KALISPELL – A 20-year-old Evergreen man who pleaded guilty to killing a woman before shooting himself in the face wants his sentence overturned.
Kenton Weimer was sentenced in January 2008 to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to mitigated deliberate homicide in the May 2007 shooting death of 18-year-old Tarisia Caron, also of Evergreen. District Judge Ted Lympus ordered Weimer to serve 20 years of his prison term before becoming eligible for parole.
But defense attorney William F. Hooks of Helena filed court papers in April saying the prosecutors’ argument for the parole restriction breached the terms of Weimer’s plea bargain. Hooks said the agreement called for the state to seek a straight 40-year prison term and did not permit the endorsement of parole restrictions.
Deputy Flathead County Attorney Lori A. Adams said during a hearing in District Court on Thursday that she would file an amended reply to Hooks’ motion by the end of next week. She opposes a new sentencing hearing and denies that prosecutors violated the plea bargain.
Weimer shot Caron in the head with a 12-gauge shotgun in what authorities said was an apparent murder-suicide pact. Prosecutors said Weimer shot himself with the same gun, seriously damaging his jaw and the lower part of his face.
Lympus is expected to rule in about three weeks whether Weimer will be re-sentenced.