In the southeastern corner of Montana, Fort Smith stands out as a no-stoplight town with a handful of fly shops, a drift-boat littered trailer park, and a premier trout fishery running through the backyard. It was also the scene of a grisly murder that came to light in 1999, when local authorities discovered the strangled body of Kathryn Laird, 28, just downstream of Yellowtail Dam on the Bighorn River.

Last week, former Colorado attorney and flyfishing guide Brian Laird was sentenced to 100 years in prison. Prosecutors said Laird, 48, attacked his wife during an argument at their house near Fort Smith.

The couple met as students in Texas. Brian Laird worked as a guide while practicing law part-time in Billings, and Kathryn Laird held several jobs, including one at a fly shop. Laird has no prior history of violence and could seek parole in 25 years under the sentence handed down by state District Judge Michael Hayworth.

Read More

Tom Bie
+ posts

Tom Bie is the founder, editor, and publisher of The Drake. He started the magazine in 1998 as an annual newsprint publication based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He then moved it to Steamboat, Colorado (1999), Boulder, Colorado (2001), and San Clemente, California (2004), as he took jobs as managing editor at Paddler, Senior Editor at Skiing, and Editor-in-Chief at Powder, respectively. Tom and The Drake are now both based in Denver, Colorado, where The Drake is finally all grows up(Swingers, 1996) to a quarterly magazine.

Category: Daily Drake
Tags: 

Author: Tom Bie

Tom Bie is the founder, editor, and publisher of The Drake. He started the magazine in 1998 as an annual newsprint publication based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He then moved it to Steamboat, Colorado (1999), Boulder, Colorado (2001), and San Clemente, California (2004), as he took jobs as managing editor at Paddler, Senior Editor at Skiing, and Editor-in-Chief at Powder, respectively. Tom and The Drake are now both based in Denver, Colorado, where The Drake is finally all grows up(Swingers, 1996) to a quarterly magazine.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Post comment