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Missoula double murder defendants head to trial

Posted at 1:31 PM, Feb 20, 2020
and last updated 2020-02-20 15:31:34-05

MISSOULA — The two men charged in connection with a Missoula double homicide are heading to trial soon. Following failed plea deals and denied transfers to youth court, the cases are set to move forward.

Jonathan Whitworth, of Missoula, and Preston Rossbach, of Dixon, both face deliberate homicide charges for the deaths of Jason Flink and Megan McLaughlin.

A third victim, Kaleb Williams, survived the shooting at the Mountain Valley Inn motel in October of 2018.

During a court hearing Wednesday, attorneys discussed potential witnesses and evidence for trial.

During Rossbach's hearing, prosecuting attorney Jordan Kilby said the state plans to call Missoula police detectives as witnesses.

Whitworth appeared Wednesday afternoon after recently requesting a change of venue due to "biased news coverage" of the incident. The change of venue request has not yet been decided.

Whitworth was unable to attend a scheduled court hearing last week due to an inmate altercation, according to court documents.

Rossbach and Whitworth will have separate jury trials in March and April.