In the small community of Marion, Montana, a long-standing dispute between neighbors culminated in the tragic death of 60-year-old Harold Gordon in January 2014. The events that unfolded just after midnight on January 12th of that year were the violent end to a troubled relationship between Gordon and his neighbor, Mark Ames.
Gordon was the owner of a duplex and leased one of the units to Ames's wife. Despite a restraining order that Gordon had secured against him, Ames continued to live next door, and the animosity between the two men festered. In the early hours of that Sunday morning, the conflict escalated dramatically when Ames fired several rounds from an AK-47 into Gordon's apartment.
Alerted by the gunfire, Harold Gordon armed himself with a shotgun and prepared to confront his neighbor outside. As he stepped out, however, he was fatally shot by Ames, who had used a. 32-caliber semi-automatic pistol.
The altercation, which reportedly began with a heated argument between Gordon and Ames's wife on the porch, ended with Gordon's death.
Mark Ames was subsequently arrested and faced legal proceedings for the death of his neighbor. In a turn of events, Ames entered an Alford plea to a charge that was amended from deliberate homicide to mitigated deliberate homicide. By entering this type of plea, Ames did not admit guilt but acknowledged that the prosecution had enough evidence to likely secure a conviction. Despite a last-minute attempt to withdraw his plea, a judge sentenced Ames to 40 years in Montana State Prison, with 20 years suspended. At his sentencing, Ames described the death of Harold Gordon as "a tragedy" but stopped short of an apology, claiming the situation was a "set-up" that warranted more investigation.
