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 A U.S. District Court jury in Spokane found James Terry Henrikson
guilty in February of 11 felony counts, including murder-for-hire,
conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, solicitation to commit
murder-for-hire and a drug offense.
The conviction, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison,
stems from the slayings of two associates of Henrikson - Douglas
Carlile, who was shot in Spokane in December 2013, and Kristopher
Clarke, who was bludgeoned to death in February 2012. Clarke's body
has never been found.
Prosecutors cast Henrikson in court documents and at his trial as a
vindictive, ruthless businessman determined to eliminate anyone he
viewed as an impediment to his various enterprises in western North
Dakota's petroleum fields.
 The case has come to symbolize the darker side of an energy boom
that saw a rapid expansion of drilling rigs, trucking and work camps
all tied to a resurgence in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, of
the region's vast Bakken oil shale reserves.
Carlile was described by prosecutors as an investor who owed
Henrikson money and refused to give up his stake in an oil lease
that was of interest to Henrikson.
Clarke was an employee of Henrikson's North Dakota-based trucking
company whom Henrikson regarded as disloyal. He believed Clarke was
planning either to join a competing trucking firm or start one of
his own, prosecutors said.
Five other men have been convicted in the murder-for-hire schemes.
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Timothy Suckow, who was paid $20,000 by Henrikson and pleaded guilty
to carrying out both killings, was sentenced last week to 30 years
in prison. Two other co-defendants, Lazaro Pesina and Robby Joe
Wahrer, received prison terms of 12 years and 10 years,
respectively.
Another, Robert Andrew Delao, who pleaded guilty to helping arrange
Carlile's killing by acting as a middleman between Henrikson and
Suckow, faces sentencing in August. The final co-defendant, Todd
David Bates, is slated for sentencing in June.
(Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles;
Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Dan Grebler)
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