During a Missoula District Court hearing, Debbie Ann Roberson, 40, pleaded guilty to one count of solicitation of mitigated deliberate homicide and another of tampering with evidence. Roberson, who's been incarcerated in the Missoula County Detention Facility since September 2005, was slated to stand trial next month.
Roberson previously pleaded not guilty to solicitation of deliberate homicide, but County Attorney Fred Van Valkenburg agreed to amend the charge in exchange for her guilty plea.
Roberson's attorney, William Boggs, said his client is the victim of a -year-long nightmare marriage” to Will Roberson, and had begun to fear for her life, as well as for her family's safety.
“This is a battered spouse situation of the highest degree,” Boggs said. “You know those wooden silhouettes they keep at the courthouse to represent victims of domestic violence? Debbie didn't want to become one of those.”
According to court records, Jared Hoehne, who was 16 at the time, turned himself over to authorities in September 2005 after he began suffering from nightmares. Hoehne told sheriff's deputies he shot and killed Will Roberson on July 5 of that year, at the behest of Debbie Roberson, and that together they wrapped the dead man in a carpet, took him to a primitive campsite on Evaro Hill and burned the body.
The next day, Debbie Roberson returned to Evaro Hill and collected her husband's remains from a fire ring, then stored them in a pickle jar beneath her trailer home.
In a written statement documenting her change of plea, Roberson wrote that she had acted out of desperation, and that having her husband killed was her only option at the time.
“Acting under the influence of extreme mental or emotional stress for which there is a reasonable explanation or excuse, i.e. chronic spousal abuse, I encouraged Jared Hoehne to kill my husband Will Roberson, with the purpose that he do so. At the time, I could see no other way to protect myself and my family.”
The case file also includes a note from Will Roberson's first wife detailing the abuse she endured throughout their five-year marriage.
According to a plea agreement worked out between attorneys, Debbie Roberson will be sentenced to a term of 40 years in the Montana State Prison with 25 years suspended. She faced a maximum penalty of 50 years in prison.
A lengthy sentencing hearing has been scheduled for Feb. 1, at which time District Judge John Larson can either accept or deny the plea bargain. However, if Larson does not accept the sentencing agreement, Roberson may withdraw her guilty plea.
Boggs said he intends to address the extent of Will Roberson's abuse during the hearing.
“This family was in an extremely desperate situation,” Boggs said.
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