MISSOULA — Ronald James Duggin has been charged with shooting and killing Jeremiah Marker in Bonner east of Missoula on Friday, November 17, 2023.
Duggin, 44 years old, is charged with one count of deliberate homicide in the shooting death of Marker.
According to court documents, the Missoula County sheriff's deputies responded to 7797 Antelope Drive in the Bonner/West Riverside neighborhood Friday evening for a report of a man shot by a handgun.
Deputies found the victim and his girlfriend in a tent on the property. The victim's girlfriend told deputies that Marker was shot by another man, identified as Duggin, who was inside the property's trailer house.
Marker had a gunshot wound to his abdomen. He later died at a Missoula hospital.
When deputies approached the trailer, a woman came out of the trailer saying that "Ron" shot Jeremiah with a semi-automatic .22 handgun that was in the house. When deputies entered the trailer they observed a semi-automatic handgun and a loaded magazine in plain view in the home.
When interviewing Duggin on the scene, he told the deputies he heard strange rustling noises and thumps from outside near the tent. Duggin said he saw a woman lying on her back in the tent with Marker kneeling over her.
Duggin said he believed the victim was hurting the woman or choking her. He claimed to deputies he told Marker to get off of her and then shot him with the gun. Duggin then went back into the house and told the homeowner to call 911.
Marker's girlfriend told the deputies they had been staying in the tent for the last three days and had returned to the tent about an hour before the incident. The girlfriend told authorities Marker was not attacking her. She also said they were not fighting and she did not know why Duggin shot her boyfriend.
Duggin is expected to make his initial appearance in Missoula Justice Court on Monday afternoon.
He's currently in custody at the Missoula County Detention Center.
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