Other witnesses have placed Grizzly cornerback Qwenton J. Freeman, 22, at the scene of the shooting, said Sgt. Steve Rubino of the Los Angeles County sheriff's homicide bureau.
Rubino and other investigators traveled to Missoula this week to question UM football players about the June 2 homicide of Kevin Smoot, 29, of Lancaster, Calif.
James Leon “Jimmy” Wilson, 20, was scheduled for arraignment on Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, but the hearing was continued until July 9. Wilson remains in custody on a $2 million bail amount.
Rubino said investigators flew from Los Angeles to Missoula this week to follow up on several leads they received from witnesses in California - and to interview players on UM's football team.
“Basically, we were just looking for cooperation from the players, especially if someone witnessed the incident,” he said. “It just appeared that the players didn't really want to comment too much.
“It left a bad taste in our mouth that the players wouldn't cooperate with us. If it was on the other foot and their teammate got killed, they would be really forthcoming,” said Rubino, who returned to Los Angeles on Wednesday night. “Someone got murdered here and we're just looking for some cooperation. If it was one of their players, my phone would be ringing off the hook.”
Freeman is originally from Pasadena, Calif., though his mother lives in Lancaster, where the alleged murder took place. He transferred to UM from the University of Arizona last year and was listed on UM's 2006 roster as a cornerback. He was due to play as a senior, alongside Wilson, this fall.
The Missoulian was unable to locate Freeman for a comment on the murder investigation. UM football coach Bobby Hauck and athletic director Jim O'Day did not return repeated phone calls from the newspaper Thursday. Hauck has declined all requests for interviews since the allegations against Wilson surfaced, directing media inquiries to UM executive vice president Jim Foley.
Foley said he would not comment on Freeman's status on the football team, or about UM football players' unwillingness to cooperate with the Los Angeles homicide investigators. Nor would he discuss the standards of conduct to which UM holds its student-athletes.
“Officially, we're not going to comment on an ongoing criminal matter that's in the California criminal courts. Period,” Foley said.
Grizzly football players are also on orders not to talk to the media. Last Friday, the university issued a brief written statement expressing sympathy and shock over the allegations.
While Jimmy Wilson came to the University of Montana out of high school, Qwenton Freeman first attended Pasadena City College in California, then signed to play football for the University of Washington.
After failing to meet academic requirements there, he transferred to the University of Arizona, where he practiced with the football team in the fall of 2005, but was never listed on the roster.
“He was one of those kids who didn't quite get it done,” said University of Arizona sports information director Tom Duddleston. “It just didn't work out.”
In April 2006, Freeman was arrested for assault and criminal trespassing, both misdemeanors, by the University of Arizona Police Department.
Although details on the offenses were not available late Thursday, Freeman was convicted on the assault charge in Pima County Consolidated Justice Courts and was subsequently sentenced to a diversion program under the University of Arizona's supervision.
A diversion program is similar to community service. There was never any disposition in the trespassing case, according to records.
Because he did not complete the required community service, Freeman has two active warrants for his arrest out of Pima County, Ariz.
He signed with the University of Montana football team late last summer, and played cornerback during the 2006 season. He is slated to play the same position this fall.
On Thursday, Rubino said the Los Angeles County homicide bureau is continuing its investigation into Smoot's death, but did not know for certain how investigators will address Freeman's refusal to cooperate.
“It could happen where he's taken into custody. Or he could become a witness. Or it could turn out another way. We might come back to Missoula down the line. But he was uncooperative,” Rubino said.
According to records filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Wilson was involved in an altercation between Smoot and Smoot's girlfriend, who is Wilson's aunt. Wilson allegedly went to Smoot's home on June 2 and shot him with a rifle.
“The aunt and victim were having a domestic dispute, and she ended up making a phone call to Jimmy,” Rubino said of the allegations. “He apparently came over to be a so-called ‘peacekeeper' and showed up with a rifle.”
After the shooting, which occurred on the driveway at Smoot's house, Rubino said, Wilson allegedly fled the scene and headed back to Missoula for summer football conditioning.
Authorities are still searching for the gun, which Rubino initially suspected might be in Missoula. Investigators were also following up on other “items of concern” in town, though Rubino wouldn't elaborate.
Since reports of the alleged offense were made public, UM officials have repeatedly refused to answer any questions about Wilson, his tenure at the university or complaints Missoula residents said they took to athletic officials in recent years.
Those residents contacted the Missoulian in the wake of Wilson's arrest, but asked to remain anonymous in news stories, for fear of retribution.
Among the complainants is a Missoula man who says Wilson threatened him with a gun during an altercation in October 2005, and a Missoula woman who says her son was assaulted downtown in April 2006 by a group of men that included Wilson.
No charges were filed at the request of the victim, who feared reprisals. The incident was reported to UM officials, who refuse to discuss how they addressed the complaint.
The man allegedly threatened by Wilson said he reported the incident to police and to UM football coach Bobby Hauck, but was told nothing could be done.
In that incident, Wilson allegedly chased the man onto the freeway after an altercation, then stood outside the car and threatened him. The man said Wilson lifted his T-shirt to reveal a pistol tucked into his pants.
Again, no charges were filed. Wilson has never faced any criminal charges in Missoula County.
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