Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms in the morning. High 83F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%..
Isolated thunderstorms in the evening. Clear skies overnight. Low 62F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Updated: August 21, 2026 @ 3:00 am
While Montana's murder rate is relatively low, there are still unsolved murders that have lingered on the books for decades.
A Lake County man was sentenced to 20 years in prison Thursday afternoon on charges that he'd deleted evidence knowing it was relevant to an investigation into a 2024 Ronan murder.
Jonathan Drennan-Beck, 31, appeared for sentencing before Judge John Mercer in Lake County District Court on two felony charges of tampering with evidence.Â
These charges are in connection with the 2024 murder of Ed Loder, which James Lawrence, 71, pleaded guilty to on April 22.Â
According to charging documents, Lawrence admitted to killing Loder, 67, in anger over the distribution of an estate. He stated that he'd shot Loder several times and disposed of his body in Jocko Canyon, where law enforcement then found the body based on Lawrence's information.Â
Drennan-Beck was initially charged with conspiring with Lawrence to murder Loder and dispose of the body, then deleting video footage and phone records that could have been evidence in the investigation. According to court proceedings, Drennan-Beck maintains his innocence that he did not conspire to murder Loder or help dispose of the body, and those charges were dropped by prosecutors as part of a plea agreement.Â
On April 9, Drennan-Beck pleaded guilty to the two evidence tampering charges, admitting that he deleted evidence despite knowing there was an investigation ongoing to ensure it was unavailable to law enforcement.Â
Drennan-Beck was sentenced to 10 years on each charge, running consecutively, for a total of 20 years.Â
"I hope that somehow, you can turn things around," Mercer told Drennan-Beck at the conclusion of the hearing.Â
Andy Tallman is the criminal justice reporter for the Missoulian.Â
Originally published on missoulian.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.
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