Sichting found guilty
A guilty verdict was reached after three days of trial against a Libby man accused of a failed murder-for-hire plot.
The trial against Shane Douglas Sichting, 39, began on Monday in U.S. District Court in Missoula. The jury met for deliberation at 10 a.m. Wednesday and a verdict was reached at approximately 2 p.m. Chief U.S. District Court Judge Donald W. Molloy presided over the trial
Sichting faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for hiring an Oregon man to kill his wife Sheilagh M. Sichting, formerly Sheilagh Clinch, according to court documents. Ronald M. Morales, 44, of Eugene, Ore. was allegedly paid $35,000 by Sichting to arrange to have someone kill Sheilagh.
Sentencing will not take place for two to three months and a pre-sentence investigation must also take place prior to the sentencing, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Fehr.
Sichting was arrested on Aug. 31 during divorce proceedings at the Lincoln County Courthouse after authorities discovered the scheme. Sichting, who owns American Muscle Autoworks, has been in federal custody in Missoula and pleaded not guilty on Oct. 11 to a single federal count of using interstate communications to commit murder for hire.
According to court documents, Morales began working at Sichting's business, American Muscle Autoworks, in November 2006 and within several days of starting his employment Morales was approached by Sichting about his intent to have someone kill his wife. Morales informed Sichting that he could find someone from Mexico that could kill his wife.
Morales told investigators that he had no intention of following through with contacting anyone to kill Sichting's wife and his only intent was to scam Sichting out of the funds. According to the criminal complaint from the District Court in Missoula, Sichting gave $5,000 to Morales in November 2006 as a deposit for the murder-for-hire plan.
In the three weeks following the original exchange of funds, Sichting gave Morales an additional $25,000 in cash as further payment for the plan. Morales then traveled back to Oregon.
Sichting continued to contact Morales by telephone and, according to Morales, Sichting believed the plan was being furthered by Morales in Oregon. Morales informed Sichting that an additional $5,000 was needed to continue the plan. Sichting wired the additional funds to Morales' son's bank account in February 2007.
Following the final funds transfer, Morales stated that he ceased contact with Sichting, according to court documents.
Morales said he assumed Sichting would realize he had been scammed for the $35,000. However, in June 2007, Morales received a telephone call from Sichting asking about the status of the plan and the money exchanged.
In August 2007, Morales contacted Sichting about the plan and Sichting indicated that he still wanted his wife killed, according to the affidavit. On Aug. 30, 2007, an undercover Kalispell police officer met with Sichting to discuss photographs of Sichting's wife and a map to her home in Billings. Sichting confirmed the identity of the woman in the photographs as his wife. The photographs were taken by the FBI.
According to the court documents, the undercover officer told Sichting he would shoot his wife, steal her purse and make the incident look like a carjacking.
It was stated in the trial brief provided by the U.S. District Court that Sichting placed recorded telephone calls to his girlfriend admitting he paid money to have his wife killed and gave the reason of being angry and frustrated about divorce proceedings. During recorded conversations, Sichting admits to paying money to have his wife killed but claims he changed his mind, according to the trial brief.
Sheilagh Sichting provided key testimony in the trial on Monday. Several other friends of the couple were also on the list to testify in the prosecution of Sichting. Several other witnesses were listed to discuss conversations made during a party in December 2006. At this gathering, Sichting made several comments about his marital problems, his frustration with his wife and his desire "to pay someone to get rid of her," according to court documents.
Throughout the trial, Sichting claimed that he did exchange money for a murder plot, but claims he changed his mind and eventually backed out of the plan.