Lawrence pleads not guilty to homicide
courtesy photo
James Lawrence
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POLSON — James Phillip Lawrence of Polson pleaded not guilty to felony charges of deliberate homicide and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence in the death of Edwin “Ed” Loder of Ronan. Lawrence was arraigned in Lake County District Court on Wednesday, Sept. 18.
According to court documents, on or about Aug. 31, Lawrence allegedly shot and killed Loder and then destroyed, concealed evidence including a gun, phone and the body of Loder to impair investigation.
On Sept. 4, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of Loder as a missing person. They were informed that Loder had last been seen on Aug. 30 and that suspicious blood and had been noticed in an area east of Loder’s home near Timberlane Road. According to court documents, location of the blood was near a corner where Timberlane Road turns south, adjacent to an 80-acre parcel of land which had been willed to Loder in the past 2-3 years. Five 9mm shell casing and a pair of bloody eye glasses were located at the site. Multiple law enforcement agencies conducted an extensive search of the area on horseback, foot and via drone technology but found nothing further.
When detectives learned there may be financial motive for Loder’s disappearance due to a dispute over an inheritance estimated in the millions of dollars that included the aforementioned 80 acres, they obtained a search warrant for Loder’s home. They located a copy of a will that listed Loder as primary beneficiary of an estate that also bequeathed $5,000 each to Debra and James Phillip Lawrence.
Video footage from a business on Timberlane Road identified a red, Chevy truck with distinguishing custom features as a vehicle of interest that matched the timeframe for movement of Loder’s phone near the suspected crime scene. Lawrence’s vehicle was identified as the vehicle in Don Aadsen’s video footage and that of ring cam video from a Jocko Canyon area residence.
According to court documents, officers executed a search warrant at Lawrence’s home and conducted an interview with him in which he waived his Miranda rights and told investigators “I’m toast anyways I guess, so, yeah I did it.”
Following the arrest of Lawrence, who Sheriff Don Bell said cooperated with the investigation, the body of Loder was recovered in Twin Lakes area southeast of St. Ignatius on Sept. 6.
A jury trial for Lawrence has been set for 9 a.m., March 3, 2025.
