SPOKANE — A man who killed the nephew of Montana U.S. Sen. Jon Tester in September 2016 was sentenced Friday to life without the possibility of parole.
John Radavich was found guilty of first-degree aggravated murder on Aug. 28 for the death of Robert Tester. The verdict came after a mistrial in April 2019.
Superior Court Judge Maryann Moreno sentenced Radavich. According to a press release from Spokane County Sheriff’s Corporal Mark Gregory, Moreno said, “The ugliness of it will stay with me a long time. It shook the community."
Robert Tester's 8-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.
Tester has been accused by Radavich of assaulting and raping a 17-year-old girlfriend, according to court documents.
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.
