Lester Kills On Top

Case identification

Lester Kills On Top No A027079 was incarcerated at Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge, Montana.

Background

Lester Kills On Top was born in 1962. He was single. He had children, but the number was unknown.

Lester Kills On Top was named “Strange Owl” by his grandfather. He spoke and read Cheyenne. He could not read or watch TV; his attention wandered. He paced constantly inside his minuscule cell. He studied the Bible in prison and had embraced Christianity.

His attorneys had asked not to talk about his crime. Access to Lester Kills On Top was closely guarded by a lawyer in Washington state, and a long list of restrictions had been faxed, including a prohibition against recording a conversation with him. The attempts to remove his handcuffs occurred after the restrictions.

Lester Kills On Top had had alcoholic parents. He had been shuttled back and forth among several foster families, both on and off the reservation. The Kills On Top brothers committed part of their crime off the reservation and part on Indian territory.

The offence

On October 17, 1987, shortly after midnight, two brothers, Lester Kills On Top and Vern Kills On Top, entered a bar in Miles City, Montana. With them were two women, Diane Bull Coming and Doretta Four Bear.

Another patron, John Martin Etchemendy, complained he could not find his car. Lester Kills On Top, Vern Kills On Top, Diane Bull Coming, and Doretta Four Bear offered to help Etchemendy. They drove away from the bar with Etchemendy in their car.

At some point, the group decided to assault and rob Etchemendy. They forced Etchemendy to disrobe and climb into the trunk of the car.

At 5AM, Doretta Four Bear left the group. Lavonne Quiroz joined the group.

The group drove south to Gillette, Wyoming, arriving there in the afternoon. While Vern Kills On Top and Lavonne Quiroz went to a bar, Lester Kills On Top and Diane Bull Coming drove out of town. According to Diane’s testimony, Lester Kills On Top beat Etchemendy to death with a pipe.

The group abandoned the body in a rural area 20 miles south of Gillette.

Investigation and jurisdiction

Because the offence involved killings on and off Indian territory, the murder of John Martin Etchemendy became a question of jurisdiction. With Etchemendy in the trunk of their car, the men drove around southern Montana and northern Wyoming, cut through the reservation, and crossed the border.

There was legal maneuvering over where they should be tried: in Wyoming or Montana, and in federal court or state court. The murder was described as having occurred on majority land, and the majority took over and punished Lester Kills On Top according to majority law.

Timeline

• October 17, 1987 — Lester Kills On Top and Vern Kills On Top entered a bar in Miles City, Montana; the group drove away with John Martin Etchemendy; the group forced Etchemendy to disrobe and climb into the trunk of the car; Doretta Four Bear left at 5AM; the group drove to Gillette, Wyoming; Diane Bull Coming testified that Lester beat Etchemendy to death with a pipe; the body was abandoned 20 miles south of Gillette.
• June 24, 1988 — Lester Kills On Top was sentenced to death.
• 1995 — Lester Kills On Top’s death sentence was commuted to life in prison; the state supreme court ordered a resentencing.
• mid-1995 — The Montana Independent Record carried the headline “Convict's Death Sentence Overturned.”

Trial and sentencing

Lester Kills On Top was sentenced to death on June 24, 1988.

He later received a resentencing. The state supreme court ordered resentencing, and it was described that his lawyer had convinced the Montana Supreme Court that the state had withheld evidence that might have undermined her credibility. As a result, Lester Kills On Top was off death row.

The outcome stated that the sentence was reduced from the death penalty to two life sentences with no parole.

Appeals

The Montana Supreme Court ordered a resentencing for Lester Kills On Top.

It was stated that his lawyer convinced the Montana Supreme Court that the state had withheld evidence that might have undermined her credibility.

Outcome

The death sentence was commuted to life in prison in 1995.

Other details

The record included a description of the northern Cheyenne people and their history, including that by the late 20th century only about 2000 northern Cheyenne were left and that they lived on the Tongue River reservation in the southeastern part of Montana.

Lavonne Quiroz was named as joining the group after Doretta Four Bear left at 5AM.

The record also included the phrase “Fotojones.com Lester Kills On Top home last updates contact.”