BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) - Prosecutors in Montana dropped witness tampering charges against a man who was convicted of killing his estranged wife.
A Gallatin County district judge dismissed a felony charge of tampering with witnesses against Joseph Paul DeWise Thursday, The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports.
Prosecutor Eric Kitzmiller also requested the dismissal of a charge of felony assault on a peace officer in a separate case against DeWise.
DeWise pleaded not guilty to the assault and tampering charges.
DeWise was sentenced earlier this month to 220 years in the Montana State Prison for killing Lauren Walder DeWise and shooting and injuring her roommate, Ashley Van Hemert, in January 2018.
Authorities pursuing the witness tampering case accused DeWise of calling his daughter from the Gallatin County jail about a month after the shooting and telling her his son may have shot the women.
DeWise’s 17-year-old son testified that he and his father donned knit face masks and rubber gloves before his father kicked open the door of the house in Belgrade where his stepmother was living.
His father shot Van Hemert in one room and Lauren DeWise in another with a .22 caliber pistol, Joe DeWise testified.
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