[chris]

Christopher Brandon Foiles was sentenced on November 25, 2025, to 60 years in Montana State Prison after pleading guilty to deliberate homicide in the killing of Megan Ashley Stedman in Bozeman, Montana.

Stedman, 34, of Spokane, Washington, was a mother of two who had been living in an RV with Foiles, her boyfriend. Reporting described them as estranged at the time of her death, with a no-contact order in place against him. Foiles was 42 when charged and 44 at sentencing.

Security video showed Stedman and Foiles entering a Walmart in Bozeman on December 14, 2023. Foiles later admitted that he stabbed her in the neck and chest with a kitchen knife inside the RV parked in the Walmart lot, intending to kill her, then stabbed her in the upper back after she moved. Prosecutors said Stedman's dog, Cali, was also killed.

Video showed Foiles alone in the store on December 15 and 16, buying items including cleaning supplies, bleach, duct tape and a hacksaw. Stedman was reported missing. Foiles remained with the RV and her body for about a month.

Bozeman police asked the public for help finding Stedman and her motorhome in early January 2024. Idaho Falls police located the RV on January 12, 2024. Foiles came out and said, in substance, that he was Chris Foiles, that he had killed his girlfriend, and that she was in the RV. Officers found Stedman's body inside.

Idaho Falls police interviewed Foiles that day after taking him in. He discussed his mental health history and later described the weapon as a large kitchen knife with a rainbow handle. He initially said the killing happened in Idaho Falls. A recorded jail call on February 8, 2024, in which he admitted the killing, and video evidence established that it occurred in Bozeman, sending the case to Gallatin County, Montana.

A Bonneville County grand jury had indicted Foiles on first-degree murder with a deadly weapon enhancement and destroying evidence, and the prosecutor had filed notice of intent to seek the death penalty. The Idaho murder charge was to be dismissed and refiled in Montana. In Gallatin County, Foiles was charged with deliberate homicide and related counts, including aggravated animal cruelty, identity theft, tampering with evidence, violating a no-contact order and obstructing a peace officer.

Under a plea agreement, Foiles pleaded guilty on October 9, 2025, to one count of deliberate homicide. The remaining counts, including animal cruelty, were reported dismissed. The agreement, as reported at the plea hearing, jointly recommended 60 years with a 25-year parole restriction. District Judge Rienne H. McElyea imposed the 60-year sentence, which sentencing reports described as carrying no parole eligibility. Foiles told the court that Stedman did not deserve what he did to her.

The video is a police interview-room recording running about 57 minutes. It presents the interview itself and begins with a short narrated introduction naming the people involved.