Ronan man sentenced to life for murder

POLSON – After listening to Laurence Kenmille’s family members fight through quivering voices and muffled sobs during victim statements Monday, District Court Judge John Larson wasted little time sentencing Melvin Madplume to life in prison without parole.

Larson cited Madplume’s lack of compassion, his high chance of re-offending and protecting Kenmille’s family from future parole hearings as the basis for his ruling.

A 12-member jury found Madplume, Jr., 30, of Ronan, guilty of the murder and rape of Kenmille, his cousin, on Feb. 1, two hours after deliberations began. Madplume murdered and raped Kenmille, 28, of Elmo, on May 25, 2013 in a private room at Wild Horse Hot Springs.

“He was the center of the family,” said Kenmille’s mother during her statement. “He held everyone else up.”

Unlike many others on her side of the family, she wanted to see Madplume put to death, at one time speaking about taking, “an eye for an eye.”

“He shouldn’t be allowed to leave the courtroom,” she said.

The animosity between the two sides of the family was so high, 11 law enforcement officers were in the courtroom. Many of Kenmille’s family members wore T-shirts with his picture printed on them.

The crime and subsequent trial splintered a family and two small communities, according to victims’ statements Tuesday.

Kenmille’s family members said his children referred to Madplume as “Uncle Bug Bug” and wondered why their father was, “not coming back.”

“I have learned new depths of anger because of you,” said Kenmille’s aunt while looking directly at a stoic Madplume. “

Zaneta Kaplin, who called Kenmille, “My Law,” fought cancer during the trial and struggled to maintain her composure during her statement.

“My Law gave his life to expose you …so no one else can be hurt,” Kaplin said. “I would love to see you die.”

Madplume, wearing an orange prison jump suit and sandals, stared dispassionately at the victims as they made their statements.

Kenmille’s wife, Terry Hewankorn, lamented the chaos the family faces but said at the end of her statement, “I’ll never hate you Melvin.”

Madplume, who was held in Lake County Jail since his arrest on a $1 million bond, will serve his term at Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge.

Prosecutors spent a week in February arguing that the 28-year-old Kenmille drowned “as a result of a violent, premeditated sexual attack,” while Madplume’s attorneys contended that Kenmille drowned accidentally, due to the combined effects of alcohol, marijuana and prolonged time spent in the room’s hot tub.

While Madplume initially said that Kenmille hit the back of his head after an accidental slip and fall, details that emerged from the autopsy and other witnesses revealed inconsistencies in Madplume’s version of what transpired. Kenmille’s body showed signs of numerous blunt-force injuries, including prominent wounds on the front and back of his head.

Yonkin later received a report from the State Crime Lab stating Kenmille sustained anal lacerations and rectal bruising, “at or around the time of death.”

Madplume denied any knowledge of those injuries.

-Bryce Gray contributed to this story. Vince Lovato writes for The Lake County Leader