Stabbing suspect pleads not guilty

Michael Anthony Borchardt-Robertson, 24, of Yakima, Washington, pleaded not guilty in Montana 19th Judicial District Court Monday on charges of attempted deliberate homicide and use of a weapon in commission of a crime in the stabbing of Doug Crum of Libby on the afternoon of Nov. 11.

Robertson is expected to go to have his pretrial hearing in the first half of June.

During his arraignment, Robertson did not betray any strong emotion, appearing at ease throughout.

Crum was stabbed at least 10 times and suffered two collapsed lungs in the attack, which occurred while Crum was walking on the path that extends beyond the end of Kootenai River Road in Libby.

After using bear spray to stop the attack, Crum walked back to his car and reported the incident to a passerby before driving home. From there his wife drove him to Cabinet Peaks Medical Center, where he described the attack to Lincoln County Sheriff’s deputies.

According to an affidavit prepared by Detective Brad Dodson, deputies went to the scene of the attack and found Crum’s ripped orange vest, a used can of bear spray and a knife, with what appeared to be blood on the vest and knife.

About the same time, a man fitting Crum’s description of his attacker and later identified as Robertson walked out of the woods “within 20 feet of the vest, knife and can,” smelling “strongly of pepper spray” and wearing clothes stained with what appeared to be blood, Dodson wrote.

Robertson told the deputies that he was looking for a friend with whom he had traveled to Montana and saw the attack.

Further investigation proved the friend he claimed to be looking for “never came to and was not in Lincoln County,” Dodson wrote.

Deputies also learned that the knife was similar to one a family member said Robertson had access to.

Robertson also told deputies he was stranded in Lincoln County after his car ran out of fuel and that “he was eating blueberries and had stayed the night out in the woods,” Dodson wrote.

According to his wife, Dolly, Crum has continued to show the same resilience in his recovery that helped him to survive the attack. She reported that he is walking again, and has gone as far as a mile.

The Crums expressed their gratitude for the outpouring of support from the community.

Contributions to this article were made by John Blodgett and Suzanne Resch