Justifiable use of force? Trial begins for 2023 Bonner fatal shooting

Both sides agree that on Nov. 17, 2023, Ronald James Duggin fatally shot Jeremiah Marker. On Thursday, trial began before a jury who will decide whether Duggin's use of force was justified by his belief that Marker was attacking Marker's girlfriend. 

Duggin, 46, appeared for trial before Missoula County District Court Judge Tara Elliott on one count of deliberate homicide. The trial technically began Wednesday, but the entire day was taken up by selecting a jury, so attorneys began with their opening statements the following morning.

Dashcam footage and law enforcement testimony showed that on the evening of Nov. 17, 2023, Missoula County sheriff's deputies responded to a trailer park on the 7000 block of Antelope Drive in Bonner. They found Marker, 46, near-unresponsive in a tent with a gunshot wound to the side of his ribs.

Charging documents state he was being held by his girlfriend, who told deputies Marker was shot by Duggin, who was in the nearby trailer house. Marker was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. 

According to charging documents, Marker's girlfriend told officers the attack was unprovoked. But Duggin told officers Marker had been acting aggressively earlier in the day, and that he'd heart strange noises from outside. When he went to investigate, he told officers, he saw Marker appearing to attack his girlfriend. 

In opening statements, prosecutor Andrew Jenks cast Duggin's actions as completely unjustified. The prosecution intends to prove, he said, that there was no reason to believe Marker's partner was in any danger.

"The only screaming that came from within the tent that evening came after Ron shot Jeremy," Jenks said. "Ron shot first, he didn't ask questions, he couldn't be bothered to help." 

Duggins' defense attorney Thomas Schoenleben said the defense intends to show a far different story.

"The information that he had at that moment impacted his decision," Schoenleben said. "His actions were reasonable and necessary at that point in time." 

He said that Duggin had plenty of reason to believe Marker was a threat, and that other witnesses would corroborate Duggin's perspective, like Duggin's girlfriend who owned the trailer house. He said the defense planned to present evidence that the state's outline of events didn't add up, such as bullet trajectory he said would show Marker wasn't sitting down at the time of the shooting. 

"Life can only be understood backwards, but that has to be lived forwards," Schoenleben said. "He had to live life moving forwards on November 17, 2023, into the unknown future."

The trial is set to continue through Aug. 14.