BOZEMAN, Mont. — has pleaded guilty, Gallatin County District Court officials said.
Gallatin County District Court said Chris Foiles pleaded guilty to one count of deliberate homicide, a felony, for the Dec. 14, 2023, killing of Megan Stedman, 34 in the Bozeman Walmart parking lot.
Gallatin County District Court said that Foiles’ plea was entered as part of a written plea agreement between the prosecution and defense. Under the agreement, both sides jointly recommend that Foiles be sentenced to 60 years in the Montana State Prison with no portion suspended. The agreement also includes a 25-year parole restriction, meaning Foiles would not be eligible for parole until serving at least 25 years of his sentence.
His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 25 at 1:30 p.m.
The case began when Idaho Falls Police Department officers were notified of a suspicious RV parked in the 1000 block of Wardell Avenue. When officers approached, they noticed it resembled the vehicle belonging to a .
Stedman had last been seen on Dec. 15, 2023 in the Bozeman area. The Bozeman Police Department had been searching for her since, believing she went missing under suspicious circumstances.
On Jan. 12, 2024, Idaho Falls police knocked on the RV’s door but received no answer. Montana police provided information to obtain a search warrant and detectives began surveillance.
During surveillance, a sergeant and a detective saw Foiles exit the RV. As they approached, he said, “I am Chris Foiles, I killed my girlfriend, she is in the RV.”
Detectives searched the RV and found a woman’s body in the back. The body matched Stedman’s description, with credit cards in her name and a tattoo of a fish skeleton identical to the one shown on her missing person poster.
, read his Miranda rights and signed a waiver. He told police that the body was Stedman and provided a confession detailing her death.
According to the affidavit, Foiles told police that he and Stedman arrived in Idaho Falls around Dec. 22, 2023. .
In his statement, Foiles admitted he “grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed Megan in the neck… [then] he intentionally stabbed Megan in the chest with the intent to kill her.”
Foiles said he left her in the back of the RV but heard her moving and hitting the window. He then admitted to “returning to the back of the RV and stabbed Megan in the upper back several times until she stopped moving.”
Based on his confession and evidence found inside the RV, .
