Bio 

Lester Kills On Top was born in 1962. He was a member of the Northern Cheyenne tribe from Montana. He grew up with a difficult family background. He was moved between different foster homes, both on and off the reservation. Lester was also connected to Cheyenne language and culture. He was given the Cheyenne name Strange Owl by his grandfather and could speak and read Cheyenne.

Murder Story

Shortly after midnight on October 17, 1987, Lester Kills On Top, his brother Vernon Kills On Top, Diane Bull Coming, and Doretta Four Bear entered the Golden West Bar in Miles City, Montana. John Martin Etchemendy, Jr. was also at the bar that night. When Etchemendy later could not find his vehicle, the group offered to help him. He got into their car, a black Dodge Duster. Instead of helping him return safely, the group drove south from Miles City.

During the drive, the group decided to rob him. Lester spoke in Northern Cheyenne and said they should roll him and steal from him. Etchemendy was beaten, choked, and forced to give up his wallet, credit cards, and paychecks. The group forced Etchemendy to remove his clothes and placed him in the trunk of the car. This happened before the car entered the Northern Cheyenne Reservation.

Near Ashland, Montana, the group picked up Lavonne Quiroz. They later stopped in Rabbit Town, where Doretta Four Bear escaped and ran to a friend’s house. The others continued driving with Etchemendy still locked in the trunk. The group used Etchemendy’s credit cards and checks while traveling through Montana and Wyoming. In Broadus, Montana, Lester cashed one of Etchemendy’s paychecks. The group then continued toward Gillette, Wyoming.

During the trip, Etchemendy was repeatedly threatened and beaten. At one stop, Lester held a metal pipe and warned him not to try to escape. Etchemendy was forced to drink alcohol mixed with Everclear, apparently to make him pass out. In Gillette, Wyoming, Etchemendy began pounding from inside the trunk and calling for help. Lester then told Vernon that they would have to kill him. Vernon and Lavonne Quiroz stayed at a bar while Lester and Diane Bull Coming drove away from Gillette with Etchemendy still in the car.

Lester and Bull Coming stopped on a side road outside town. Lester opened the trunk and beat Etchemendy with a metal pipe, a tire iron, a rock, and his boots. Etchemendy was still alive during the attack. After the beating, Lester tried to shoot Etchemendy by placing a .22-caliber shell into a vise grip and striking it with a hammer. Later, after the car developed tire problems, Bull Coming saw Lester trying to cut Etchemendy’s throat with a small knife. Lester later said that Etchemendy was dead.

The group later left Etchemendy’s body at an abandoned community hall about 20 miles south of Gillette, Wyoming. On October 19, 1987, law enforcement found his body. An autopsy showed that he died from impact trauma to the back and left side of his head. Lester was arrested in Billings, Montana, on October 19, 1987. He was later tried in Custer County, Montana, and convicted of robbery, aggravated kidnapping, and deliberate homicide. He received 40 years for robbery and death sentences for aggravated kidnapping and deliberate homicide.

In 1990, the Montana Supreme Court affirmed his convictions and death sentences. In 1995, the same court later reversed part of the postconviction ruling and ordered resentencing because some impeachment evidence related to Diane Bull Coming should have been disclosed. His convictions remained in place, but the case was remanded for resentencing.

Lester Kills On Top’s death sentence was later reduced to life imprisonment. His case remains recorded as a single-victim murder involving robbery, kidnapping, and a prolonged fatal beating that began in Montana and ended near Gillette, Wyoming.