Judge rejects Welch bond

Nineteenth Judicial District Court Judge James B. Wheelis on Monday, after testimony from four current and past neighbors, denied both a bond reduction and a conditional release for Kristina L. Welch, the 53-year-old woman who faces deliberate homicide charges in the shooting death of her husband.

After hearing testimony for about 65 minutes, Wheelis wasted little time in denying the request by attorney Jennifer Steano on behalf of Welch, who is accused of fatally shooting Charles Bryan Welch on Dec. 8 in their Granite Lake Road home. Streano sought a reduction of the $500,000 bail to $10,000 or a release on her own recognizance.

“She was a nurse at a care center, and she has no prior record, your honor,” Streano said. “She has no plans to return to the home. She is not a flight risk. She’d like to reside under her sister’s care in Missoula County. Living in Libby is not what she should do now.”

The bond denial leaves Welch in the Lincoln County Jail where she has been since her arrest, now 158 days ago.

Wheelis based his decision to deny on the testimony of Justin Green, Kristen Darling-Green, Pam Lewis and Clifford Auge.

First to testify was Justin Green who recounted incidents with the Welches, who admitted were strained but seemed to be improving just before the shooting that left Welch dead.

“Near the end, before Bryan’s death, he was even waving,” Justin Green said.

Green recounted one incident in the fall 2010 when Kristina Welch fired her pink Lady .357-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun into the soil just feet from her foot during an altercation concerning a fallen tree.

Green’s estranged wife, Darling-Green, testified how she feared for her safety, pregnant in a home that was void of her husband who has a chiropractic business in both Libby and Kalispell.

Lewis, another neighbor, testified how she witnessed Kristina Welch’s anger directed at the Greens when she discussed the incident on the seclusion of the Welches’ back porch.

“She was very animated, very angry,” Lewis said, carefully choosing her words. 

Lewis, who was called by the prosecution, responded to Prosecutor Bernie Cassidy and Streano carefully, obviously doing her best to answer without further implicating Welch. After the hearing, Lewis was seen sobbing as she left the hearing.

Auge, a big man of 6-foot, 5-inches and 275 pounds, was asked by Wheelis about his height before he took the stand, relevant because Charles Welch was “about an inch taller,” Auge said.

Auge admitted to befriending Charles Welch, describing the personal conversations about hunting, and when Welch told him he was thinking of leaving Kristina Welch.

“I told him to try and stick it out, to try and make the marriage work,” Auge said.

Auge appeared to be a gentle giant of a man who testified he had seen Kristina Welch slip in and out of serious bouts of depression, as explained to him by Charles Welch.

“She could appear to be real happy and then depressed,” Auge said. “I know there was depression there about the son she lost to suicide in about 2003.”

Cassidy, who was assisted by Assistant Attorney General Catherine Truman, asked Auge whether he had ever seen the gun Kristina Welch carried.

“Yes, a pink Lady Smith & Wesson .357. I think Bryan got it for her. He wanted her to carry it everywhere with her,” Auge said.

A pre-trial conference is scheduled Thursday, July 19, with the trial to begin Aug. 21 in Lincoln County.

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