Hot Springs man sent to prison for killing roommate

A Hot Springs man convicted of beating his roommate to death in 2020 is headed to prison.

Earlier this summer a jury convicted Aaron Eugene McLaughlin, 41, of deliberate homicide. He was sentenced Tuesday to 80 years in the Montana State Prison, with no time suspended. Sanders County District Judge John W. Larson handed down the sentencing.

McLaughlin killed his roommate, Raymond Wachlin, on Oct. 7, 2020 by blunt force trauma that caused a massive brain hemorrhage.

McLaughlin called 911 after the assault and said he beat the victim after Wachlin broke through his door. He also reportedly laughed about the incident when describing the scenario to the officer transporting him to the Sanders County Detention Center.

According to court documents, McLaughlin was heard saying “Then I was like, dude don’t come through my door. Don’t do it. Don’t (profanity) do it. I swear I told you I’d kill you if you come through my door and so he comes through the door and I just (profanity) blacked out...then I’m like...ah (profanity). I kicked him all the way down the hall like karate kicks, like (profanity) Bruce Lee (laughter).”

McLaughlin made the 911 call after the alleged assault and said “My roommate broke through my door and I beat the (profanity) out of him and he’s not ... his pulse is real low but ... yeah.”

A neighbor told investigators Wachlin was a soft spoken man who was caring and loving when he wasn’t drinking. She said when he drank, he cried a lot. She believed he suffered from PTSD from his time in the military.

The woman described the relationship between McLaughlin and Wachlin as violent. She said she heard them yelling at each other frequently and on the night before Wachlin’s death.

Montana Department of Justice agent Tommy Teniente spoke to Wachlin’s children, who had traveled to Hot Springs to settle their father’s affairs.

One of Wachlin’s daughters said her father used to have a lot of jewelry but she never saw any of it while going through his possessions.

The daughter also said she saw her father’s wallet, driver’s license and what appeared to be a document giving McLaughlin power of attorney over her father’s affairs. But she also said the signature didn’t appear to be her father’s. The daughter also said she saw a Post-it note in McLaughlin’s room with her dad’s Social Security number, date of birth and what appeared to be a personal identification number.

Attorney General Austin Knudsen thanked the prosecutors who worked on the case following Tuesday’s sentencing.

“We must continue to send the message to criminals that Montana will not tolerate illegal behavior,” Knudsen said.

Montana Department of Justice attorneys Dan Guzynski and Stephanie Robles prosecuted the case at the request of the Sanders County Attorney’s Office. DOJ Division of Criminal Investigation and Hot Springs Police Department investigated the case.