Ex-boyfriend testifies in crash-murder trial

On the night of March 19, 2009, the relationship between Justine Winter and her then-boyfriend Ryan Langford had apparently reached its end.

For nearly an hour, Winter and Langford would exchange text messages in a conversation during which Winter allegedly threatened to crash her car and kill herself.

After sending a final message at 8:19 p.m., Langford testified Wednesday in Flathead County District Court that Winter’s replies ceased.

A short time later, Langford learned she had been in a collision on U.S. 93 north of Kalispell on a bridge near the intersection of Church Drive. The crash killed 35-year-old Erin Thompson and her 13-year-old son Caden Vincent Odell.

Winter was charged with two counts of deliberate homicide.

What prosecutors wanted to know Wednesday was: Did Langford take Winter’s threats of suicide seriously?

“Yes and no,” Langford said. “I know Justine, and I still do. It didn’t concern me because it was Justine.”

On the third day of what is expected to be a two-week trial, a jury listened as Langford and others responded to questioning focused on the hours before and the months after the fatal crash.

Langford testified that Winter had dropped him off at his home after an argument that began as the two visited one another at Winter’s Evergreen residence.

“I’m pretty sure it was a book or a journal about one of my friends she had dated previously,” he said, later adding, “I got jealous because it was my best friend, or someone I had been very close with.”

Flathead County Attorney Lori Adams delved further into the relationship in questioning Polson-based psychotherapist Treasa Glinnwater, who counseled Winter before and after the crash.

Glinnwater said Langford was able to exert a “certain amount of control” over Winter, dictating that she not speak to other boys.

“She was with him constantly, she would text him regularly, she would talk to him on the phone every night,” Glinnwater said.

Suicide threats, Glinnwater said, became a way for Winter and Langford to exercise control in the relationship.

“It was always clear it was never meant,” she added.

Glinnwater further testified that Winter showed none of the tell-tale signs of a suicidal individual.

Conversations with Winter after the crash would do little to answer the question of whether or not Winter intentionally crashed her vehicle into Thompson’s.

“She said she could not remember that night at all,” Glinnwater said.

Richard Poeppel, who was also called to testify Wednesday, said his memory of the crash is still clear.

Poeppel said he was driving north behind Thompson’s Subaru on his way home from a trip to Costco.

He said both he and Thompson had slowed down to about 45 mph as their vehicles approached the construction zone near the intersection of Church Drive.

He said he saw Thompson’s brake lights flash as she went over Stillwater Bridge. He saw a southbound vehicle cut over into the northbound lane.

After that, “it was a cloud of steam like I had never seen before.”

Poeppel rushed to the crash scene, he said, first checking on Winter before approaching Thompson’s Subaru. She was still alive at the time, he said, and she attempted to say something to him as he propped her up through the back, right door of the vehicle.

“It seemed like eternity,” he said. “Finally a nurse came up and told me she had expired.”

Later Wednesday, Prosecutors called Montana Highway Patrol Sergeant James Kitchin to testify on  technical aspects of the crash gleaned from the Airbag Control Module — also known as the “black box” — of Winter’s vehicle.

Five seconds before colliding with Thompson, Winter was traveling at a speed of 81 miles per hour, Kitchin said. A second later the speedometer hit 83 mph before topping out at 86 mph two seconds before the crash, he said.

The device also indicated she did not apply any brake pressure in the moments before the crash, he said.

Prompted by questions from prosecutors, Kitchin also identified a “slap mark” on the speedometer of Winter’s vehicle. The orange impression near the 85 mph tick on the speedometer was likely the result of the needle slapping the instrumentation at the moment of impact, he said.

He said the “slap mark” was consistent with the Airbag Control Module.

“It’s two pieces of the puzzle that point to one goal, one speed,” he said of the evidence.

The “black box” also showed that Winter was not wearing a seat belt, Kitchin said, a fact that prosecutors hope will strengthen their case that Winter intended to kill herself.

Ernie Freebury, a former deputy coroner with the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, was the first to testify Wednesday and said both Thompson and Odell were pronounced dead at the scene.

Thompson died from a collapsed chest cavity, Freebury said, while the most severe injury sustained by Odell was a broken neck.

“They would have died, without question, fairly immediately,” Freebury said.

He concluded that the manner of death was homicide after viewing text messages on Langford’s phone, investigating the scene and speaking with the lead Montana Highway Patrol investigator, he said.

Also testifying Wednesday were three forensic toxicologists who collectively reported that Thompson’s blood was void of alcohol or drugs. Two mechanics who assisted troopers in examining Winter’s vehicle, a former friend of Winter and two investigating Montana Highway Patrol troopers were also called to the stand.

Prosecutors are expected to continue calling witnesses throughout the week, with Winter’s defense attorneys Maxwell Battle and David Stufft scheduled to call their own witnesses beginning Monday.

Winter, who is being prosecuted as an adult, faces a maximum of 200 years or life in prison if convicted on both counts of deliberate homicide.

Reporter Eric Schwartz may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at eschwartz@dailyinterlake.com