Quick-draw shooter sentenced

GREAT FALLS – A Fort Benton man who pleaded guilty to shooting another man to death during a quick-draw contest after a night of drinking was sentenced Tuesday to 50 years in prison with five years suspended.

Charles “Cal” Lundy, 44, was accused of shooting 26-year-old J.J. Hankins Wendell near a dump site in September 2007. Wendell’s body was found covered with dirt and cardboard on Lundy’s property, and Lundy told deputies he threw the handgun into a river after the shooting.

Lundy, who led investigators to the body, pleaded guilty to felony mitigated deliberate homicide and felony evidence tampering as part of a deal with prosecutors. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the homicide charge and 10 years for the tampering charge. The terms will be served consecutively.

“It’s obviously a loss to the family,” Chouteau County Attorney Stephen Gannon said. “I don’t think any sentence is going to satisfy the family, understandably.”

Lundy’s then-girlfriend, 24-year-old Kelsey Morris, is charged with felony obstruction in the case and is set to go to trial.