Montana man takes lesser sentence, avoids jail time in deadly Williams County crash

WILLISTON, N.D. (KUMV) - A Choteau, Montana, man pleaded guilty in northwest district court Monday for his involvement in a crash that killed a man in Williams County.

Donnie Wurz was charged with negligent homicide in 2023 after the semi he was driving struck and killed Randall Moe in 2022. Court documents stated Wurz did not yield and was over his allotted driving hours.

The charge was lowered to aggravated reckless driving, an A misdemeanor, in a plea agreement, which was accepted by District Court Judge Chas Neff, Jr.

Assistant States Attorney Nathan Madden says the decision was because of several unfortunate circumstances including issues with the state medical examiner’s office, the crash reconstruction technician not getting a report done before the road was paved by Williams County, and neither vehicle had any data available.

Kevin Chapman, Wurz’s attorney, called the incident a tragic accident and argued Wurz could not properly defend himself without that evidence being available.

Wurz also spoke, claiming multiple times it was an accident and he didn’t see Moe.

Judge Neff told the parties this may have been a different story had the evidence not been lost and said Wurz was “receiving a gift” with the lesser charge.

As part of the plea deal, Wurz will serve 360 days of probation and pay a $1,300 fine.

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