James Lawrence received $5,000 from an estate while Ed Loder inherited 80 acres that court records valued in the millions.
POLSON, Mont. — The document at the center of a Montana homicide case gave one man 80 acres worth millions and left another man $5,000, creating a dispute that prosecutors said James Phillip Lawrence carried for years before killing beneficiary Ed Loder.
Lawrence was sentenced June 12 to 50 years for deliberate homicide and 10 years for tampering with evidence in Loder’s death. Lake County District Judge Molly Owen ordered the sentences to run concurrently and gave Lawrence credit for 644 days in custody. The 50-year term was the maximum available under a plea agreement Lawrence accepted before the hearing.
The disputed property had belonged to Mary Mendenhall and bordered Loder’s land. A will found by investigators named Loder as the beneficiary of the 80-acre parcel. Court documents described the Mendenhall estate as being worth millions of dollars. The same instrument provided $5,000 each to Lawrence and his wife, Debra Lawrence. Investigators learned that Lawrence believed the distribution did not reflect what Mendenhall had previously indicated. He said she had implied or promised that he and his wife would receive more. He also accused Loder of going to Mendenhall near the end of her life with an attorney and persuading her to sign a will that sharply favored Loder.
That allegation became part of Lawrence’s explanation for his anger, but the criminal investigation did not validate his claim that Loder had tricked Mendenhall. Detectives learned that the arrangement involving the land had been in place for two or three years, according to the probable cause account. The available reports do not identify a court finding that the will was fraudulent or improperly executed.
The estate disagreement had apparently continued well before the shooting. County Attorney James Lapotka told the sentencing court that Lawrence had been angry over the will for four years. The prosecutor said Lawrence eventually went to Loder’s home, killed him and transported the body into the Jocko Canyon area to conceal what he had done.
Lawrence’s defense presented the inheritance as the subject of a confrontation rather than proof of a murder plan. Defense attorney Benjamin Darrow said Lawrence traveled to Loder’s property to discuss the money. Darrow argued that the conversation became heated and Lawrence fired in a sudden burst of anger, not as the final step of a planned attack.
Owen rejected that interpretation after reviewing testimony about Lawrence’s movements. Sheriff’s Deputy Brandon Gale showed the court surveillance recordings from homes and businesses and matched them with phone information linked to Lawrence and another person. The records also tracked Lawrence’s red Chevrolet pickup. The judge found the combined evidence supported premeditation.
Loder’s disappearance was first reported Sept. 4, 2024, several days after investigators later said the killing occurred. Lake County Undersheriff Ben Woods responded to the Timberlane Road area, where authorities found blood east of Loder’s residence. Deputies also located a pair of bloody eyeglasses in a ditch and at least five spent 9 mm casings. A broad search followed. Lake County search-and-rescue teams moved through the landscape on foot and horseback, and drones were used to examine the surrounding terrain. The first search ended late that night without finding Loder. Investigators then began using the victim’s cellphone records and footage from private properties and businesses to map possible travel routes.
The records directed detectives toward the Arlee area and revealed a red pickup traveling through locations connected to the timeline. Authorities traced the vehicle to Lawrence and obtained a warrant for his home on Blue Jay Lane in Polson. Deputies arrested him, and investigators questioned him about Loder’s disappearance.
Lawrence waived his Miranda rights and admitted the killing, according to court documents. “I’m toast anyways I guess, so, yeah I did it,” he said. He told investigators that Loder’s body was “up in the Jocko” and later led detectives to the location where he had left it.
Authorities recovered Loder’s remains at about 1:30 p.m. Sept. 6, 2024, in the Twin Lakes-Jocko Canyon area outside St. Ignatius. Lawrence said he shot Loder with his 9 mm firearm but was unsure how many times he fired. Lake County Sheriff Don Bell later said Lawrence’s cooperation enabled investigators to locate the body. The removal of Loder’s body exposed a second part of the crime beyond the fatal shooting. Prosecutors charged Lawrence with tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, alleging that he transported and disposed of the remains after the killing. That conduct resulted in the concurrent 10-year sentence Owen imposed alongside the deliberate-homicide term.
Lawrence initially pleaded not guilty at his September 2024 arraignment, and a judge ordered him held without bond. His case was once set for trial, where prosecutors would have been required to establish the elements of the offenses beyond a reasonable doubt. Lawrence later entered the plea agreement and admitted guilt, leaving the principal dispute at sentencing focused on his intent and punishment.
The hearing placed competing descriptions of the same property conflict before Owen. Under the prosecution’s account, the will supplied a motive that Lawrence held for years before acting. Under the defense account, it supplied the topic of an argument that unexpectedly turned deadly. Owen’s premeditation finding showed that she accepted the first explanation after considering the digital and video evidence.
Lawrence apologized to Loder’s family during the proceeding. He said he was sorry and hated that the killing occurred. His statement did not change the sentence, which reached the maximum established by the agreement and could keep the 71-year-old defendant imprisoned for the remainder of his life.
For Loder’s relatives, the value of the land did not define what had been lost. His son, Greg Loder, described him as a man who helped others quietly and made their lives easier. He said his father was the center of the family and a familiar, valued figure in the valley. About 600 people attended Loder’s celebration of life, Greg Loder said.
After sentencing, Greg Loder said the family was satisfied that the criminal case had reached a conclusion, though he emphasized that no punishment could bring his father back. He said the investigation and court proceedings had consumed the period since the killing, leaving relatives unable to grieve in the usual way.
The will that divided the estate therefore became more than a probate document in the criminal case. It helped investigators identify a possible motive, framed the accounts offered by both sides and supplied the background against which the judge assessed intent. But the sentencing decision rested not simply on who inherited the land; it also rested on evidence tracing Lawrence’s movements, the physical findings near Loder’s home, Lawrence’s admission and the removal of the body.
With the plea accepted and the sentence entered, the criminal proceeding has closed at the trial-court level, while the land dispute that preceded Loder’s death remains part of the record explaining why prosecutors said the killing occurred. Lawrence is serving the concurrent terms imposed by Owen.
Author note: Last updated July 15, 2026.