NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Tuesday, March 23, 2021
Family members speak out during emotion-fi lled sentencing
Anthony Montwheeler
pleaded guilty Feb. 26
to second-degree
murder, other charges
By PAT CALDWELL
Malheur Enterprise
VALE — Anthony Mont-
wheeler sat in clean street clothes
with a fresh haircut and stared
straight ahead Friday, March 19, as
more than a dozen people delivered
statements at his sentencing at the
Malheur County Courthouse.
The session was the fi nal chapter
on a four-year legal case that began
in the early morning hours of a cold,
overcast January
day in 2017.
T h e fo r m e r
Nampa
man
pleaded guilty Feb.
26 to second-de-
g r e e m u r d e r,
first-degree
m a n s l a u g h t e r Montwheeler
and third-degree
assault.
Montwheeler stabbed to death
his ex-wife, Annita Harmon, killed
Vale resident David Bates and
injured his wife Jessica in a head-on
crash as he fl ed police.
Under terms of the plea deal
reached earlier this year, Mont-
wheeler will serve a life sentence
for killing Harmon, but will be eligi-
ble for parole in 25 years — when
he is 78. But he would have to serve
another 10 years of the 20-year
sentence he has agreed to for Bates’
Malheur Enterprise, File
Anthony Montwheeler sits in a wheelchair in the Malheur County Courthouse in this undated fi le photo. Under
terms of a plea deal reached earlier this year, Montwheeler will serve a life sentence for killing Annita Harmon,
but will be eligible for parole in 25 years — when he is 78.
death. He would also get a three-
year sentence for injuring Jessica
Bates, to be served as part of the
overall sentence.
While there was an undercurrent
of anger from the relatives of David
Bates and Harmon, a major theme
from many of the speakers was one
of forgiveness.
“All I can do is pray for your
tormented soul,” said Lucas
Faverau, Annita Harmon’s son.
Stacey Harmon-Roeber, Annita
Harmon’s older sister, told Mont-
wheeler “I have no words of anger
toward Tony.”
“God loves Tony as much as he
loves me,” said Harmon-Roeber.
Harmon-Roeber told the court
that her kid sister was a “preco-
cious, tow-headed, brown eyed girl
that loved to tease us.”
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TODAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
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SATURDAY
Mostly sunny
Winds subsiding
with a shower
Breezy in the
morning
Mostly sunny
Partly sunny
54° 34°
54° 40°
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
55° 34°
66° 39°
62° 36°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
60° 42°
58° 41°
61° 39°
OREGON FORECAST
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Olympia
50/43
47/29
60/35
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
52/37
Lewiston
57/37
62/39
Astoria
50/39
Pullman
Yakima 62/39
54/36
54/35
Portland
Hermiston
57/39
The Dalles 60/42
Salem
Corvallis
55/36
Yesterday
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La Grande
47/24
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
56/35
52/30
47/25
Ontario
58/29
Caldwell
Burns
60°
42°
59°
36°
78° (1940) 19° (2014)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
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Albany
54/35
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
58/34
0.01"
0.09"
0.66"
1.17"
0.48"
2.90"
WINDS (in mph)
56/27
48/21
0.09"
0.24"
0.97"
3.26"
4.67"
3.48"
through 3 p.m. yest.
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LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 44/22
55/36
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
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HERMISTON
Enterprise
54/34
58/40
54°
38°
56°
36°
83° (1911) 13° (1898)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
54/37
Aberdeen
51/33
56/37
Tacoma
Yesterday
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Spokane
Wenatchee
54/41
Not enough
evidence to prove
the wolves also
killed the calf
By JAYSON JACOBY
Baker City Herald
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
Seattle
ODFW says wolves consumed
newborn calf in Baker County
69° 36°
66° 39°
Today
Wed.
WSW 4-8
W 6-12
WSW 12-25
WSW 10-20
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
50/21
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Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
6:52 a.m.
7:12 p.m.
1:11 p.m.
4:29 a.m.
Full
Last
New
First
Mar 28
Apr 4
Apr 11
Apr 19
“I remember how she loved
horses and animals. I remember
special sister time when she was
little,” said Harmon-Roeber.
Harmon-Roeber said the Mont-
wheeler’s crimes terrorized her.
“I used to be fearless. Now I am
a fearful red head. I have anxiety. I
don’t sleep at night,” Harmon-Roe-
ber said.
At one point Harmon-Roeber
BAKER CITY — Wolves
from the Lookout Mountain
pack in eastern Baker County
consumed a recently born calf
last week near Pritchard Creek,
north of Durkee, but state
wildlife biologists couldn’t
determine whether the wolves
actually killed the animal.
There was no blood, hide or
muscle tissue, and nothing left
of the calf but the front incisors
and two parts of the jawbone,
which made a defi nite conclu-
sion about the cause of death
impossible, said Brian Ratliff ,
district wildlife biologist at the
Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife’s (ODFW) Baker
City offi ce.
There were tracks in the
area from an adult cow and
from multiple wolves, and
High 92° in Zapata, Texas Low -2° in Daniel, Wyo.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
matted down vegetation indi-
cating some sort of “alterca-
tion” took place, Ratliff said.
The incident is listed as a
possible/unknown wolf depre-
dation.
The Lookout Mountain
pack consists of a male and
female adult wolf, and two
pups that were born in the
spring of 2020, Ratliff said.
Both the adults have track-
ing collars.
On Tuesday, March 16,
ODFW received a signal from
the GPS collar fitted to the
female adult wolf, which has
black fur, showing the animal
was in the Pritchard Creek
area, Ratliff said.
ODFW notifi ed a rancher
who has cattle in the area.
The rancher found the
remains of the calf on the
evening of Wednesday, March
17, Ratliff said.
According to an ODFW
report, the rancher reported
that his cattle were “stirred
up” on the morning of March
16, and that he saw a black,
radio-collared wolf carrying
a leg bone on the evening of
March 17.
The site where the teeth
and bones were found is north
of Interstate 84 in the Durkee
Valley area, on public land
adjacent to a large private
pasture. Ratliff said cattle are
scattered on both private and
public land in the area, which
is about 20 miles east of Baker
City.
Ratliff said on Friday,
March 19 that based on
signals from the collars, the
adult female wolf was in
the area where the teeth and
bones were found at 10 p.m.
on March 16 and at 6 a.m. on
March 17. Signals later in the
week showed that the wolves
have remained in the general
area, he said.
Ratliff said ranchers who
have cattle in the area are
aware of the wolves’ pres-
ence, and Ratliff said he has
suggested they take precau-
tions such as ensuring the
cattle are in groups, which can
help protect them from wolves
and other predators.
IN BRIEF
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
began to weep.
“I wonder what her body felt
when he stabbed her. I hate I wasn’t
there to protect her,” Harmon-Roe-
ber said through tears.
Jessica Bates also wept when she
delivered her remarks.
“It is obvious you caused a huge
amount of hurt and loss. It still feels
surreal,” said Bates.
“I want you to know that I forgive
you. I really do hope this will give
you pause to stop and seek God,”
said Bates.
Bates told the court she “never
in a million years dreamed I’d be
married to someone so wonderful
and have fi ve children.”
“I didn’t want to lose David so
early,” said Bates.
After the testimony from the
families, Dave Goldthorpe, Malheur
County district attorney, told the
court “there is no punishment under
the laws of the state of Oregon harsh
enough for Anthony Montwheeler.”
“No amount of time in prison
could ever even come close to
making these families whole after
what he did to all of them,” said
Goldthorpe.
Goldthorpe called Montwheeler
“evil.”
“He is abusive. He is a horrible
human being and his face should
never be seen by any of these good
people who have spoken to you
today,” said Goldthorpe.
Montwheeler gave a brief state-
ment at the end of the sentencing.
“I can’t express the right words
of sorrow. I have caused so much
pain. To say I am sorry isn’t nearly
enough,” said Montwheeler.
Five wolves found dead in
Northeast Oregon
SALEM — Five wolves were found dead
in Northeast Oregon in February, according
to law authorities.
On Feb. 9, a collar on a wolf indicated a
mortality signal in the Mount Harris area
in Union County, Oregon State Police Capt.
Timothy R. Fox said in an email on Friday,
March 19, when asked about it by The Asso-
ciated Press.
Arriving officers found a total of five
wolves dead, Fox said. The cause of death
is unknown, he said. All fi ve carcasses were
taken to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife foren-
sic lab to determine the cause of death,
the email said.
The incident is under investigation,
according to Oregon Fish and Wildlife
spokeswoman Michelle Dennehy.
“This is very unsettling news for a
species that is only just beginning to recover
in Oregon,” Kathleen Gobush, Northwest
program director at Defenders of Wildlife
said in a news release. “Predators, particu-
larly wolves, are often the target of ruthless
persecution, and the killing of one wolf, not
to mention fi ve, appears to follow a growing
pattern of grave concern. Defenders of Wild-
life will continue to work to make Oregon safe
for people and wolves.”
No further information was released.
— EO Media Group
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