A Montana man, Del Orrin Crawford, has been sentenced to 100 years in prison for the shooting death of Whisper Dawn Mari Sellars and the attempted murder of her husband, Doug Crosswhite, during a parking lot altercation in 2022. Crawford, of 42, was found guilty in July of charges of deliberate homicide, attempted deliberate homicide, assault with a weapon and tampering with evidence.
He was acquitted of another charge of assault with a firearm. The incident occurred on August 27, 2022 in the parking lot of the Southfork Saloon in Martin City, near Los Glaciares National Park. Crawford had been driving a golf cart to transport guests between a wedding rehearsal and the bar when an argument broke out.
Sellars and another woman confronted Crawford, accusing him of misplacing the keys to the golf cart. Crawford reportedly she pushed Sellars, causing her husband, Doug, to push him back. Prosecutors argued that Crawford fired his gun in anger, killing Sellars and seriously wounding Crosswhite. However, Crawford claimed self-defense, telling investigators: “I argued with these people for some time.
They won’t let me get in the golf cart and leave, and all they can tell me is, ‘If you don’t like what we’re doing, call the police.’ I was on the ground and they were on top of me in a public area. What else do I need to explain? Sellars’s father-in-law, Robert Cruz Blancogave an emotional statement during the sentencing. “Del Crawford gave Whisper a death sentence.
“He also intended to impose that sentence on Doug and, in doing so, imposed a life sentence on his children and our family from a life without Whisper,” he said, as reported by the Flat head beacon. The tragedy has left the family dealing with the loss of Sellars and the lasting impact of Doug Crosswhite’s injuries. TO GoFundMe campaign organized by Robert Crosswhite has raised more than $54,000 to help cover funeral, medical and child support expenses for Sellars’ five children.
Describing the incident on the fundraising page, Crosswhite called it “a senseless verbal dispute in which a cowardly man pushed my daughter-in-law.” He added: “My daughter-in-law died within minutes, on the floor next to my son as he lay struggling to breathe. “The lives of your beautiful family have been changed forever.” Crawford will serve his sentence in the Montana Department of Corrections, ensuring he spends the rest of his life behind bars.