Kaarma Trial

Sparks flew as Detective Guy Baker was called to the stand in the trial of Markus Kaarma, prompting the defense to undermine Baker's authority as an investigator and accuse him of forming opinions, not facts. In the end an angered Judge McLean put their cross examination on hold and cleared the courtroom ahead of schedule to attend to "housekeeping purposes" with the defense team. Read M

Randy Smith, who hosted German exchange student Diren Dede along with his wife Kate Walker, took the stand to give emotional testimony about his time with Diren and the events of the fateful night Diren was fatally shot in Markus Kaarma's garage.

***WARNING...AUDIO CONTAINS COARSE LANGUAGE**** The Markus Kaarma trial continued Thursday afternoon with testimony from Missoula Police Detective Stacey Lear, who brought audio of calls between Markus Kaarma and Janelle Pflager while he was held in jail.

Detective Richard Dean Chrestenson, who led interviews with Markus Kaarma, Janelle Pflager, and Robby Pazmino (the teen who was with Diren Dede), testified today about discrepancies in Kaarma's initial statement that led to him being charged with Dede's murder. Kaarma had claimed self defense. Debate over whether or not Dede had a light source in the garage also took center stage.

The man who lived next door to Markus Kaarma and Janelle Pflager on the night of the shooting testified that Janelle Pflager asked him about Montana gun laws on or about April 22, leading to a brief discussion of the Stand Your Ground defense. Five days later, Markus Kaarma fatally shot German exchange student Diren Dede, who was trespassing in his garage.

During Tuesday's testimony at the Markus Kaarma murder trial in Missoula District Court, the state called several of the Kaarma's neighbors to the stand.

Testimony in the Markus Kaarma trial heated up this afternoon with the testimony of Leslie Wozniak and Terry Klise, as the defense ramped up accusations of bias against Markus Kaarma.

Following testimony of Robby Pazmino, the state brought out a series of neighbors to describe not only what they heard in the early hours of April 27, but what they heard from Markus Kaarma and Janelle Pflager in the weeks leading up to the shooting.

Robby Pazmino, the Ecuadorian exchange student who was with Diren Dede when Dede entered Markus Kaarma's garage, took the stand on the fourth day of Kaarma's trial in Missoula.

Dr. Gary Dale, State Medical Examiner, took the stand on behalf of the prosecution in the trial of Markus Kaarma. On April 27, 2014 Dr. Dale performed the postmortem examination of Diren Dede's body.