Dateline NBC - The Feud

Episode Date: November 30, 2022

Just south of Glacier National Park in Montana, tempers flare and personalities clash. One man shoots, another dies…but the story can’t be that cut and dry, can it? Keith Morrison reports. 

My phone rang. She's like, Christy, I need you to sit down. And I'm like, oh no. This is never a good thing. Praise the Lord for this country. He loved being out in nature. He felt happy there. Everybody was family up there. What was the main thing you would get called in there for? People trying to access private land. On private property without permission.

It was really hard for him to swallow that. The neighbors felt he was a bully. He stated that the next time I see Tim Newman, I'm going to push him down. She's like, I'm sorry, your dad was shot. Tim is dead. Tim or me, and I shot him. He asserted that self-defense.

Joe said he came at me with a gun, and I didn't have a choice. I believe he murdered him. He asserted that self-defense. Joe said he came at me with a gun and I didn't have a choice. I believe he murdered him. Murder. This really all came down to what the body told you. Absolutely. The story didn't make sense to us. Who is this guy that can just steal such a beautiful soul from this world. There are still places in America so peaceful, God must have been smiling.

Like this place in Montana, the Bob Marshall Wilderness. More than a million natural acres just south of Glacier National Park, the humans here, merely a small, pale stain on the fringes of a paradise. Strange that a person up here would feel so tense. We always knew that something was going to happen. But there was no question about it. Sue De La Rosa was a worried woman. We just didn't know who was going to be on the receiving end of it. Yes, there was trouble, big trouble. Sue and her husband Dan could feel it in their bones. And this had been such a happy place. For nearly a century, people have been coming here to

hunt and fish, ride the trails, summer, winter, whenever. Families like the De La Rosas bought small lots and built cabins downhill from the public lands. Round an old dude ranch called the Diamond Bar X. It was a place to get away from your daily grind and go up on the weekends and let your hair down and have fun. With no boundaries, I'm assuming. That was exactly right. Harmony, community were the rule. In fact, in 2001, Sue and Dan were married up here by everybody's favorite waterfall.

We invited everybody. It was a fun place to be and everybody was family up there. Oh, how they loved it. Praise the Lord for this country. Tim Newman loved it too. Tim's daughter, Christy. My dad was a real mountain man. You know, he loved being out in nature and sleeping under the stars without a tent. That's what made him happy. Tim and his wife, Jackie, were fixing up a cabin of their own here. I felt so blessed. We were blessed. Or were before the trouble. It was that business about the land that started it.

One of the neighbors, who'd always used the land and the trails like everybody else, managed to buy up hundreds of acres for himself, smack dab between all those little cottages and the vast public wilderness up on the mountain. And then he refused to allow anybody to use the generations-old trails connecting their cottages to the forest. This is him. His name is Joe Campbell. How did you feel about that? Not happy.

Not good. That was like they were, it was like they were taking something away that was mine all along. You felt violated. It's like, really? Why would you do that? Deputy Brent Colbert responded, often. Any one particular name you began to hear about more than others? Yeah, Mr. Campbell. What was the neighbors feeling about him? The neighbors felt he was a bully. Not only neighbors,

mind you. We're on private property without permission. We are. This is 2008. Joe Campbell confronting a visiting hunting party. You're on our property. You've been on it for about three-quarters of a f***ing mile. Joe was wielding a high-powered shotgun

called a street sweeper, developed for riot control and combat. It's quite a weapon you're carrying. Are you threatened? Do a little bird hunting. That ain't a bird gun. Then there was the time Joe barged into a De La Rosa family reunion, the family said, claiming one of their cars was blocking a road. Screaming, yelling, profanities, you know, just being an absolute jerk. The De La Rosas wrote

a letter to the county attorney asking him to do something about Joe before somebody got hurt. They were advised that the property disputes were a civil matter. So then some of the family sued and years later made a deal with Joe that gave them the right to cross his land joe put up signs listing the people granted access we saw some deer yeah thing was not everybody could afford to join the lawsuit tim newman for example so it was really hard for him to kind of swallow that he wasn't accepting of it at all there's dan up there leading the way anyway he figured his God-given right to use those trails superseded any earthbound lawsuit. It's just a gate to annoy us,

is the way I think, because it's annoying. Yes, Tim Newman was convinced. He had a natural right to cross Campbell's land on long-used traditional trails into the very public national forest. Campbell lives somewhere over there. We're not going that way. By late September 2013, tension was, well, was tense. Tim challenging Joe. Joe increasingly angry. Threats flying back and forth. And then it was hunting season. And here, a brief calm.

Tim and a hunting friend avoided Joe Campbell's land. Okay, here we are, cutting trails. Hunting season 2013. She's a-getting pretty. Later that week, Tim left a voicemail for his daughter, Christy. And he was telling me about a bear he'd just gotten. He'd been wanting to get a bear for a long time, and he finally got the bear. What's the old saying?

Sometimes you get the bear. Sometimes, well, you know the rest. Oh, by the way, everybody but the bear lived that day. But not for long. 911, what is your emergency? There were shots fired and one woman's down. A shooting up on the mountain. But who was the victim and who was the shooter?

She's like, Christy, I need you to sit down. And I'm like, oh, no. This is never a good thing. And a puzzle for the shooter. She's like, Christy, I need you to sit down. And I'm like, oh no, this is never a good thing. And a puzzle for the sheriff. Two guns, one angry man. It was just plain, I thought he was going to shoot me, so I shot first. On a Friday afternoon, October 2013, a sheriff's deputy raced 20 miles from the small town of Augusta, Montana, to the edge of the Bob Marshall Wilderness. We need the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff to come up. There'd been a 911 call, reports of shots fired, a man down. And when the deputy finally pulled to a stop, he found Joe Campbell

standing behind the gate he'd built to block the trail to public lands. And just ten feet away, sprawled in the dirt, there was Tim Newman. The deputy ripped open Newman's shirt, saw a gunshot wound to the chest, and that it was too late. My phone rang. She's like, Christy, I need you to sit down. Tim's daughter got a call from her aunt. And I'm like, oh no, this is never a good thing. And I just immediately said no. I'm like, no, no, like I don't want it. I don't want you to tell me what you're about to tell me now. Like, no.

And she's like, I'm sorry, your dad was shot. Tim is dead. Tim Newman was 53 when he died beneath the big sky he loved. I was floored. I was stunned. We always knew with the guns being pulled that something was going to happen. We just didn't know who was going to be on the receiving end of it. It's a beautiful area, and as you're driving there,

you're thinking, how could anybody who lives in such splendor be so angry? Sheriff Leo Dutton responded to the scene just after his deputies and found Joe Campbell in the back of a patrol vehicle. Howdy, sir. Hi there. Sheriff Dutton. We had to take his story at face value because nothing else seemed to miss. And what was that story?

It was just plain, I thought he was going to shoot me, so I shot first. Made sense. Tim Newman's.357 Magnum was found on the ground, not far from his right hand. And the sheriff knew that Tim Newman had been baiting the bear, fighting Joe Campbell's rules about who could or couldn't cross his land. He carried a video camera with him. This is what you have to go through with this gate. Tim, bold as brass, had been cutting padlocks, which Joe Campbell used to lock his gates.

When I first talked to Mr. Newman about this, he admitted to cutting those locks and said that he was going to continue to do that. And I said, well, I guess if that's the case, me and you are probably going to be pretty good friends, because I'll see you quite often. Did you charge Tim Newman? I did. I did. You wrote up tickets for him? I did, for criminal mischief to the locks and gates that he was cutting and destroying. Saw a mountain lion. Tim thought the charges would put him in front of a judge,

where he would finally have a chance to set the record straight and preserve what he believed to be his natural right to use the trails across Joe's land to the very public National Forest. But just days before the shooting, the county attorney dismissed all the charges against Tim, saying it was not a criminal matter but a civil one, which Tim Newman took as tacit permission to keep cutting the locks. Did you ever say, Tim, this is not a good way to go? Yeah, we did. I mean, you go out and cut somebody's locks, they're not going to be a happy locks. Did you ever say, Tim, this is not a good way to go? Yeah, we did.

I mean, you go out and cut somebody's locks, they're not going to be a happy camper. Right. Yes. Which leads us back to the gate, where Tim Newman now lay dead. And Joe Campbell was telling sheriff's deputies a story. He and his wife, Tani, were walking up the trail toward their property, said Joe,

when Tim started following them on his ATV. They were frightened, he said. They hurried to his gate, slipped through it. And then as Joe sent his wife to call the sheriff, he said, Tim got out of his ATV and approached the gate with a pair of bolt cutters. Then, said Joe, Tim leaned down to the padlock in the gate and noticed Joe was wearing a pistol on his hip. He said, oh, you're armed, and he started to the padlock in the gate and noticed Joe was wearing a pistol on his hip.

He said, oh, you're armed. And I started putting the bolt cutter down. And then he started putting both hands on his gun and coming up. And that's when I drew my gun. I shot and he spun around. I thought I'd hit him, but I wasn't sure. And he spun around and he still had the gun in his hands. And he was going down.

I shot him again and back. And I was ready to shoot again. And then he dropped the gun and his hands and he was going down. I shot him again in the back and I was ready to shoot again and then he dropped the gun and it rolled over. And then he got up on his elbow and he said, you shouldn't have done that, Joe. So that was Joe Campbell's story. He was threatened, so he shot Tim Newman twice. First in the chest and then in the back. We didn't arrest him because he asserted that self-defense in Montana

now has a law that you don't have any duty to run. If you feel threatened, then you can protect yourself with deadly force. So essentially shoot first and figure it out later. Yes. And figuring it out would take time. I can walk home. Well, we'll give you a ride. So, Joe Campbell was sent home that very day,

and Tim Newman's body was taken away for an autopsy. Well, of course, science would enter the story. Science as glorious as all outdoors to bat away foolish human vanities. Science would enter the story. Science as glorious as all outdoors. To bat away foolish human vanities. This really all came down to what the body told you. Absolutely. But Tim's neighbors had already decided.

They were, why isn't he in jail? He shot a person, why didn't we do something? In the days after Tim Newman was shot dead, Joe Campbell went back to his home on top of the mountain, while many of his downhill neighbors let the death dissuade them from visiting their cabins on the land they loved. But not Dan and Sue De La Rosa. If all the neighbors had run and hid and not come up to the mountain and stayed at home, then hell, he won.

Then he's got the whole place to himself, which is what he wanted originally. And so we said, we're going. This was our paradise. And even though it was shattered, we weren't willing to walk away. And many neighbors vented to the sheriff about Joe Campbell. They were, why isn't he in jail? He shot a person. Why didn't we do something about it?

Yeah. But there's a Montana law that guides our behavior. So the question became one of intent. Yes. If you intend to defend yourself, you're within the law. If you intend to kill somebody because he's a pain in the ass, against the law. Yeah. They make hemorrhoid cream for that. I mean, you don't need to shoot people for that.

But which was it in this case? Self-defense or murder? Remember, Joe Campbell claimed Tim Newman confronted him, leveled a gun at him. So Campbell was within his rights to fire first. I shot and he's coming around. That second shot in the back was half reflex, half fear. He said, make sure he got the guy who threatened him. I shot him again in the back part of it. I guess it was maybe the lower back or something. Except this was curious.

Tim was left-handed, but his gun was found lying on the ground near his right hand. And Tim's gun hadn't been fired. So if he had the drop on Joe, as Campbell said he did, how did Joe get a shot off before Tim could pull the trigger? The puzzle landed on the desks of Deputy Attorneys General Mary Kokenauer and Dan Gaczynski. I think Mary and I both feel, like most Montanans feel, that we have an absolute right to defend ourselves. I think the challenge is to try to ferret out when there's a justifiable homicide

versus a situation where they wanted to commit murder and they used the justifiable use of force to get away with murder. The two prosecutors had to decide which applied in this case. He looked at me and he said, oh, your arm. They'd heard Joe Campbell's side of the story, but the only story Tim Newman could tell would come from his autopsy. This really all came down to what the body told you, what the wounds told you, right? Absolutely.

And from that autopsy, we learned that there were two shots to Tim Newman. One shot was to the back, severed his spine, and it would have paralyzed him instantly from mid-chest down. The other shot hit his hand first and then skimmed his chest and whizzed past his head. And to the prosecutors, the angle of those shots strongly suggested that the first shot could have been in Tim Newman's back. So it told us that the story that Joe Campbell had told law enforcement, that he had shot into Tim Newman as Tim Newman was rising up with his own gun, physically didn't work out from a common sense level. This is your Miranda warning. They called Joe in for a second

interview, when, again, he said Tim was the aggressor, chasing Joe and his wife with his ATV. Kenny was scared, really scared. I asked Kenny twice, I said, maybe you should just go home and call the sheriff. She didn't want to leave.

But she did, said Joe, and that's when Tim came at him. And all of a sudden, out comes a gun. Can I stop you for just a second? Because I had one question, I don't want to forget it. You're saying that you're really fearful, but I was just wondering why you stay and don't take off. Well, we're on our own property, and I didn't think, I guess I was hoping that he wouldn't do anything. Instead, said Joe, Tim walked right up to the gate, and him. And then, then Joe Campbell's story changed. Right after it happened, Joe quoted Tim as saying, Oh, you're armed?

Now he claimed Tim pointed a gun right at him and said, Shoot him first, something like that, and then cut the lock. Certainly that statement about shoot first or cut the locks, I think he's trying to show that Tim Newman verbally told him that he was going to shoot him. And before that, there was nothing. And about that thought, that the angles of the shot suggested the first shot was a shot in the back? No, no, said Joe. Didn't happen. Not long after, they sent Joe home again.

And wondered, what was the truth? And what wasn't? They really couldn't be sure. In the end, we really needed a shooting reconstructionist and reconstruct the shooting at the scene. But that reconstruction would have to wait for one of those only in Montana reasons. Right after Tim Newman had been shot, there had been a big snowstorm and the crime scene had been under snow that whole winter, and we had to wait until May to get him up to the crime scene so he could do his work.

And so, once again, it was springtime in Montana, and the answer, pure and mindless as the first tiny blossoms, rose up from the greening soil. It was murder. Pure and simple. Yes. How did they know? Eight months after the fact. And how would they prove it to a jury? Different sort of science altogether, that.

In the Old West, it was the lowest thing you could do. He shot him in the back in cold blood? He admits that he shot him in the back. And if that was the first shot, then this was murder. He stated that the next time I see Tim Newman, I'm going to push him down. I'm going to put him down, Lamont. Those were his words. Montana State Capitol in Helena, February 2016. Into the old Supreme Court chambers came a small, elderly man.

Joe Campbell, 70 years old, was charged with murder. Deliberate homicide, they call it here. Accused of killing Tim Newman in cold blood. It just made me wonder how it had gotten to this point where someone died. Worse, of breaking the unwritten code of the West. You're accusing this man of doing probably the lowest thing you can do in Western mythology, shoot a man in the back. Is that what he did, really?

He shot him in the back in cold blood? He admits that he shot him in the back. But was it Campbell's first shot or his second? That could make the difference between murder and self-defense. This was not a justified killing, and the state of Montana is going to ask that you find Joe Campbell guilty of deliberate homicide. Remember the crime scene expert who had to wait for the snow to melt to make his calculations? This is him. My job was to independently investigate what could have happened at this particular crime scene. William Schneck, a forensic scientist.

What he did was try, with an assistant helping, to reenact events as Joe Campbell claimed they had happened. Lining up body positioning, track of the bullets, that sort of thing. And? Were you able to reconstruct the scene as Mr. Campbell said it had happened? No, I was not able to do that for either shot. But guess what did line up?

The shots in the opposite order that Campbell had claimed. My opinion is Mr. Campbell shoots Mr. Newman in the back as he's running from the gate. At that point, he falls to the ground on his back in the death position. At that time, Mr. Campbell takes the second shot, a grazing shot over the hand and across the chest, missing the head. Look at it, said the scientist. With Tim felled by the first bullet to the back, the second bullet travels south to north, grazing his vest, nicking his hand, and zipping right past his head.

The only way it could have happened. Was he right? Why not call a legend to confirm it? Legendary expert, that is. The state calls Dr. Werner Spitz. Dr. Werner Spitz literally wrote the book on forensic pathology. He even brought the book to court. I can only tell you this, that if weight has a meaning by way of quality, then this is nine pounds and a quarter.

Okay. All right. Eighty-nine years old when he took the stand, Dr. Spitz investigated the assassinations of President Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King and many, many more. He testified more recently in the Phil Spector and Casey Anthony trials. So, what did Dr. Spitz say about this case? Just to be clear, doctor, your opinion is that Mr. Newman was shot in the back as he turned away from the gate, some 10 feet from the gate. Yes, that's correct. And then he fell to the ground on his back. That's correct. And then he was shot a second time, landing in this death position.

And those wounds to the hand line up perfectly. Line up perfectly. The big mystery then, according to the prosecutors, was why? Why would Joseph Campbell have shot Tim Newman in cold blood? Well, remember that video of Campbell taken by a hunting party in 2008? On private property without permission. We are. Prosecutors played it for the jury to show that Campbell wasn't afraid to confront

and chase off anybody who dared cross his property, even when he was outnumbered. You could see on that video that he was not scared of those hunters. And to accept his story that he was terrified of Tim Newman, a man, a neighbor of his, that he had known, just seemed implausible. Nor was that an isolated incident. Your relationship with Mr. Campbell, how would you describe that relationship? One word, miserable. And he looked up at me and he said, I don't know who the f*** you are, mister, but you're trespassing and I don't ever want to see you again.

This woman was an army colonel on leave from Iraq, out on a ride with her father, when they were confronted by Campbell and his shotgun. Again, he's like, hey, sweetheart, who are you? Both my dad and I told him to put the gun down. We were just trying to go on a horseback ride, and I told him, I'm like, hey, I have to go back to Iraq tomorrow. But he refused to put the shotgun down. And he started waving, he's like, this is my property, this is my property and can't be on my property. But prosecutors argued that the clearest proof that Joe Campbell intended and planned to kill Tim Newman, his own words, like what he said to the deputy county attorney who

declined to prosecute Tim for cutting locks. This was days before the shooting. He told me that if I wasn't going to take care of Mr. Newman, that he would. And this one. He did refer to Tim leaving the top of the mountain in a body bag. Joe's words to a contractor two days before the shooting. He cleared his jacket back from his pistol and touched his side like that. And he stated that the next time I see Tim Newman, I'm going to push him down. I'm going to put him down, Lamont.

Those were his words. He said he was going to kill him, and then he killed him. It was murder. The rule in Montana is as clear as day. You can defend your castle if you're threatened. Absent a threat, then murder is what it is. And what could Joe Campbell possibly say about that? Well, as it turned out, lots. I was trying to stay alive.

So I wanted to. It was him or me, and I shot him. I did. Dramatic testimony from the accused. But would a jury believe him? So all these people came into court, took an oath, and have lied in front of this jury, is that right? Objection, Your Honor. Point of view can change everything, can't it?

Perspective. Even in the crisp, clear Montana air, where here inside the grand old courtroom, the view was about to get decidedly hazier. It's about self-defense. That's what this case is about. This is Joe Campbell's attorney, Greg Jackson, who wanted the jury to see a justifiable shooting by a terrified man in fear for his own life. Joe Campbell looked into that barrel. He was faced with a horrifying decision at that point.

Try to stay alive or die. All that fancy forensic testimony bolstered by legendary forensic pathologist Dr. Werner Spitz to show Joe first shot Tim in the back, just spin, said the defense. Besides, the defense had its own legend,

pathologist Dr. Vincent DeMaio, who wrote the book on gunshot wounds, and said, you have to have some description as to where the shooter is, and then you can say this is consistent or no, no, it's not consistent at all. And in this case, Dr. DeMaio came to a far different conclusion than the prosecution experts. There is nothing to disprove Mr. Campbell's story. Dr. DeMaio offered his own theory that Tim could have been jumping or falling backwards when the first bullet hit his hand

and chest and then the second shot hit him in the back. Dueling experts? Maybe they'd cancel each other. But if Joe Campbell was going to walk out of the courtroom a free man, the defense had to hope the jury perceived him and her in a favorable way. Joe Campbell's my husband. And so here was Tanny Converse, Joe Campbell's wife. And how long have you two been married? 23 years. And the only other survivor of that confrontation on the Hill. So far you've heard that Joe Campbell was a bully. There isn't any right of way through here. That he was a threatening,

mean, and dangerous old man, unafraid and aggressive. But Tanny told the jury that in the weeks before the shooting, it was Tim Newman driving a pickup who confronted them as they walked to their horse pasture. He said, Joe and Tanny, I finally found you. Joe just said, Tim, we've given you a notice that you're not welcome at our place. Please don't harass us. Were you afraid of him when you were next to the road there? I was startled. Joe just said, let's go.

And he just hollered out his window, come on, let's just get it over with right now. And then he did drive off. And that's why, she said, she and Joe were afraid of Tim. And why, on October 18th, as she and Joe walked toward home, they were alarmed to see Tim coming up behind them. What were the things that made you believe that he was going to physically harm you? Well, if he was just wanting to cut the lock, why would he chase us up the hill?

Why would he do that? We were watching him. He was on his ATV, and he was off his ATV, and he was grabbing the bolt cutters. He was unpredictable. He was highly his ATV and he was off his ATV and he was grabbing the bolt cutters. He was unpredictable. He was highly agitated. So what do you and Joe decide to do next? Joe just kept saying, you need to try to get out of here. You need to try to get safe. You need to try to get home. You need to call the sheriff.

I didn't want to leave Joe. But she did leave, she said, and on her way to calling 911, heard gunshots, placed the call, rushed back, and... I saw Joe standing at the gate and he said he came at me with a gun and I didn't have a choice. And I saw Mr. Newman lying on the ground. In their sometimes intense cross-examination, prosecutors pointed out, not so gently, that elements of Tanny's story had changed also from previous interviews. But altered or not, her story was emotional.

As was Joe Campbell's. Call Joe Campbell to the stand. So, kindly and sometimes frightened grandfather of seven? Or neighborhood bully, the man who brandished weapons at neighbors and strangers alike? The defense

set about changing perceptions. On private property without permission. The neighbors? The hunters? Did you threaten them with a shotgun, anything of that nature? No, just they were trespassing, I asked them to leave. The Army colonel and her father?

Ever point a shotgun at them? No, sir. But there was no getting around the fact that he told the deputy D.A. he was going to take care of Tim Newman himself. Couldn't be more than one way to perceive that. Could there?

We were going to take a legal action. We were really frustrated. I was really frustrated. Legal action? That's how he intended to take care of Tim Newman, said Joe. He was just a peaceful and frustrated man, he said, and he was terrified when Tim Newman chased Tandy and him up the hill in a rage that day in October 2013. The man had murder in his eyes, said Joe. It's hard to stand up here and say in front of everybody, but I was trying to stay alive.

It was him or me, and I shot him. I did. Had Joe Campbell succeeded in changing the jury's perception? Before Mr. Campbell could leave the witness stand, Prosecutor Dan Gazinski got a chance to cross-examine him and again present the bully of the mountain the neighbors said they knew all too well. Lamont Moultrie says that approximately two, three days before

you shot and killed Mr. Newman, that you told him, I am going to put him down. Did you say that to Mr. Moultrie? I did not. So all these people came into court, took an oath, and have lied in front of this jury. Is that right? Objection, Your Honor. Ultimately, the prosecutor said Joe Campbell could have avoided a confrontation, could have, but did not, because he wanted it. All you have to do to save your wife, to save yourself, is to turn downhill and walk, jog, run down that hill to safety.

I looked at some of those options, Mr. Kaczynski, and it's a hell of a lot harder up there on the hillside when somebody's threatening you than it is to stand here in a courtroom two and a half years later. So, if you were a juror, what would you think about Joe Campbell and the gunplay on the mountain? Was it murder or self-defense? Waiting for the jury. There's so much anxiousness. Hoping for justice. Who is this guy that can just steal such a beautiful soul from this world? On the 3rd of March, 2016, in the old Supreme Court chamber at Montana's State Capitol building, the question went to the jury. Did Joe Campbell have a right to shoot Tim Newman? Was it self-defense?

Or was it cold-blooded murder? Neighbors Dan and Sue De La Rosa waited and willed their thoughts into the jury room. I believe he murdered him. Murder, absolutely. Though they knew full well that since Montana passed a new law legalizing certain kinds of self-defense, it was hard to know what a jury might decide. If they find a non-guilty, he moves up. There'll be for sale signs for everywhere up there. So, nervous hours around the old courtroom, which turned into a whole day, and then a second. There's so much just anxiousness, just waiting for the jury to come back.

And then, just after noon, day two, the jury sent the judge a note. Please be seated. And everybody was summoned to the courtroom. I am told that you folks are hopelessly deadlocked and that even if given more time, you couldn't reasonably expect to reach a decision. Is that your understanding of the events? Yes, sir. I'm going to declare a decision. Is that your understanding of the events? Yes, sir. I'm going to declare mistrial. A mistrial. Three weeks of testimony, all for naught. And the state may or may not bring the case again. We're done here. Thank you. I couldn't believe it. It was a complete shock,

I think, for the whole family that he could just leave that courtroom and not have a guilty or a not guilty, and just, like, nothing happened. Like, nothing happened. What was the state to do? Well, in this case, said the prosecutors, the decision was obvious. They offered Joe Campbell a plea deal, and they scheduled a retrial because... It's a dangerous situation, and I'm concerned it'll be repeated and somebody else will be killed. Joe Campbell remained out on bail, with the proviso that he remain at least 10 miles away from his property up on the mountain.

But... Less than three months later, May 2016, Joe Campbell elected not to face a second trial. Instead, he walked into a courtroom and waived his claim that the shooting was legal. How do you plead to the charge of negligent homicide? No contest, Your Honor. A plea of no contest, meaning Campbell neither admitted nor denied the charge that he committed negligent homicide. A reduced charge from the original allegation of intentional homicide, Montana's parlance for first-degree murder. I believe it's in the best interest of myself and my family.

In a case like this, said the prosecutors, you take what you can get. We're focusing on community protection, and we think it's probably the best agreement that we could reach and have a guaranteed resolution of this case. Before the judge pronounced Campbell's sentence, Tim Newman's wife, Jackie, went to the podium. Just because you are callous and have no remorse, I want you to be aware, as Tim's wife, you have affected our lives in a horrendous way. Tim's daughter, Christy, also sent a statement, unable to be present because she just had a baby.

A granddaughter, Tim, never got to see. My dad died a hero. What will you die? It makes me very angry, yeah. Very upset, very sad. Like, who is this guy that can just steal such a beautiful soul from this world? The judge offered Joe a chance to explain or apologize. Is there anything that you would like to say? No, Your Honor. Campbell also declined a chance to explain a dateline.

His lawyer issued a statement which reads, in part, the plea agreement allowed Mr. Campbell, his wife and family, to go forward with the certainty of freedom and the removal of constant stress and anxiety, while still allowing him to maintain his innocence and continue to maintain he acted necessarily in self-defense. For your plea of nolo contendere... The sentence?

It was, of course, part of Joe's deal with the state. Twenty years. But not in any prison. All of it a suspended sentence. And no fines or restitution is imposed. But as the neighbors listened, the judge told Joe he'd have to abide by some very important conditions.

He'd never again be allowed to possess a firearm. And until 2036, if he lives that long, he's banned from the mountain altogether. From the forest, the trails, the home he so jealously guarded. He sold his cabin in 2022. Ironic, isn't it? You care so much about your property that you never get to see it again. Yeah.

Yeah. It's very ironic. You know, before he owned all the big property, he recreated just like all of us. And he walked down those trails across everyone else's property and hunted and enjoyed it, and life was good.

But when he decided he needed to take control is when it all changed. It's like a fable, isn't it? Yes. Aesop could have written it. There you go. Huh. And if Tim Newman were on a cloud up there somewhere, said his daughter Christy, he'd be telling her, well, she knows exactly what he'd say.

I'm sorry. Sorry, darling. Sorry for going up to that gate without someone with me. I'm sorry I'm not there to meet my granddaughter. I'm sorry we can't go on another hike together. Or I love you, you know. Praise the Lord for this country.