Kendall again pleads guilty

Jeremiah Kendall has, for the second time, struck a plea deal just weeks ahead of the planned start of his trial on aggravated assault and tampering charges.

Kendall, 40, of Libby, is accused of brutally assaulting his then-girlfriend in 2014 and attempting to cover up the attack. The attack left his victim hospitalized with serious head injuries.

The long awaited and high profile trial was expected to start early next month. Kendall was in Lincoln County District Court on Jan. 25 for a pretrial conference when the deal was announced.

While the details of the arrangement between Kendall and prosecutors were not released by press time, he did enter guilty pleas to the felony charges of aggravated assault and tampering with or fabricating evidence.

In doing so, Kendall again admitted in open court to have been using drugs and drinking in the lead up to the incident. Asked whether he had purposefully caused serious injury to her, Kendall replied: “Yes.”

Kendall also acknowledged that he had attempted to destroy or conceal documentation pertaining to the case during the investigation.

It’s the second time Kendall has entered guilty pleas to the charges. He struck a deal with prosecutors in September.

In exchange, he expected to serve 10 years of a partially suspended 20-year-sentence for aggravated assault and receive a suspended 10-year sentence for tampering. The two sentences were to run concurrent with one another.

But District Judge Matthew Cuffe indicated in mid-October that he would not abide by the recommendations in the agreement, saying “the contemplated sentence is going to be much harsher than in the agreement.” He gave Kendall a week to decide whether to seek a new deal or go to trial.

Kendall withdrew his plea, opting for a trial.

During the Jan. 25 conference, Cuffe did not give indication of how he viewed the agreement. He accepted the plea, vacated the trial date and set sentencing for March 8.

Investigators began to look into Kendall shortly after the victim turned up in a local medical center. Doctors alerted local authorities, according to court documents, telling them the victim’s injuries did not match up with the story that Kendall and his mother had given when they dropped her off.

The pair allegedly told medical center staff that the victim had fallen off a table after a bout of heavy partying. Doctors found 38 areas of injury to her body, including bruising, abrasions and bleeding beneath the skin, according to court documents.

Kendall originally stuck by the story of the fall, court documents said. He also told investigators that the victim fell again in the bathroom.

He later amended his account, telling authorities that he found the victim with a shotgun in the bathroom and that she fell after he disarmed her, court documents said.

Authorities also believe that Kendall accessed the victim’s phone while she lay in a medically induced coma. Using the mobile device, he allegedly deleted text messages and Facebook Messenger chats alluding to past abuse at his hands.

Authorities brought the outstanding charges against Kendall in 2019 after he finished a 30-month stint in federal prison.