Landgraf pleads guilty to vehicular homicide

A Havre woman has pleaded guilty in state District Court in Havre to a homicide charge stemming from a head-on crash east of Havre in January.

Jolee Lyn Landgraf, born in 1992, pleaded guilty under a plea agreement to a felony count of vehicular homicide while under the influence stemming from the crash that killed Loretta Park of Havre, 73.

Judge Olivia Rieger of Dawson County, who is presiding over the case, set sentencing for Nov. 22.

The plea agreement does not say what sentence the prosecution will recommend. Under Montana Code Annotated, the maximum sentence for the offense is up to 30 years in prison or a fine of no more than $50,000 or both.

Under the plea agreement, the Hill County attorney amended the charge, originally of a felony count of deliberate homicide, to the charge of vehicular homicide while under the influence.

A charging document said Montana Highway Patrol was notified of the crash at about 12:22 p.m. Jan. 28.

The trooper investigating found that it appeared the silver Dodge Dakota driven by Landgraf was westbound toward Chinook on U.S. Highway 2 heading up Pork Chop Hill while a black Honda Accord driven by Park was eastbound.

The trooper arrived at 12:29 p.m. and observed the Accord with extensive front-end damage sitting on the westbound shoulder. Park was in the vehicle, dead on the scene. The vehicle had been pushed back 38 feet.

The Dakota, east of the Accord lying on its side, had sustained severe damage to the left front side and the windshield was missing. It had rolled multiple times and came to rest 141 feet from the initial impact.

Landgraf, was ejected from the Accord and was lying in the westbound lane, the document said.

A witness said Landgraf had pulled the Dakota into the oncoming traffic lane to pass a semi and had crashed into the Accord, the document said.

A trooper intertviewed Landgraf and she told him twice she had purposely swerved into oncoming traffic, the document said.

Officers interviewed her common-law husband and he said he and Landgraf had been arguing the night before and it extended into Jan. 18 and she storming out of their home, the document said.

The document said toxicology reports showed Landgraf had drugs in her system, including amphetamine, methamphetamine, lidocaine and THC.