Texts spoke of suicide before fatal car wreck

KALISPELL, Mont. – Prosecutors presented text messages with references to suicide to a Western Montana jury considering the case of an Evergreen, Mont., teen charged with two counts of deliberate homicide in a traffic crash in March 2009 that killed a pregnant Columbia Falls, Mont., woman and her 13-year-old son.

Prosecutors told jurors Friday in District Court that 17-year-old Justine Winter was suicidal and intentionally crashed her car. The victims were identified as Erin Thompson, 35, and her son, Caden Odell.

The text messages were retrieved from cell phones belonging to Winter and her former boyfriend, Ryan Langford. Winter wrote: “I can’t change what happens in my life but I will do all I can to make a difference, because it’s ending, Ryan. Goodbye. …

“That’s why I’m going to wreck my car. Because I am a terrible person.”