Conrad man charged with homicide in connection with missing woman, search underway

William Glenn Olson of Conrad was charged with willful homicide and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence in connection with the disappearance of Alicia Woods.

Olson was charged Dec. 11 in Pondera County.

Law enforcement believes Woods’ remains are at the High Plains landfill in Cascade County, but have yet to be discovered after a week of searching.

Woods’ neighbor called the Conrad Police Department on Nov. 30 for a welfare check after not seeing or hearing from her for several days, reporting that she had seen the 46-year-old man for last time on November 25 or 26.

The neighbor told police that Woods did not respond to calls or texts and observed oddities in her South Delaware Street home.

Law enforcement officers went to Woods’ home and found that his vehicle was not parked in its usual spot out front. They knocked on the doors and windows, with no response.

Investigators search landfill for possible remains of missing person

Officers observed through the windows that the interior of the residence appeared to be out of order.

Woods’ ex-husband called law enforcement that evening after the neighbor told him she couldn’t reach her and was worried. Their son told police he had his last contact with Woods on November 22.

A friend of their son’s told police he saw Woods buying beer at the Contrad Town Pump and that he appeared “beaten up,” according to court documents.

Officers returned to Woods’ home and forced entry into the residence, finding no sign of her. They noted that his animals were out of food and water and that there was a red-colored circular pattern on the ground, but could not immediately determine whether it was paint or blood.

The Conrad Police Department listed Woods as a missing person that night.

Conrad police were then notified that the Montana Highway Patrol found Woods’ vehicle outside of Conrad and towed it to an impound lot in Shelby. No occupants were found in or around the vehicle, according to court documents.

On Dec. 1, Woods’ ex-husband told police his vehicle was crashed by a stranger outside Conrad and he left it there, fleeing on foot. Court documents do not specify how he obtained this information, but officers went to the impound lot and checked to make sure Woods was not in the vehicle.

On Dec. 1, Woods’ son used Apple’s phone finder app and data showed it had been active 47 minutes earlier on North Main Street in Conrad.

Officers went to that address but were unable to contact the owner. Officers later returned to the address and spoke to a woman who found the phone, identified as Woods’, sitting next to the mailbox. The owner of the home arrived but refused to speak to police, according to court documents.

The woman told officers that William Olson was the person who wrecked Woods’ vehicle and that she had just seen him at another residence, where officers went to question the resident, according to court documents.

The resident told police that Olson was at his home the day before to pick up his guitar and seemed happy, according to court documents.

On December 2, officers attempted to locate Olson’s sister, who worked at the IGA in Conrad, but she was not there and gave officers her phone number and said Olson would likely be with her, but she didn’t answer the phone. according to court documents.

Officers then made contact with a man who lived in Brady and said Olson showed up at his home, saying he ran away from Conrad and took Olson to the house where his guitar was located , according to court documents. The man had also driven Olson to his residence at Fort Shaw.

During the ride, Olson told the man he owed Woods a new vehicle because he crashed it. The man asked what happened and Olson said Woods wouldn’t let him leave his Conrad residence, so he took her car after she fell asleep, the man told investigators.

Court documents do not detail how Olson knew Woods or why he was at her home in Conrad.

Officers checked Woods’ vehicle at the impound lot and noted blood spatter on the passenger and driver’s sides, both inside and out, including “hand prints that gave the “I felt like someone had touched the car’s locking mechanism,” according to court documents. Officers also found a fired .22 caliber cartridge on the floor of the vehicle.

On Dec. 2, officers went to the location where Woods’ vehicle was found and searched the immediate area, but found no evidence of her whereabouts.

On Dec. 2, officers contacted Olson by phone and he said he last saw Woods on Nov. 10 and did not know where she was now.

Olson told officers he did not want to answer any further questions without speaking to an attorney and that he would call officers back the next day, according to court documents.

On Dec. 3, Conrad police contacted the Montana Department of Justice’s Criminal Investigation Division for assistance and three officers agreed to help.

On December 3, DCI Agent Derek Mahlum, a former officer with the Great Falls Police Department, contacted Conrad police for more information about Olson, learning that he had previously been the subject of several outstanding arrests and warrants, including a felony warrant for violating a partner’s conditions of release. or a charge of assault against a family member.

On December 3, a Cascade County deputy went to a residence in Fort Shaw after learning that was where Olson was located, arrested him on outstanding arrest warrants and was transported to the Pondera County Sheriff’s Office where he was questioned.

During the interview, Olson admitted to strangling Woods days before crashing his vehicle, according to court documents.

Olson told investigators that he and Woods were arguing at her home in Conrad and he choked her in a headlock.

Olson said that after killing her, he took a hard-shell suitcase out of his closet and put her body in the suitcase, which he then put in the trunk of his vehicle, according to court documents.

Olson told investigators he then drove to the west side of Great Falls, near West Elementary, and put the suitcase containing Woods’ body in a dumpster in the 900 block of 6th Alley northwest, then returned to Conrad and placed Woods’ phone in front of it. the residence where officers found him then returned to his home in Fort Shaw, according to court documents.

After the interview, officers transported Olson to Great Falls where he showed them where he had disposed of Woods’ body, according to court documents.

Investigators contacted the City of Great Falls Sanitation Division, which was able to determine when the contents of that dumpster were collected and dumped at the landfill on Nov. 28, according to court documents, leading the law enforcement to begin ongoing searches in the landfill.

The landfill is owned by Republic Services and the company told law enforcement that the search would be difficult because of the amount of waste dumped in the landfill since Olson’s body was left in the dumpster, documents show judicial.