POLSON — The man charged with killing one person and shooting two others in Ferndale last December was sentenced to prison Wednesday morning in Lake County District Court.
Matthew Vitek of Bigfork who shot and killed 56-year-old Tammi Jordan was sentenced to 100 years in the Montana State Prison on a deliberate homicide charge.
“Matt took that away from all of us, everyone loved her,” said Tammi Jordan's best friend Heather Kislewski.
Matthew Vitek sat in a crowded courtroom in Polson Wednesday morning, as Tammi Jordan’s family and friends gave testimony about the pain and suffering, they have endured since that fateful December night.
Tammi’s older brother, Jeffery Lacivita, spoke to Vitek directly.
“I had to look Matt in the eye and let him know what he did to our family, it’s not just, he just killed Tammi, he ruined everybody in our family’s life, so you know it just keeps going it just didn’t hurt one person, so I wanted to let him know how all of us felt,” said Lacivita.
Family and friends came to Polson from Colorado, California, and even Georgia to be in the courtroom to honor Tammi.
“I want people to know, Tammi had a grooming shop in Bigfork, her clients loved her, the people around her loved her, her family, her friends,” said Lacivita.
“Everybody loved Tammi, she was a dog groomer, and she had so many customers, everyone who met her loved her, she was a hard person to get in with, but she liked everybody, she just had no bad words for anybody,” added Kislewski.
Kislewski and her husband were both shot by Vitek on that December night as they tried to save Tammi’s life.
Along with deliberate homicide, Vitek was sentenced on two counts of attempted deliberate homicide, each a 100-year sentence.
Heather and Tammi were best friends.
“I tried to protect her, I hit him with a 2 by 4 and it got him down but he got right back up and shot me and then he shot her and I couldn’t do anything at that point, you got a bullet through your chest you just can hardly move, and she had one through her and we just did what we could and it wasn’t enough,” said Kislewski.
Tammi’s son Marc said his mom will never get to meet her first grandchild born in January.
“That’s another thing that’s just absolutely horrible because we know how much my mom wanted to see her first grand babies, especially from my sister, so it’s really hard for her especially being out there, but it’s something where you know we’re going to tell great stories to her baby and all of my kids when we have them in the future,” said Jordan.
Tammi’s family and friends are holding a celebration of life that is open to the public from noon to 5 p.m. on Thursday, September 19, at the A Bar in Bigfork at 11032 MT-83.
They hope everyone touched by Tammi’s life will stop in.
“And I hope that they will come and just share their memories of Tammi and how much they loved her and what a wonderful person she was because I don’t think anyone will not say that,” said Kislewski.
“So if you want to come to the A Bar, please come and celebrate Tammi’s life with us and I hope to see you all there,” added Lacivita.
