Nicole Guill guilty on all counts

As she had done for most of her three-day trial, Nicole Guill kept her emotions stifled and hidden as the jury read the three guilty verdicts, it wasn’t until the handcuffs were clasped around her wrist that one could see a crack in her stoic-facade, as she tearfully turned around to address her few supporters in the Sanders County Courthouse before being led to jail Friday.

Nicole will join her husband Douglas Guill in the Sanders County Jail. Douglas was convicted of six felonies of sexual offenses against his daughter in March and is scheduled to be sentenced July 1. Nicole was convicted of sexual intercourse without consent, sexual intercourse without consent, by accountability, and though she is unrelated to Douglas’ daughter, Nicole was also charged with incest, by accountability. Nicole is being held without bail as she awaits her sentencing July 15. It took the 12-person jury just about two hours to deliberate and when polled all jurors said they found Nicole guilty.

Nicole, 37, moved in with the Douglas, his wife Candace Guill and his two children at 97 Golden Pond in Heron in 1992. On Wednesday, the victim, whose name has been withheld and was first sexually abused by Douglas as a 6-year-old, testifed that it wasn’t long after Nicole’s arrival that the sexual encounters with her father included Nicole. At first, Nicole would merely watch, said the daughter. Sometimes Douglas would start with Nicole, move on to his daughter, then switch back to Nicole. The victim also testified that when she was 18 or 19, Douglas had Nicole touch the victim’s private parts. The sexual encounters went on until the daughter moved away to Sandpoint, Idaho, in September of 2006, when she was 21.

In closing arguments Friday, Montana Assistant District Attorney Daniel Guzynski of the prosecution, told the jury that Nicole needed to be held accountable for her actions. “The first question is did Nicole participate in these acts against (the victim) and then the second question is, if she did commit these acts, is there an excuse?” Guzynski asked. He was quick to shoot down the defense’s argument that Nicole was also a victim of Douglas. “This week, and only this week, has Nicole aligned herself with these three people.” Guzynski said. “There is absolutely no evidence in this case, other than she benefited from Douglas.”

In the defense’s closing arguments, Noel Larivee, Nicole’s attorney, said that Nicole was an emotionally-starved person and was controlled by Douglas because she needed his affection. “Love can me misused. And that is what we have here today. We have love taken to a place it should have never have gone,” he said.

Larivee said that the victim would tell the jury that Nicole was controlled by Douglas and that Nicole also loved Douglas and would take her own life if he told her to. It was Douglas that was responsible for all the sexual acts between Nicole and the victim, according to Larivee. “They never once touched each other sexually, unless they were being directed by Douglas and I will never stand up in front of you and suggest (the victim) has done something wrong. She has not,” he said. Larivee said Nicole has the same culpability in the abuse as the victim and Candace. “If (the victim) is not at fault for touching Nicole, nor is Nicole at fault for touching (the victim.)” Larivee said. “You’re being asked to convict her for helping Douglas do something to (the victim,) but you can’t condemn Nicole and condone Candace.”

The defense had called Dr. Robert Page to the witness stand earlier in the day to try to establish that Nicole was controlled by Douglas. Page had extensively interviewed Nicole to evaluate her mental health. Page said while interviewing Nicole, he found some traits in her that suggested a pattern of vulnerability. He said Nicole was impressionable, needy and hungry for external validation.

Page said that Nicole would not be somebody who he thought would have any personal desire to sexually abuse someone, but an abnormally high need for external validation can override a person’s concern for a victim. “They would have such a hunger to secure the validation of a outside source….that the victim would takes second place in the decision process,” he said.

Page said a letter Nicole wrote to Douglas while he was in jail, helped establish Nicole’s overriding need for Douglas’ affection. The letter was just one of 411 letters Nicole wrote Douglas since he’s been in jail and was entered as evidence by the prosecution to help prove that Nicole was not fearful of Douglas. “Hi, my wonderful, splendid, exquisite, magnificent, brilliant, bright, glorious, majestic, marvelous, clean, pure, holy, loving, honest, caring….” the letter states. “It’s the most compelling piece of evidence, in my opinion, that indicates a very unnatural, unhealthy, bizarre bond,” Page said.

While Page said the bond between Douglas and Nicole was unnatural and Nicole had personality traits of an emotionally-starved, needy person, he said it did not excuse her from any criminal behavior, especially sexual abuse. “It’s very difficult to come up with any trait or situation other than a gun to one’s head that would excuse such a behavior,” he said. Page said that he also found no evidence that Nicole was incompetent. “The evidence does not suggest she was unable to make a decision,” he said.

Jury selection for Nicole began last Monday and took two full days, as 75 prospective jurors were winnowed down to 12 jurors and two alternates. Testimony began last Wednesday, with 54-year-old Candace, who resides in Sandpoint. Candace went through her entire life with Douglas on the witness stand.

Candace said that although life was difficult, she stayed with Douglas because she loved him and believed in him. And despite the allegations and his recent guilty verdict, Candace testified Wednesday that in some ways, her love continues for him, although she also noted that she still fears him, even though he’s in jail.

She talked of years of being afraid of Douglas. Early in their marriage, after he accepted Jesus Christ, his anger tapered off, but only for a short time. There were times he kicked and beat her, and he verbally abused her on a regular basis.

It wasn’t long after moving to Heron in that Nicole joined the family and Douglas told Candace they loved each other. Nevertheless, he refused to give her a divorce and though Douglas slept with Nicole (who eventually changed her last name to Guill), Candace did not leave. She stated in court that there were times that Douglas made her have sex with Nicole’s brother Rick Christensen. She objected, but said she was too afraid of Douglas to disobey. Candace said she and her children were all victims of Douglas’ anger, but she testified that she never saw the same type of treatment toward Nicole.

Late in Candace’s testimony, the prosecution asked whether or not Candace knew of the sexual encounters between Douglas and their daughter. She said she was unaware of any wrongdoing until after her daughter fled Heron and reported it to authorities.

The victim, now 22, gave a similar portrayal of her father throughout her testimony, but added a chronicle of years of sexual relationships between her and Douglas. She testified that it wasn’t long after Nicole came to live with them that his requests for sex increased and eventually included Nicole. The daughter testified that she usually sat on the couch while Nicole got him “excited.” He would then switch to her, then “finish with Nicole.”

The episodes discontinued for awhile when, at age 13, she asked her father to stop. “He got mad at me and didn’t talk to me for about a month, but then he went right back at it again,” she said. She also testified that during her late teens, her father started having Nicole touch her in her private areas. Sometimes she and Nicole stood in front of Douglas while “he played with himself,” she testified.

“I didn’t want to, but I did it because I was scared to tell him no,” she told the court.

She testified Wednesday that her father said that if she told anyone, he would kill himself and it would be her fault. She said that after she left Heron, one day while her father and Nicole were gone, she lived with Terry and Terri Williams of Sandpoint. Eventually, the young woman was convinced to report to authorities what had happened to her over the years. In October 2006, she reported the incidents to Sanders County Deputy Martin Spring and soon Douglas and Nicole were arrested.

On Thursday, Clifford Phillips, a general contractor who had built custom stairways in the Guills’ house in Heron sometime in 1996-1997, testified that he didn’t finish the job because he felt so uncomfortable there. He told the court that he had known Douglas for a short while, but that until he was at their house, he thought Nicole was Douglas’ wife. However, soon after his arrival Douglas introduced Candace as his wife. He said the two women and the children were very submissive and during dinner “both wives” fed him. “He never touched a fork or a plate,” said Phillips. And once in the gravel driveway at the house, Nicole held her hands under Douglas’ cigarette to catch the ashes, stated Phillips.

The state also called Sanders County Detective Chad Cantrell and Sanders County Deputy Martin Spring to the stand. Spring was the initial responding officer in November 2006. Cantrell, who specializes in domestic abuse cases, became the primary investigation officer in the case. Cantrell testified that Nicole has kept in contact with Douglas throughout his incarceration. He said she has sent 411 letters to him and many times talked with him on the telephone for four hours a day; she also contacted him that very morning.

Witnesses on Thursday also included Mary Pat Hansen and Dr. Karen Mielke, both medical personnel from First Step Resource Center in Missoula, who testified to the condition of the victim. Mielke talked specifically about the injuries to the victim’s vagina and the severe pain she would have encountered during the penetration. Larivee told the court that they weren’t contesting that Douglas was responsible for the injuries.