading guilty to. Sunny

48:31

has to count one. On or

48:33

about March 31st of 2023, did

48:36

you negligently cause the death of

48:38

Michael Westwolf while operating a motor

48:40

vehicle while under the influence of

48:42

drugs in Lake County, Montana? Yes.

48:44

And you did not render aid

48:46

or remain at the scene? Yes.

48:49

Krista started crying. She leaned into

48:51

her dad. Curissa

48:59

and Kevin didn't get a

49:01

trial. But Curissa did get

49:03

something she hadn't expected. She

49:05

heard Sunny White admit to

49:07

killing their daughter. It was

49:09

a huge, almost instantaneous, like,

49:11

weight off my shoulders. I

49:13

just felt it like gone.

49:15

And that's part what brought

49:17

on the crying. I don't

49:19

know. Something just clicked inside

49:21

of me where I just

49:23

felt like... Finally, you know,

49:25

she's admitting guilt. Of course,

49:27

Kevin did not feel that

49:29

way. We just played right

49:31

into their hand. It was

49:33

the best case scenario to

49:35

get the family to be

49:37

okay with a slap on

49:39

the wrist. So I felt

49:41

dirty. Did you sense how

49:43

Chrisa felt? Like I did

49:45

feel her relief. I think

49:47

that she was really trying

49:49

to ignore my... Which and

49:51

I totally understand like she

49:53

deserves all the credit and

49:55

she's taken on the weight

49:57

of this way more than

49:59

I have. Chrisa had asked

50:01

for 40 years with 20

50:03

suspended but the plea offer

50:05

Sunny agreed to was 30

50:07

years with 20 suspended. What

50:09

this meant was that Sunny

50:11

would spend a maximum of

50:13

10 years in prison and

50:15

she could still request parole

50:17

and get out earlier. To

50:19

prevent that, Chris and Kevin

50:21

could ask the judge for

50:23

a parole restriction at Sunny's

50:25

sentencing hearing. Make it so

50:27

that Sunny'd have to stay

50:29

in prison the full 10

50:31

years. That way they wouldn't

50:33

have to keep returning to

50:35

court to make their case

50:37

every time she applied for

50:39

parole. Or they could try

50:41

to get the judge to

50:43

reject the plea deal and

50:45

send it back to trial.

50:47

Sunny's sentencing hearing was on

50:49

a snowy morning this past

50:51

February. Mike's family and supporters

50:53

gathered in front of the

50:55

Lake County Courthouse to put

50:57

up a red TV. This

50:59

was almost two years after

51:01

Mike was killed. Curissa handed

51:04

out Michael Matter's t-shirts. I

51:06

got two shirts right here.

51:08

This is my daughter Lisa.

51:10

Yeah, hey Lisa, thanks for

51:12

coming. Kevin hadn't shown up

51:14

yet and Curza kept looking

51:16

around for him. Swain for

51:18

Kevin to bring the extension

51:20

cords for the hot chocolate.

51:22

They'd been fighting. Kevin still

51:24

didn't want the plea deal.

51:26

He didn't want to endorse

51:28

the state's narrative that they

51:30

were getting justice. But Carissa

51:32

was exhausted. She wanted it

51:34

all to be over. She

51:36

started venting to a friend.

51:38

We haven't even been talking.

51:40

I don't know if I'm

51:42

going to pull this shit

51:44

like right before this. Salfish.

51:46

Kevin still hadn't arrived when

51:48

the sentencing hearing was about

51:50

to start. in. It's 853.

51:52

But thank you for being

51:54

here. Kevin's not too late.

51:56

The room was packed. Most

51:58

of them here for mica.

52:00

mica's young cousins were curled

52:02

up on their puffy jackets

52:04

on the floor. Finally, Kevin

52:06

arrived. Dirty boots, jeans, hoodie.

52:08

A screen to the judge's

52:10

right rotated through portraits of

52:12

mica and candid family photos.

52:14

One by one, the judge

52:16

called her relatives up to

52:18

speak. They told stories about

52:20

mica. Her great Aunt Iris

52:22

named eight of her own

52:24

relatives who have been killed

52:26

on roads in Montana. I

52:28

got the sense of how

52:30

relentless grief can be when

52:32

new cases are opening before

52:34

old winds even close. Finally,

52:36

it was Kevin's turn. Judge,

52:38

this day calls Kevin Howard.

52:40

He slumped onto the stand,

52:42

hung his ball cap on

52:44

his knee. What would you

52:46

like to say to the

52:48

court here today? As you've

52:50

all heard, Michael was, you

52:52

know, quite a special person.

52:54

As a parent, typically we

52:56

teach our children. I think

52:58

in my case, I learned

53:00

a lot more from her

53:02

than I taught her. He

53:04

told the story again of

53:06

Michael in the kitchen, when

53:08

she asked if he'd ever

53:10

forgive a person who murdered

53:12

her. But... You know, growing

53:14

up on this res, I've

53:16

lost other family members in

53:18

similar ways that didn't receive

53:20

justice. And so for that,

53:22

I cannot forgive and tell

53:24

there's a change that's made.

53:26

I hold Lake County responsible.

53:28

I hold this court responsible.

53:30

He brought up what Montana

53:32

Highway Patrol did to Bonnie

53:34

after her daughter Marina was

53:36

killed. Lead Investigator of the

53:38

Highway Patrol Wayne Beaver Stonewalled

53:40

Mina's mom and basically intimidated

53:42

her to just back down

53:44

and let things go. So

53:46

we are not receiving justice

53:48

today. Even though we're all

53:50

here thinking we are, you

53:52

guys are pacifying us in

53:54

an effort to continue about

53:56

your discriminatory practices. She will

53:58

be grounded parole. She's a

54:00

white lady with two young

54:02

children. Why wouldn't she? That's

54:04

the way the system works.

54:06

All right, well, you don't,

54:08

I know everything that you're

54:11

saying is completely valid. I

54:13

totally understand where you're coming

54:15

from, but you don't actually,

54:17

you don't know what this

54:19

court is going to sentence

54:21

or two yet. Thank you,

54:23

your honor. And I hope

54:25

that it's not the plea

54:27

deal. I hope that that

54:29

we go to trial and

54:31

we see exactly how this

54:33

investigation took place, how we

54:35

as a family were forced

54:37

to investigate our own daughter's

54:39

death. What kind of nonsense

54:41

is that? You guys need

54:43

to do better. I mean,

54:45

how many families do you

54:47

know personally James that have

54:49

not received justice? He means

54:51

James LaPaca, the county prosecutor.

54:53

Sorry, he can't answer you.

54:55

I'm done. Yeah, thank you,

54:57

your honor. And you don't

54:59

agree with the plea agreement?

55:01

Absolutely not. You would have

55:03

wanted this to go to

55:05

trial. Absolutely. And not not

55:07

not to just to expose

55:09

the the treatment that you

55:11

went through. The inadequate investigation.

55:13

And it seems like you

55:15

that you went through the

55:17

treatment that you were subjected

55:19

to, you know, is horrible.

55:21

And I'm so sorry for

55:23

that. Yet nothing is being

55:25

done. And you know, I

55:27

think that it's powerful for

55:29

you to come here today

55:31

though to talk about this

55:33

and we need to hear

55:35

from folks like you who

55:37

have been treated badly and

55:39

So thank you for coming

55:41

and saying. all of that?

55:43

All right, thank you. You

55:45

can make the change, your

55:47

honor. You can start the

55:49

change. All right, well thank

55:51

you very much. Anything else

55:53

you'd like to add? No.

55:55

Okay, you may step down.

55:57

This is the first time

55:59

the judge has heard that

56:01

Mecca's family doesn't like the

56:03

plea deal. I wondered if

56:05

the judge might actually reject

56:07

the plea and send the

56:09

whole case back to trial.

56:11

Yes, they do. But then

56:13

Carissa took the stand. She

56:15

pulled out a crumpled sheet

56:17

from a yellow legal pad.

56:19

I had to speak up

56:21

as hard as it was

56:23

when all I wanted to

56:25

do was stay in bed

56:27

and do nothing. Just cry,

56:29

but I couldn't because that's

56:31

not who I am and

56:33

is not the people that

56:35

I come from. And that's

56:37

not the values that I

56:39

instilled in my daughter. And

56:41

I had to do what

56:43

I had to do as

56:45

hard as it was. So

56:47

hard. And this is what

56:49

all these other families are

56:51

up against, when you should

56:53

just be able to grieve

56:55

and trust the system, trust

56:57

the law enforcement, to have

56:59

open communication with you, and

57:01

to trust that they're doing

57:03

their job. And I didn't

57:05

have that trust. And it's

57:07

breaking our family. It's causing

57:09

strain between me and my

57:11

husband. And most families, parents

57:13

that lose a child, they

57:15

don't survive. when the loss

57:18

of a child. I don't

57:20

know if me and my

57:22

husband will survive this. At

57:24

the end of her statement,

57:26

they queued up the ukulele

57:28

video, and right before they

57:30

hit play, the judge interrupted.

57:32

What I want to know

57:34

though, in addition to everything

57:36

that you've already testified to,

57:38

is what you think about

57:40

the plea agreement. I would

57:42

like that the tenure... what

57:44

their the attorneys are going

57:46

to be fighting for. I

57:48

would like that to be

57:50

taken into consideration. She asked

57:52

for parole restriction, not a

57:54

trial. Only a few people

57:56

spoke on Sunny's behalf. They

57:58

emphasized what a good mother

58:00

she was. They said she

58:02

should get a shorter prison

58:04

term so that she can

58:06

return to her kids sooner.

58:08

Her defense attorney said that

58:10

Sunny was a victim too.

58:12

Her husband was abusive. The

58:14

night Sunny killed Micah, she

58:16

was escaping a domestic violence

58:18

incident. He was the white

58:20

supremacist, the attorney said. Not

58:22

Sunny. She shouldn't be the

58:24

one who shoulders all the

58:26

blame. And she shouldn't have

58:28

to be punished for the

58:30

ways the justice system failed

58:32

Michael's family. Then she passed

58:34

it off to Sunny, who

58:36

stood facing the judge. She

58:38

wore a cream-colored blouse and

58:40

read from a piece of

58:42

paper. I want to start

58:44

by saying I take responsibility

58:46

for my actions in these

58:48

matters. She immediately started talking

58:50

about her own kids. as

58:52

she was still breastfeeding her

58:54

youngest, how she was staying

58:56

sober for them. She didn't

58:58

try to explain or deny

59:00

her white supremacy affiliations, nor

59:02

did she take full responsibility

59:04

for killing Michael. To the

59:06

family, friends, and loved ones

59:08

of Michael Westwolf, I'd give

59:10

my most sincerest apologies for

59:12

the horrid pain and suffering

59:14

that I plead apart in

59:16

closing you all. All right,

59:18

thank you. Okay, is there

59:20

any reason why sentence should

59:22

not now be imposed? No,

59:25

you're not. Not from defense. OK,

59:27

so I am going to go

59:29

along with the plea agreement. Sunny

59:32

would spend 10 years in prison.

59:34

But there was still the question

59:36

of whether or not she could

59:39

get parole before then. The judge

59:41

addressed Sunny directly. I do not

59:43

find your version of events credible.

59:46

This is simply you continuing to

59:48

mitigate your responsibility and blaming others

59:50

for what you did. So therefore

59:53

having been found guilty of count

59:55

one. vehicular homicide while under the

59:57

influence sentences imposed as follows. The

59:59

defendant shall be committed to the

1:00:02

Montana State Prison for 25 years

1:00:04

with 15 of those years suspended.

1:00:06

On the following conditions, the defendant

1:00:09

shall be ineligible for parole for

1:00:11

a period of 10 years. Ineligible

1:00:13

for parole. They had won. Chrisa

1:00:16

reached for Kevin's hand leaned into

1:00:18

him. They stayed seated as their

1:00:20

relatives huddled around to embrace them.

1:00:23

You are remanded to the custody

1:00:25

of the Lake County Sheriff for

1:00:27

transportation to the Montana State Prison.

1:00:30

All right, anything further? All right,

1:00:32

thank you. We are adjourned for

1:00:34

the day. Sunny was handcuffed and

1:00:36

let out the door. Chris up

1:00:39

finally stood and gave LaPaca a

1:00:41

long hug. People streamed out around

1:00:43

them, glassy-eyed. Some supporters from the

1:00:46

overflow room rushed Kevin. They said

1:00:48

he should run for office. He

1:00:50

seemed lighter than I'd ever seen

1:00:53

him, and surprised by the judge's

1:00:55

ruling. And in a sense, justice

1:00:57

prevailed, you know, it's the best

1:01:00

we can hope for. Outside, at

1:01:02

the red teepee, there was hot

1:01:04

chocolate. Anybody got a mug? Anybody

1:01:07

went there? Kursa gave another speech,

1:01:09

then checked in with all the

1:01:11

television reporters. So was that gave

1:01:13

testimony? We did what we came

1:01:16

here to do today. Thank you

1:01:18

so much. Every

1:01:32

time they'd won something they didn't

1:01:35

expect to win, Krista told me

1:01:37

she felt bitter sweet. She pushed

1:01:39

so hard to show other families

1:01:41

that they deserve justice. And now

1:01:44

here she was, getting what other

1:01:46

families didn't get. Throughout the testimony,

1:01:48

I kept looking at Bonnie, Marina's

1:01:50

mother, wondering what she was thinking.

1:01:52

How did it feel for you

1:01:55

to hear Sunny, why I admit

1:01:57

to killing Michael? It

1:02:00

felt really good. It

1:02:02

felt good. I heard

1:02:04

a voice shake a

1:02:06

little bit. You know,

1:02:08

I pictured the girl

1:02:11

that hit my daughter.

1:02:13

I pictured her being

1:02:15

up there. I told

1:02:17

myself that was okay

1:02:19

if that didn't happen

1:02:21

for me. I don't

1:02:23

have to know why

1:02:25

things happen. It

1:02:27

just was, I cried

1:02:30

of happiness, you know,

1:02:32

when I left. There

1:02:35

is some things, some

1:02:37

justice. You can get

1:02:39

from other people's winnings.

1:02:42

Tricia, Aidan's mom, didn't

1:02:44

go to the sentencing.

1:02:47

She's the one LaPaca

1:02:49

told he couldn't file

1:02:51

charges because the statute

1:02:54

of limitations had passed.

1:02:56

I, um, wanting to

1:02:59

go. Chris asked me

1:03:01

to go. And then

1:03:03

my stomach just, it

1:03:06

was probably anxiety or,

1:03:08

you know, stress. I

1:03:10

asked Tricia how she

1:03:13

felt about the outcome.

1:03:15

Mixed, mixed emotions, you

1:03:18

know, happy, mad. And

1:03:20

mad because... Why

1:03:24

can't it be you? Why

1:03:26

can't it be you? That's

1:03:28

Tricia's mom, Georgie. They were

1:03:30

sitting next to each other

1:03:33

on the couch. Yeah, I'm

1:03:35

sorry. I know, it's okay.

1:03:37

Georgie went to the sentencing

1:03:39

hearing instead of Tricia. It

1:03:42

gives me hope that Ain't

1:03:44

going to be next. That

1:03:46

there will be some justice.

1:03:48

I mean... But that's cool.

1:03:51

I mean I um Pretty

1:03:53

much don't have hope anymore,

1:03:55

but I don't want you

1:03:57

to not have hope. I

1:04:00

don't want Audrey to not

1:04:02

have hope. Audrey is her

1:04:04

daughter. Tricious marriage didn't survive

1:04:06

Aden's death. She told me

1:04:09

it wasn't just grief. It

1:04:11

was the way grief turned

1:04:13

her into a different person,

1:04:15

an angrier person, a person

1:04:18

exhausted from pushing for answers.

1:04:20

This is how grief affected

1:04:22

all of the other parents

1:04:24

I met, which makes what

1:04:27

Curissa and Kevin did feel

1:04:29

even more extraordinary. But it

1:04:31

cost them too. A week

1:04:34

after sentencing, I got a

1:04:36

text from Curissa. She and

1:04:38

Kevin broke up. When I

1:04:40

talked to her, she wasn't

1:04:43

sure what was going to

1:04:45

happen between them. She said

1:04:47

they were working on it.

1:04:49

For the anniversary of Michael's

1:04:52

death last month. Curissa told

1:04:54

Kevin she wanted to spend

1:04:56

the day in the mountains.

1:04:58

Just them and their son

1:05:01

as a family. Sarah Crane

1:05:03

Murdoch. She's writing a new

1:05:05

book, and a big part

1:05:07

of it is this case.

1:05:10

Her first book, if you

1:05:12

like this story, you will

1:05:14

really like that one, is

1:05:16

called Yellowbird, Oil, Murder, and

1:05:19

a woman's Search for Justice

1:05:21

in Indian Country. It was

1:05:23

a finals for the Pulitzer

1:05:25

Prize. Blackbird's

1:05:30

segment in the dead

1:05:32

of night. Take these

1:05:34

broken wings and learn

1:05:36

to fly. All your

1:05:38

light. You were only

1:05:41

waiting for this moment

1:05:43

to arise. The people

1:05:45

put together today's program

1:05:47

include Jean-Dai Bond's, Michael

1:05:49

Comite, Emmanuel Joce. Angela

1:05:51

Jovasi, Catherine Raymondo, Stone

1:05:53

Nelson, Ryan Rumory, Francis

1:05:55

Swanson, Marisa Robertson, Dexter,

1:05:58

Julie Whitaker, and Diane

1:06:00

Wu, our managing editor,

1:06:02

Sarah Abduram, our senior

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editor, David Kestenbaum, our

1:06:06

executive editor is a

1:06:08

manual berry. Special thanks

1:06:10

today to the fund

1:06:12

for investigative journalism, Sarah

1:06:15

Tuti, and the executive

1:06:17

editor is a manual

1:06:19

Barry. Special thanks today to the fund

1:06:21

for investigative journalism, the public radio exchange.

1:06:23

Quick program note, we keep doing these

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bonus episodes every two weeks for our

1:06:28

life partners, the latest one. I do

1:06:30

a stand-up set on stage. If you're

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curious about all this, I want to

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become a life partner. Go to

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this American life.org/life partners.

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Thanks as always to a program's co-founder,

1:06:41

Mr. Tory Malatia. Every day, I see

1:06:43

him in the hallway here at the

1:06:45

office. He always says the same exact

1:06:47

thing to me. I'm not a white

1:06:50

supremacist comfort of a homicide for my

1:06:52

white supremacist friend. I believe

1:06:54

you, Tory. I'm out of our glass. Back

1:06:56

next week with more stories

1:06:59

of this

1:07:02

American life.

1:07:06

Blackbird fly

1:07:10

into the

1:07:14

light of

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a dark

1:07:21

black

1:07:25

light. Secure access to

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your online world from

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you can protect what

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onepassward.com/NPR.