Markus Kaarma trial resulted in a Missoula jury finding the defendant guilty of deliberate homicide for the shooting that killed a 17-year-old German exchange student. Only minutes after the verdict was read, Representative Ellie Hill took to Twitter to share his dismay.
The Democrat wrote, "Justice!" in response to a Twitter user announcing that the crowd in the Missoula courtroom erupted in cheers when the jury announced its verdict. Hill then added that she was hopeful the said verdict of the Markus Kaarma trial would impact the never-ending gun debate in the upcoming Legislature.
Following the death of Diren Dede last spring, Hill has been pretty vocal about his criticism of the recent efforts of liberalizing Montana gun laws. She also vowed to introduce legislation to roll back certain measures.
Hill, who happens to be a member of the House Judiciary Committee, mentioned that the nationwide expansion of concealed carry as well as so-called "castle doctrine" and "stand your ground" laws in the recent years should also take the blame. According to her, it is because of the aforementioned laws that a "culture" has somehow led to the death of the former Big Sky High School student.
"Although this trial from the beginning was about deliberate homicide, and I'm more than pleased the vigilante justice did not prevail, the expansion of concealed carry, castle doctrine and stand your ground laws pushed by the NRA and the Montana Shooting Sports Association have created the culture of people like Markus Kaarma who believe they can shoot first and ask questions later," Hill stated.
Prosecutors have accused Kaarma in the Markus Kaarma trial of setting a trap so that he could catch teenagers who had been stealing drugs and other related items from his garage. He shot Dede during the early hours of April 27th after his motion sensors alerted him that there was in intruder in his premises.
According to the testimonies of the witnesses, Kaarma fired four shotgun blasts at Dede, who was actually unarmed during the shooting.
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