Investigators followed cellphone data and camera footage from Ed Loder’s rural property to James Lawrence and a hidden body.
POLSON, Mont. — The search for a missing Montana landowner became a homicide investigation after deputies found blood, eyeglasses and spent cartridge casings near his home, then used cellphone records and surveillance video to trace a red pickup to the man who later admitted killing him.
That chain of evidence ended nearly two years later with a 50-year prison sentence for James Phillip Lawrence in the death of Edwin “Ed” Loder, 67. Lake County District Judge Molly Owen also sentenced Lawrence to 10 years for tampering with evidence. The two sentences will run concurrently, making the homicide term the controlling punishment.
The case began Sept. 4, 2024, when Loder was reported missing from his property on Timberlane Road. Lake County Undersheriff Ben Woods went to the area and found signs that the disappearance was not voluntary. Investigators identified blood east of the residence, located at least five 9 mm casings and found a pair of bloody eyeglasses in a nearby ditch. The discoveries prompted a large search involving Lake County search-and-rescue personnel. Teams moved through the area on horseback and on foot while drones surveyed terrain from above. The operation continued until about 11 p.m., but it did not locate Loder. Deputies then shifted toward records and devices that could show where he had been and who might have encountered him.
Data from Loder’s cellphone gave investigators information about the timing and direction of his movements. Deputies paired that material with camera footage collected from local businesses and private properties. The combined records pointed toward the Arlee area and repeatedly showed a red Chevrolet pickup moving through places investigators considered important to the case.
Authorities traced the truck to Lawrence, who lived on Blue Jay Lane in Polson. A Lake County detective obtained a search warrant for Lawrence’s residence, and deputies took him into custody. At the time, investigators were still assembling the physical and digital evidence, but Lawrence’s questioning quickly changed the nature of the case.
Court records said Lawrence waived his Miranda rights and admitted killing Loder. “I’m toast anyways I guess, so, yeah I did it,” he told detectives, according to the records. When investigators asked what he had done with Loder’s body, Lawrence directed them toward the Jocko Canyon area. He later traveled with detectives and showed them the location.
Searchers recovered Loder’s body at about 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 6, 2024, in the Twin Lakes-Jocko Canyon area outside St. Ignatius. Lake County Sheriff Don Bell later said Lawrence’s cooperation helped authorities find the remains. Lawrence told investigators he had used his 9 mm firearm, though he said he was uncertain how many times he fired. The question of why Loder was killed led detectives back to documents inside his home. During a search of the residence, investigators found a will involving the estate of Mary Mendenhall. The document named Loder as the beneficiary of 80 acres beside his property. Court records described the estate as being worth millions of dollars.
The same will left Lawrence and his wife, Debra Lawrence, $5,000 each. Investigators learned that some people believed they were entitled to a larger portion of the estate. Lawrence told detectives that Mendenhall had implied or promised that the couple would receive substantially more, and he blamed Loder for the final distribution.
Lawrence accused Loder of approaching Mendenhall near the end of her life with a lawyer and persuading her to execute a will that favored him. Investigators later learned that an arrangement for Loder to receive the land had existed for two or three years, according to the probable cause account. No verified finding cited in the criminal reporting established that Loder had tricked Mendenhall or improperly obtained the property. The digital reconstruction became especially important at Lawrence’s June 12, 2026, sentencing. Sheriff’s Deputy Brandon Gale presented evidence matching residential and business camera recordings with phone information and sightings of Lawrence’s truck. Owen found that reconstruction convincing when deciding whether the killing reflected advance planning.
Prosecutors said Lawrence had been angry about the will for approximately four years. County Attorney James Lapotka argued that Lawrence went to Loder’s home, hunted him down, killed him and then removed the body to make the crime harder to detect. The disposal of the remains in a canyon area formed the basis of the separate evidence-tampering conviction.
Defense attorney Benjamin Darrow challenged the prosecution’s description of Lawrence’s intent. Darrow said Lawrence went to the property to talk about the inheritance rather than to commit murder. He argued that the two men had a heated conversation and that Lawrence fired in a sudden moment of anger. Lawrence also apologized to Loder’s relatives during the hearing.
Owen rejected the core of that defense argument and concluded the records demonstrated premeditation. Her finding resulted in the maximum sentence available under Lawrence’s plea agreement: 50 years for deliberate homicide, with a concurrent 10-year term for tampering. Owen credited Lawrence with 644 days already served in custody.
The guilty plea represented a reversal from Lawrence’s first court appearance. During his September 2024 arraignment, he pleaded not guilty to deliberate homicide and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence. He remained in the Lake County Jail without bond as the case moved toward trial. He later accepted the plea agreement rather than present the disputed accounts of intent to a jury.
The sentencing hearing also recorded the damage that could not be shown by phone data, camera footage or physical evidence. Greg Loder described his father as a quiet source of help to people in the valley and a central presence in the family. He said about 600 people attended Ed Loder’s celebration of life. Greg Loder said the investigation and prosecution had delayed the family’s ability to grieve. After Lawrence was sentenced, he said relatives could begin moving beyond the legal case while preserving his father’s memory. He said they planned to continue telling stories about Ed Loder and teaching his values to their children.
For investigators, the case had moved from an empty rural property to a body hidden miles away through the accumulation of small but connected findings. Blood and casings established violence, a phone narrowed the timeline, private and commercial cameras identified a vehicle, and the vehicle led to Lawrence. His admission and guidance then allowed authorities to recover Loder and complete the evidentiary trail.
Now, Lawrence faces a term that could keep him imprisoned for the rest of his life. The sentencing concluded the criminal case at the trial-court level, with the court accepting the prosecution’s view that the killing was planned rather than the unanticipated result of an argument.
Author note: Last updated July 15, 2026.