Knowles pleads guilty to murder of Megan Meriwether

Seaborn Larson
Great Falls Tribune
Joseph Knowles was sentenced to 60 years in prison Tuesday for the 2016 murder of Megan Meriweather.

After signing a plea agreement with prosecutors in the eleventh hour on Monday, Joseph Knowles pleaded guilty to the murder of 18-year-old Megan Meriwether in district court on Tuesday. 

Knowles, 17, pleaded guilty to deliberate homicide, a felony. In the deal, prosecutors agree to dismiss a second charge, tampering with physical evidence, while recommending he be sentenced to 60 years in Montana State Prison.

More:More than a victim: remembering Megan Meriwether one year after her death

Missoula County District Judge John Larson, presiding over the case via video, set the sentencing for Dec. 19.

Larson also granted a request by Knowles' attorney that he be able to wear his own clothes at sentencing.

"It may be the last and only time he has a chance to wear his own clothing," said Theresa Diekhans, Knowles' public defender.

Joseph  Knowles consults with public defenders Mark Dunn, left, and Theresa Diekhans  during Knowles change of plea hearing at the Cascade County Courthouse on Tuesday.

The trial had been set for Oct. 27, but the plea deal offered by prosecutors was set to expire at the end of the day on Oct. 2. Diekans said they had discussed his options extensively before coming to the decision after a pre-trial conference hearing on Monday to take the deal, instead of face a possible life sentence at trial.

The plea agreement was signed and filed just minutes before the change of plea hearing Tuesday afternoon. 

More:Coombs guilty of robbery in 18-year-old's death

Knowles has been incarcerated for just over a year. Meriwether was killed on Sept. 23, 2016, after she agreed to meet Knowles and his girlfriend, Brianna Coombs, to sell them marijuana. Knowles, Coombs and a 12-year-old boy with them, however, plotted beforehand to rob Meriwether of the marijuana rather than paying for it. Meriwether responded with a knife, which Knowles turned on Meriwether, fatally stabbing her in the neck in an alley in Great Falls. 

The murder took a heavy toll on the students and staff at Great Falls High School, who said Meriwether was a promising student and encouraging friend. It also deeply affected staff at the Albertsons where Meriwether worked and employees held their own candle light vigil after her death. 

Coombs, 19, pleaded guilty in August to the robbery that led to Meriwether's death. It was Coombs who actually took the marijuana without paying for it and retreated back to Knowles' car, she said at the hearing. Meriwether followed in an attempt to get the drugs back and eventually stabbed Coombs in the leg during the altercation. Charging documents state Knowles stopped the moving vehicle, came around to the passenger's side and took the knife. The 12-year-old said he saw Knowles punching Meriwether with the hand holding the knife, although he didn't see Knowles stab Meriwether. 

Missoula County District Judge John Larson hears Joseph Knowles change of plea on Tuesday, from not guilty to guilty.

Shortly after 11 p.m. on Sept. 23, a woman called 9-1-1 to report several people yelling over a knife. When officers arrived, Knowles, Coombs, the 12-year-old and the knife were gone, but Meriwether was dead with a fatal knife wound in the trunk of her neck. 

In the plea deal signed with Coombs, prosecutors requested she be sentenced to 40 years in Montana State Women's Prison. Another condition of that agreement was that Coombs would have had to testify against Knowles at trial. She had already provided prosecutors with a statement on the incident, Cascade County Attorney Josh Racki said at Coombs' last hearing. 

More:Knowles’ co-defendant reportedly nearing plea deal

At that point in August, Racki said parties were still without any designs for a plea deal with Knowles. Negotiations about the agreement were back and forth in recent weeks before Knowles ultimately decided not to risk the life sentence if he were found guilty at trial. 

In past motions filed by his attorney, Knowles sought to transfer the trial to a different district, for fear that extensive media coverage of the case would not give him an impartial jury at trial. The motion filed in court documents highlight stories published by the Tribune and other local news outlets, as well as the social media comments posted on these stories. People threatened one another with violence and pressed for the death penalty for Knowles well before the 17-year-old had been proven guilty at trial. One man simply wrote in a comment, "a rope and a tree."

Joseph  Knowles consults with public defenders Mark Dunn, left, and Theresa Diekhans  during Knowles change of plea hearing at the Cascade County Courthouse on Tuesday.

While Knowles has been largely silent at court appearances, a bail hearing in May revealed his conduct in jail. The hearing was held at Knowles' request to lower his bond from $100,000, but it also gave juvenile detention staff a chance to air out the reported incidents involving Knowles in his time at the facility. Shanna Bulik-Chism, warden at the juvenile detention facility, testified that Knowles had repeatedly yelled racist remarks and threats at other inmates and staff. In 226 days at the facility, Knowles had generated four incident reports. 

The type of plea agreement allows Judge Larson to override the deal and still give Knowles a life sentence, although attorneys don't expect that to happen. Racki said he tentatively expects the Dec. 19 sentencing date to be pushed back to a further date, which Larson said he would grant if requested to ensure the pre-sentencing report is adequate. 

Coombs' sentencing was set for Oct. 10, was been continued as she undergoes a psychological evaluation, according to court documents.