A judge rejected the defense claim of an impulsive shooting and found evidence that James Lawrence planned Ed Loder’s death.

POLSON, Mont. — A Montana man was sentenced to 50 years in prison after a judge concluded that he deliberately hunted down and killed a neighbor who had inherited valuable land that the defendant believed should have gone to him.

Lake County District Judge Molly Owen imposed the sentence on James Phillip Lawrence for the killing of 67-year-old Edwin “Ed” Loder. Lawrence also received 10 years for tampering with evidence, but the terms will run at the same time. The punishment was the maximum allowed under a plea agreement Lawrence accepted before sentencing. He received credit for 644 days already spent in custody.

The June 12 sentencing brought the central dispute in the case into focus: whether Lawrence acted after a sudden argument or carried out a killing he had considered for years. Prosecutors said Lawrence had remained angry about the terms of a will, drove to Loder’s property, shot him and transported his body to the Jocko Canyon area. The defense said Lawrence did not arrive intending to kill Loder and fired during an emotional confrontation about the inheritance.

Owen sided with the prosecution’s account after hearing testimony about surveillance recordings, cellphone information and the movements of Lawrence’s red Chevrolet pickup. The judge found the evidence presented by Lake County sheriff’s Deputy Brandon Gale persuasive on the question of advance planning. The records placed the truck in relevant areas and helped investigators reconstruct Lawrence’s travel on the date Loder was killed.

County Attorney James Lapotka told the court that Lawrence had been angry over the will for about four years. He argued that Lawrence went looking for Loder at his home and then tried to conceal the crime by taking the body away. Defense attorney Benjamin Darrow described a different sequence, saying Lawrence went to discuss the estate, became involved in a heated exchange and shot Loder in a moment of anger. The distinction mattered at sentencing because it shaped the judge’s view of Lawrence’s intent.

The financial dispute centered on the estate of Mary Mendenhall, who owned 80 acres next to Loder’s property. Court records reviewed by local news organizations said the land was believed to be worth millions of dollars. A will found during the investigation named Loder as the beneficiary of the property. Lawrence and his wife, Debra Lawrence, were each left $5,000.

Lawrence told investigators that he believed Mendenhall had previously suggested or promised that he and his wife would receive more. He accused Loder of bringing a lawyer to Mendenhall near the end of her life and persuading her to sign a will that favored him. Investigators, however, learned that the property arrangement involving Loder had been in place for two or three years, according to the probable cause account reported by Law&Crime.

The investigation began after Loder was reported missing on Sept. 4, 2024. Lake County Undersheriff Ben Woods responded to Loder’s property on Timberlane Road, where investigators found blood, a pair of bloody eyeglasses and at least five 9 mm cartridge casings. Search-and-rescue crews looked through the surrounding area on foot and horseback and used drones, but Loder was not found during the initial search. Investigators then examined information from Loder’s cellphone and gathered recordings from businesses and private properties. Those records directed attention toward the Arlee area and showed a red pickup that authorities traced to Lawrence. Detectives obtained a warrant for Lawrence’s home on Blue Jay Lane in Polson and took him into custody.

According to court records, Lawrence waived his Miranda rights and admitted killing Loder. “I’m toast anyways I guess, so, yeah I did it,” he told investigators, according to the records. Asked where Loder was, Lawrence said he had left him “up in the Jocko.” He later accompanied detectives to the Jocko Canyon area and showed them where the body had been placed.

Loder’s remains were recovered at about 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 6, 2024, in the Twin Lakes-Jocko Canyon area outside St. Ignatius. Lawrence said he had shot Loder with a 9 mm firearm but did not know how many times he fired or where each shot struck, the court records said. Authorities did not need to rely only on that statement: they also cited physical evidence from the property, the truck sightings and the cellphone records that helped track Lawrence’s movements.

Lawrence was initially charged with deliberate homicide and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence. He entered a not-guilty plea during an arraignment in September 2024 and was held without bond. He later accepted a plea agreement and pleaded guilty, avoiding a trial that would have required prosecutors to prove the charges to a jury. The agreement placed a 50-year ceiling on the homicide sentence, which Owen imposed in full. Lawrence apologized in court, saying he was sorry to Loder’s family and hated that the killing had happened. His statement came after testimony from law enforcement officers, experts and members of Loder’s family in a crowded courtroom. The hearing examined both the evidence of Lawrence’s actions and the lasting effect of Loder’s death on his relatives and the wider community.

Greg Loder told the judge that his father had quietly helped people throughout his life and was at the center of their family. He said about 600 people attended Ed Loder’s celebration of life, a measure of the connections he had formed in the region. Greg Loder said the family had spent more than a year focused on the investigation and criminal case instead of being able to grieve normally.

After the sentence was announced, Greg Loder said no prison term could return his father but that the family was satisfied with the outcome. He thanked investigators and community members who supported the family. He said the conclusion of the criminal case would allow relatives to begin a different stage of grieving while continuing to tell stories about Ed Loder and pass his values to younger family members.

The concurrent sentences mean Lawrence’s controlling prison term is 50 years, reduced only by the credit Owen awarded for the time he had already served. The sentencing closed the criminal prosecution created by Loder’s disappearance, but the consequences described in court will continue for his family and the community where he lived.

Author note: Last updated July 15, 2026.