SIDNEY, Mont. – While announcing the sentencing of Lester Waters Jr. just before noon on Monday, District Judge Richard A. Simonton said that while the sentence is lengthy, he was not sure whether justice has been served.
“Mr. Waters, you are losing your freedom. Sherry Arnold lost her life,” Simonton said. Based on the plea agreement, Simonton sentenced Waters, one of the two men who pleaded guilty in the homicide of Sherry Arnold, to 100 years in the Montana State Prison with 20 years suspended. Waters, 50, will be eligible for parole in 20 years after pleading guilty to the amended count of accountability to deliberate homicide.
The judge noted eastern Montana and western North Dakota were greatly affected by the kidnapping and murder of the Sidney teacher on Jan. 7, 2012. He said the only way he was open to accepting the binding plea agreement was that attorneys instructed him that Arnold’s family was agreeable.
“The victims aren’t limited to Sherry’s family. They include friends and residents of eastern Montana and western North Dakota,” Simonton said.
Arnold’s body was found near Williston, N.D., about an hour northeast of Sidney, after she disappeared during a morning jog.
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The judge did consider Waters’ role in finding Arnold’s body and that he appears to have remorse.
Although Simonton said he doesn’t believe Waters did the actual murder, “He set into motion those events that led to her death.”
Before he was sentenced, Waters turned to family members and friends of Sherry Arnold and emotionally said, “I am sorry.”
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Waters and Michael Spell had driven from Colorado to look for work amid the Bakken oil boom.
In August 2013, Waters testified that he let Spell out of the vehicle the morning of Jan. 7, 2012, so Spell could approach Arnold about having sex. Waters’ testimony was that he then drove to a church parking lot for a hit of cocaine. Waters said when he went back to find Spell and the woman, he saw Spell dragging her from an irrigation ditch and she was dead.
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Simonton said Monday that Spell told an inmate a similar story of the events.
Spell pleaded guilty in October to deliberate homicide and is awaiting sentencing.
Simonton also ordered Waters to pay $21,448 in restitution to Gary Arnold, Sherry’s husband. Waters’ vehicle will be sold with funds going toward the restitution.
According to pre-sentencing information, Simonton said Waters is about $84,000 in debt due to back child support. Waters has seven children with five women.
Waters’ background includes growing up with an alcoholic father, who fired shots at him on one occasion, and seven felonies.
“I recognize where Mr. Waters was brought up, but he also had four sisters, none of whom have any criminal history,” Simonton noted.
