Court awaits Dorland fitness results

Matthew E. Dorland, the second of two men charged with the burglaries of the Dale and Catherine Kinniburgh home, was in District Court on Monday awaiting a decision on his fitness for trial.

However, Lincoln County Deputy Prosecutor Robert Slomski soon discovered there has yet to be an opinion rendered on Dorland’s mental state.

“There is not an opinion for fitness,” Slomski said.

Apparently, there is some confusion which physician was to make the determination.

Judge James B. Wheelis has set May 7 as a date for the next hearing to enter the decision on Dorland’s fitness into court records.

Dorland, 20, was represented Monday by Kalispell attorney Sean Hinchey, a public defender.

In February, Dorland’s accused accomplice, Ryan J. McKee, 18, was in Wheelis’ court, and he entered a plea of not guilty to the charge of twice entering the Kinniburgh home at 1217 Main Ave. and allegedly removing personal property.

The two men, who admitted to being curious of the Kinniburgh home in which Dale Kinniburgh, 51, shot and killed his wife, Catherine, 55, and then turned the gun on himself. 

The home was the scene of an eight-hour standoff with police. The two men are accused of removing property being assessed by daughters of the Kinniburghs.

On Jan. 8, two Kinniburgh children — Amanda Bullock and Melody Kinniburgh — were in Libby as they were settling their parents’ estate. 

The daughters were sorting through personal possessions when they returned to the home to find items they had sorted were missing.

Dorland and McKee allegedly burglarized the home twice.

Dorland has been charged with felony burglary. His bail is set at $50,000. McKee, who also is charged with burglary, has been released on his own recognizance. Dorland remains incarcerated.

The men were arrested Jan. 17. 

If convicted of felony burglary, the fine could be up to $50,000, and they could spend up to 10 years in prison.