NEWS

Great Falls Double-slaying convict dies in prison

Eric Dietrich
edietrich@greatfallstribune.com

A Great Falls man serving a 100-year prison sentence for deliberate homicide died Tuesday evening following an extended illness, prison staff said Wednesday.

James Burt Dieziger, 70, died at 9:25 p.m., according to a release from the state department of corrections. He was sentenced to serve 100 years in 1977 following the killings of Willis W. Jung, 50, and Anthony J. Paduano, 56, in December 1976.

According to an archival Tribune article, Dieziger was sought as a suspect in the two killings after Jung, the bartender at the Shamrock Bar at 2300 10th Ave. S., was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head at the tavern. About $1,000, $4,180 in today's dollars, was reportedly found missing from the establishment's safe and cash register.

The day after Jung was found dead, Paduano's body was reportedly discovered in a field east of Great Falls by two rabbit hunters. He had been reported missing the day before by his wife.

At the time, authorities theorized that Paduano, who picked up aluminum beer cans from bars to sell them to a recycling center, had been abducted while making his rounds near the bar.

Dieziger had been paroled from state prison the June before the killings, after serving 4-1/2 years of a 25-year sentence for robbing a Choteau bar and trying to rob a Havre bar in 1971 after their closing times. He had also been twice sentenced to probation in Great Falls, and spent several months imprisoned following a 1970 arrest for carrying a loaded pistol in a Fort Benton bar.

He was scheduled for discharge from the Montana prison system on April 14, 2103, officials said.

Reach Staff Writer Eric Dietrich at 791-6527 or edietrich@greatfallstribune.com. He can also be followed on Twitter at @GFTrib_EricD.