In the early morning hours of November 2, 2019, 53-year-old Carl Archer Jr. was found dead at the Tiger Town Motel in Ballantine, Montana. Authorities discovered the male victim lying face down with a gunshot wound to his head. The investigation into his death quickly revealed a grim story of a drug-related robbery that had taken a fatal turn.
Investigators determined that the homicide was connected to a plan to steal drugs from Archer. Surveillance footage from the motel showed a man, later identified as 32-year-old James R. Eder, approaching Archer's room with a rifle around 3 a.m. Witnesses reported that Eder entered Archer's room, leading to a confrontation that ended with Archer being fatally shot. Later that same day, Eder was located and arrested in Billings, Montana, where he was charged with deliberate homicide.
Further investigation brought to light the involvement of two other individuals.
Charlie Reimers, 29, was accused of being the getaway driver, having transported Eder to and from the crime scene. He faced a charge of deliberate homicide by accountability. The third person implicated in the crime was 31-year-old China Rose Dawn Davis. Davis later admitted to investigators that she had orchestrated the robbery with Eder to steal drugs from Archer, who she claimed owed her for a previous favor. She confessed to instructing Eder to bring a gun to facilitate the robbery.
For their roles in the death of Carl Archer, all three individuals faced legal consequences. In September 2021, China Rose Dawn Davis was convicted under Montana's felony murder law. In February 2022, she was sentenced to 85 years in prison. James R. Eder, the man who fired the fatal shot, received a 60-year prison sentence for deliberate homicide. Charlie Reimers, the getaway driver, was sentenced to 15 years with 10 years suspended for his role in the robbery.
