SPOKANE, wash. — A Spokane County Superior Court jury found John Radavich guilty of first-degree aggravated murder for the Sept. 2016 killing of Robert Tester, the nephew of Montana U.S. Sen. Jon Tester.
CBS Spokane affiliate KREM 2 reportsthe jury came to its decision on Wednesday, and the verdict comes after an mistrial was determined in the case when it was tried in April 2019.
Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Kelly Fitzgerald said she will be seeking life without the possibility of parole for Radavich.
Robert Tester's eight-year-old daughter was at their Spangle house during the September 2016 attack, according to court documents. The documents also state that his daughter woke up to the sound of her father being attacked at 8 p.m., after which she used her father's cell phone to call police and her sister and grandmother. The daughter eventually got in contact with her grandmother at 7 a.m. the next morning.
Robert Tester, the nephew of Sen. Jon Tester (D-Montana), has been accused by Radavich of assaulting and raping a 17-year-old girlfriend, according to court documents.
#BREAKING: Today, John Radavich was found guilty of murdering Montana Senator Jon Tester’s nephew, Robert Tester, in his Spangle home in Sept. 2016. Background on this story: https://t.co/yaWyA92ukp. @KREM2
— Amanda Roley (@KREMAmandaRoley) August 28, 2019
The documents also state that Radavich told a friend on a phone call that he killed Tester with his "knight's sword," and that he dumped the sword and the clothes he had worn on Snoqualmie Pass.
Tester's girlfriend told investigators that Radavich admitted to the killing, but she didn't believe him, according to the documents.
Radavich was eventually arrested at a Spokane Valley apartment. Spokane County Superior Court Judge Maryann Moreno declared a mistrial in April 2019.
