Vern Kills On Top
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- Gender
- male
- Country
- USA
- Location
- Custer County, Montana, USA
- Date of birth
- 1961
- Age at first offence
- 26
- Characteristics
- —
- Victim profile
- John Martin Etchemendy, Jr.
- Method of murder
- Beating with a pipe
- Date(s) of murder
- October 17, 1987
- Years active
- 1987
- Date of arrest
- —
- Status
-
Life imprisonment
Sentenced to death on June 24, 1988; commuted to life in prison in 1995
Background
Vern Kills On Top was born in 1961. He was single and had no children. He was also known as Vern Kills On Top No A27177.
He was held at Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge, Montana.
The offence
Vern Kills On Top was convicted, with his brother Lester, of the murder of John Martin Etchemendy.
Vern Kills On Top and Lester met John Martin Etchemendy at a bar in Miles City, Montana. They offered him a ride on the pretense of helping him find his car.
Afterward, they forced John Martin Etchemendy into the trunk of their car and drove him south to Gillette, Wyoming. Vern Kills On Top went to a bar in Gillette while Lester and a friend drove out of town with Etchemendy still in the trunk.
The body of John Martin Etchemendy was found in a rural area 20 miles south of Gillette.
Sentencing
Vern Kills On Top was sentenced to death on June 24, 1988. His sentence was reduced from the death penalty to two life sentences with no parole. The commutation to life in prison occurred in 1995.
Other details
When Vern Kills On Top was met at Montana State Prison, he stepped forward with arms and legs hobbled by chains. His “Indian features” were described as “round face, broad nose, raven-colored hair.”
During the meeting, it was stated that Vern Kills On Top had little to say and that his eyes darted around the canteen. It was also stated that his only voice heard during the interaction was Courtney Bent's.
Courtney Bent was described as being “so taken with Cheyenne lore” that she asked the authorities if they could bring Vern back so they could record his dialect. Permission was granted, and it was stated that Vern spoke “the beautiful Cheyenne words into our microphone.”
The project was described as being “done,” and it was stated that Vern Kills On Top was the last inmate.
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