Canyon men still face consequences of brutal attack
10 years cycling through the corrections system
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Two men with a troubled past while growing up in Hungry Horse and Martin City continue to cycle in and out of the corrections system as they deal with the consequences of a violent assault a decade ago that left a 15-year Army veteran with permanent brain damage.
Karl Tallent was 17 when Bill Matthews was brutally beaten in the Deerlick Saloon parking lot in Martin City. Tallent continues to live in Martin City, but he’s faced revocation four times since December 2003, when he was initially charged with felony assault and criminal mischief.
The first petition came before Tallent was sentenced for the assault in Flathead County District Court in September 2004. Judge Katherine Curtis sentenced Tallent on an amended charge of felony criminal endangerment to eight years in prison, all suspended, and $128,845 in restitution.
Brad Winters was 19 at the time of the Matthews attack. His public defender negotiated a plea agreement, and Judge Curtis gave him basically the same sentence as Tallent’s. Winters later moved to Great Falls, but his sentence has been revoked three times — most recently in December 2013.
Violent attack
A mechanic and woodworker in Coram at the time, Matthews had stopped his truck at the Deerlick Saloon on Sept. 6, 2003, around 11 p.m. after several people hailed him from the parking lot. There were two men with him in the pickup, and one of them was the target of Tallent and Winters.
Witness accounts about what happened next varied, with some claiming Winters hit Matthews in the head with a bat, that Tallent hit Matthews with a fist, and that Matthews fell hitting his head on the corner of a bumper. Devon Chapel, who was Winters’ brother’s girlfriend, admitted holding a chrome pipe during the incident.
Some witnesses said Matthews was repeatedly kicked by a crowd of assailants after he fell to the ground. One of the men in Matthews’ truck said he wasn’t knocked out and saw portions of the attack.
Matthews suffered six skull fractures, a broken hand and a broken arm. He was airlifted in a coma to Kalispell Regional Medical Center and then to Missoula for brain surgery. He later went to a VA hospital in Salt Lake City for rehabilitation. He eventually told detectives he had no memory of the incident.
A group of Canyon residents rallied in support of Matthews, claiming a gang of young males had been assaulting and robbing residents for a long time before Matthews was attacked. Sheriff’s detectives said they were unable to substantiate those allegations.
Matthews’ mother and sister mounted their own investigation of the incident and prodded the sheriff’s office and county attorney to press charges. Meanwhile, friends and relatives of Tallent and Winters spoke out in their defense, disputing the allegations.
Tallent’s story
While Tallent’s attorney worked on a plea deal, Tallent was released on a $5,000 bond and soon found himself back in trouble, facing a felony assault charge followed by a felony criminal mischief charge. A petition to revoke his bond became moot as he was sentenced in September 2004 and sent to the Treasure State Correctional Training Center.
Six months after graduating from boot camp in February 2005, Judge Ted Lympus revoked Tallent’s sentence. Citing Tallent’s arrest for damage to a government vehicle, MIP and resisting arrest and for testing positive for alcohol and opiates, Lympus re-sentenced Tallent to three years with the Department of Corrections followed by a five-year prison sentence.
Three years later, Judge Stewart Stadler revoked Tallent’s sentence. According to a probation office report, Tallent had been arrested for DUI in Kalispell, with a 0.105 blood alcohol level, and assault with bodily injury in Great Falls. Stadler re-sentenced Tallent to five years with the Department of Corrections, all suspended.
Then, on Jan. 9 this year, Judge Heidi Ulbricht revoked Tallent’s sentence for the third time. A probation officer reported that Tallent had never paid restitution and had tested positive for alcohol in June 2012, with a 0.20 blood-alcohol level. A disposition hearing for Tallent is scheduled for Feb. 6.
Winters’ story
Winters’ story is similar. Three months after he was sentenced for assaulting Matthews, a probation officer reported that Winters had failed to get a job, failed to report as required, failed to pay restitution and tested positive for opiates, meth and pot.
In August 2005, Judge Stadler revoked Winters’ sentence and agreed to leave the eight-year prison sentence suspended if Winters completed boot camp. The probation officer had recommended that step so Winters could finish counseling, treatment and a GED.
But Winters quit boot camp after only one week. The state petitioned again for revocation, and Judge Curtis approved spending $1,300 on a psychological evaluation. While out on a $25,000 bond, Winters was charged with stealing a friend’s pickup truck, driving it over some Kelly humps and abandoning it.
Winters’ sentence was revoked, and Judge Curtis re-sentenced him to eight years in prison with three suspended. While in prison in October 2006, he wrote a letter to Judge Curtis in reference to the stolen pickup truck case. He said he was truly sorry about what happened and said he wanted to change his life.
Winters ran into trouble again in January 2009 after he was released from prison. He was charged with felony criminal mischief after he allegedly kicked a friend’s vehicle at the Dam Town Tavern parking lot, causing $1,248 in damage. The charge was negotiated down by his public defender to a misdemeanor, and Judge Lympus sentenced Winters to six months in the county jail, all suspended.
Most recently, a probation office report filed in October 2013 recommended Winters’ sentence be revoked for the third time. The report said Winters had paid only $4,842 in restitution but otherwise seemed to be complying with his probation conditions.
Judge David Ortley revoked Winters’ sentence on Dec. 23 last year. A disposition hearing is scheduled for Jan. 30.