BOZEMAN, Mont. – A Montana man has been convicted of escaping from a Bozeman pre-release center, kidnapping his former foster mother and holding her hostage while demanding keys and information to help him rob the bar where she worked.
Jurors on Thursday also convicted Charles Rickett, 26, of intimidating Diana Furuholmen, who was duct-taped and blindfolded during an hours-long ordeal on July 9, 2012. She said her captor threatened to set her and her house on fire before she gave him the information. Sentencing is set for April 23.
Although Furuholmen did not see her captor, she said he used a phrase similar to one she would say to all her foster children. Rickett lived with Furuholmen as a foster child for about eight months when he was 16.
Rickett had previously spent five years in the Montana State Prison after being convicted of theft, criminal mischief and conspiracy to commit burglary and theft and accountability for money laundering in Park County. He was released to the Bozeman pre-release center.
A backpack containing Rickett's identification and a library card were found in her home.
Rickett acknowledged he walked away from the pre-release center, but said he drank and smoked marijuana with some other men that night. He said one asked him to rob Furuholmen, which Rickett said he refused.
Rickett said he passed out in the Bozeman home and when he awakened, his backpack was gone.
Defense attorney Steven Scott argued there was no evidence linking Rickett to Furuholmen's house other than the backpack.
Rickett was arrested in Manhattan on the day of the break-in.
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