Posted: Feb 17, 2012 6:04 PM by KTVQ (Billings)
Updated: Feb 17, 2012 6:19 PM
Montana's News Station has received documents from the Richland County Attorney's office detail the investigation into the disappearance of Sidney school teacher Sherry Arnold.
Documents indicate that one of the suspects, Michael Spell, confessed to abducting and killing Arnold. Click here to read full affidavit.
The status of the Arnold investigation has not changed; Sherry Arnold's body has not yet been found.
Arnold's family and law enforcement believe that she was killed shortly after she disappeared during a morning run on Jan. 7, triggering a multi-state search that ultimately resulted in the arrest of Spell and Waters.
Here is a portion of the court document:
On January 11, 20l2, a tipster reported to law enforcement that Angel Cruz (female) said her boyfriend, Michael Spell, was stranded in North Dakota and was attempting to obtain money to get a bus ticket home. Cruz lives with Spell' s parents in Parachute, Colorado. The tipster advised that Spell and another male, Lester Waters, left Parachute on Wednesday, January 4, 2012, to look for work in the oil fields around Williston, North Dakota, near the Montana border. Cruz said that the two were driving a green Ford Explorer.
Cruz advised Spell told her that he and Waters were high on drugs and driving around when they picked up a lady walking along the road, killed her, and then buried her. Spell said he was scared of Waters and had gotten away from him, but was now stranded. Cruz said Spell's father also knew Spell was talking about his involvement in the kidnapping/homicide of a female.
On January 12, 2012, Officer Jonathon Raggenkarnp of the Williston, North Dakota, Police Department identified Michael Spell and Lester Waters in a dark green 1993 Ford Explorer bearing Colorado license plate during a traffic stop after a reported bar fight at a strip club in Williston. Officer Raggenkarnp advised that it looked as if Spell and Waters were living in the car. Due to the oil boom in Williston, there is a housing shortage in the area. Williston Police Detective David Peterson advised that people routinely sleep in the Walmart parking lot.
On January 12, 20l2, FBI Special Agents, Denver Division, made contact with Angel Cruz and she reported Spell advised her he and Waters had abducted a female and killed her. Cruz told FBI Agents that Spell was in Rapid City, South Dakota. Cruz said Spell told her Waters made Spell smoke crack cocaine while driving to North Dakota. Cruz said Spell told her Spell was afraid Waters would kill him. Cruz Said Spell told her Waters made Spell bury the female's body.
During the investigation, video footage taken on Saturday, January 7, 2012, was obtained from the Ranger Lounge at 110 South Central Avenue, Sidney, Montana. The video depicts traffic traveling north and south on Central Avenue approximately three blocks south of Holly Street. The video depicts an older, dark-colored Ford Explorer traveling north on Central Avenue towards Holly Street at 6:34:20 a.m. The video depicts Lonnie Lyttle's truck traveling south on Central Avenue from Holly Street at 6:36:08 a.m.
During the early morning hours of January 13, 2012, FBI Special Agents from the Rapid City Resident Agency FBI located and interviewed Spell. Spell confessed to the investigating agents that he and Waters abducted Sherry Arnold while she was jogging and killed her. Spell expressed his desire to help investigators locate Sherry Arnold' s burial site and body. Spell said he and Waters left Parachute, Colorado, two or three days before Sherry Arnold was abducted. Spell said Waters was smoking crack cocaine during the entire trip. Spell said Waters told him crack cocaine brought "the devil" out in him and he (Waters) was capable of doing anything while using crack cocaine. Spell said Waters began talking about kidnapping and killing a female.
Spell said Waters was driving through a town when they observed a female running along the road. Spell said Waters identified the female as a person to kidnap. Waters drove down the road where the female was jogging and turned around and parked on the side of the road as the female approached. Spell said Waters told him to grab the lady and pull her into the Explorer as she jogged by the vehicle. Spell said the female
was jogging on a trail running along the top of an embankment.
Spell said he got out of the Explorer and grabbed the female and forced her into the vehicle. Spell said the female struggled and ber shoe fell off. Spell said Waters was mad because the shoe was lost. Waters threw Spell's knit hat with tassels into the large ditch as punishment. During the investigation, investigators recovered a knit hat with tassels from the large ditch beside the embankment near where Arnold's shoe was found.
Spell said Waters got into the back seat with the female and "choked her out." Spell said Waters then had Spell drive to a grocery store so Waters could obtain money from Western Union. Spell said he stayed in the Explorer with the female while Waters went inside the store.
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