Testimony continues in Wood trial

---UPDATED 5:40 p.m. January 21, 2021---

Wednesday afternoon in 20th District Judicial Court, Thompson Falls Police Chief Chris Nichols testified in the trial of former Thompson Falls resident Danielle Wood. He was the first law enforcement officer on the scene on May 3, 2018, the date Matthew LaFriniere was found dead at his home on Airport Road near Thompson Falls. Nichols arrived at the scene and determined that LaFriniere was deceased. He testified that he notified dispatch that EMS could stand down and that the coroner was needed. He said there was a pool of blood and a cellphone on the ground. Nichols testified that LaFriniere’s body “was a significant distance from the pool of blood and the phone.”

According to Nichols, Sanders County Sheriff Tom Rummel and other law enforcement, including sheriff’s detective Martin Spring, arrived at the scene. Nichols said that he and Spring were looking at the body and discovered a bullet wound. When they mentioned this to the sheriff, who was on the phone with the state Division of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the DCI agent asked the officers to leave the crime scene.

Next to testify Wednesday was Sanders County Sheriff Tom Rummel, who testified that he notified Wood of LaFriniere’s passing. During the testimony, Wood on Wednesday became emotional and reached for a tissue.

Wood, who was living in Polson at the time of her arrest in 2019, is charged with one count of deliberate homicide in the death of Matt LaFriniere. The trial will continue Thursday at the Sanders County Courthouse.

---ORIGINAL ARTICLE---

The Danielle Wood trial continues at the Sanders County Courthouse in Thompson Falls today. Wood is facing a deliberate homicide charge in the death of Matthew LaFriniere, who was found dead at his home near Thompson Falls in May 2018.

The day began with prosecutor Daniel Guzynski calling additional witnesses. Included were Tiffany Broyhill, who was working as the 911 dispatcher at the Sanders County Sheriff’s Office on the evening of May 2, 2018.

Prosecutors played the audio of a 911 call on May 2 in the courtroom Wednesday. Though the words were difficult to hear, the jury members were given a printed transcript of the call. Broyhill testified that she received a call at 7:26 p.m. A female reported a big boom and several people in a truck leaving a driveway and yelling. Broyhill testified the caller said it was west of Thompson Falls near the Belknap Store. She stated the caller said she pulled over on Golf Street in Thompson Falls and made the call. According to Broyhill, “after handling that call, it was my thought that it was someone trying to get law enforcement out of a certain area.”

Also testifying Wednesday morning were Kim Roberts, Theresa Sink and Andy Nelson. Roberts owns Empire Builders in Thompson Falls, where LaFriniere was employed, Sink is an employee and Nelson was an employee at the time of LaFriniere’s murder. Roberts testified that he went to LaFriniere’s residence on Airport Road about 8:30 a.m. on May 3, 2018, after LaFriniere did not show up to work, but did not see him. Sink testified that she found LaFriniere’s body under a pile of wood when she went to his house in the afternoon of May 3. Sink said she then called 911.

Wednesday afternoon continues with testimony from Thompson Falls Police Department's Chris Nichols, who was one of the first law enforcement.

The public can view the trial online via Zoom: https://mt-gov.zoom.us/j/91085634676?pwd=YlArdkdlL0h2dkQ0bnNUOVYvSGJSUT09. Enter the passcode: 606564.