A man charged in federal court with killing a Toppenish-area man by hitting him in the head with a shovel has pleaded guilty.
Antonio Montellano appeared in U.S. District Court in Yakima on Tuesday. He pleaded guilty in a plea agreement to one count of second-degree murder in the Jan. 28 homicide of Ronnie Comenout, 62, at Comenout’s home in the 6000 block of Larue Road.
The case is being tried in federal court because Comenout was a Yakama Nation citizen and was killed within the boundaries of the Yakama Reservation. Montellano was indicted June 10 after fleeing to Mexico, where he was located and detained by Mexican authorities. They returned him to U.S. law enforcement officers at a border entry point on March 26, according to court documents.
Montellano could face life in prison. He and his attorney, Ulvar Klein, agreed with federal prosecutors in recommending a 240-month federal prison sentence. Chief U.S. District Court Judge Stanley A. Bastian set Montellano's sentencing for 11 a.m. Feb. 10.
According to the plea agreement, Montellano and Comenout argued and Montellano picked up a shovel and hit Comenout on the head with it. Comenout fell and Montellano hit him over the head several more times, the plea agreement states. Afterward, Montellano covered Comenout's body with a blanket, searched the house for surveillance cameras, picked up a few items and left.
Comenout's family and friends discovered his body late that day and called police. Forensic pathologist Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds discovered "extensive scalp lacerations and several skull fractures," the plea agreement states.
Among the items missing from Comenout's house was his new cellphone. Investigators called the phone and Montellano answered using a fake name, according to court documents. In another call recorded by federal authorities, Montellano "admitted that he had hit the victim with a shovel and if he was caught, he would do life," the plea agreement states.
Montellano "was not proud of what he had done," the agreement states.
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