From the GREAT FALLS TRIBUNE
Written by
KIMBALL BENNION
fThe son of a Browning man who killed an elderly woman last year on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation is set to admit to his role in helping his father hide the woman's body in a crawlspace for four months.
Thomas Charles Marc Heavy Runner, 21, will plead guilty on Thursday to accessory after the fact to murder, according to court documents filed in U.S. District Court this week.
Heavy Runner's Father, Mark Saint Storm Heavy Runner, killed 71-year-old Marie Heavy Runner on July 1 after an argument. Mark Heavy Runner, 44, strangled the woman and then drowned her in a bathtub after she lost consciousness. He pleaded guilty on March 28 to second degree murder and is set to be sentenced on July 16.
Marie Heavy Runner's daughter, Edna Old Chief, said Mark Heavy Runner was her mother's nephew, but was raised in the Heavy Runner family since he was a baby and was eventually adopted into the family.
In an offer of proof filed in court this week, prosecutors state that Thomas Heavy Runner came home after work on July 1 to find that his father had killed Marie Heavy Runner. Mark Heavy Runner then asked his son to help him hide the body, and the two left it underneath the crawlspace until November, when it was discovered by Blackfeet Tribal Law Enforcement.
Thomas Heavy Runner has been under supervised release in Missoula County ever since he was charged with the accessory to murder crime at the beginning of March. Court documents state that he intends to plead guilty to that charge, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
Reach Tribune Staff Writer Kimball Bennion at 791-1462. Follow him on Twitter @GFTrib_KBennion.
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