Law
Man to plead guilty to murders of two Indian women


A 25-year-old man from the Crow Reservation in Montana is expected to plead guilty to the murders of two Crow women.

Eugene Raymond Rising Sun is pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the cases for the November 2003 deaths of LaFonda Big Leggins and Koren Nola Diebert. The plea allows him to avoid a mandatory life sentence.

Rising Sun and his brothers had long been suspects in the murders of the two women, whose bodies were found on the reservation on Thanksgiving Day in 2003. The Crow Tribe criticized the U.S. Attorney's Office for not solving the case faster.

Moses Rising Sun, 21, pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact. Murder charges against him are being dismissed because he cooperated with federal prosecutors.

Get the Story:
Crow Agency man to admit to 2 murders (The Billings Gazette 7/18)

Relevant Documents:
Crow Tribe Letter | U.S. Attorney's Response

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Not guilty plea for murders of Crow Reservation women (02/02)
Guilty plea in murders of Crow Reservation women (01/17)
Editorial: Justice lacking in Crow murder case (12/02)
Series: Waiting for justice on Crow Reservation (11/29)
Crow Tribe blames unsolved murders on racism (11/23)
Charges pending for murders on Crow Reservation (06/25)
Juvenile held for Crow Reservation murders (12/11)
Arrests in Crow Reservation double murder (12/10)
Two women beaten to death on Crow Reservation (12/01)