Man admits to Huntley homicide that stemmed from alleged elder exploitation

A man admitted Wednesday to a murder in Huntley connected to a wider plot in which a woman is accused of bilking her grandfather out of thousands of dollars.

Dean Webb Frost waived his right to remain silent and pleaded guilty in Yellowstone County District Court to killing 80-year-old Donald Finch in November 2024. At the time, Frost was dating Finch’s granddaughter, Samantha Marie Finch, who is currently facing her own charges of homicide by accountability and elder exploitation.

An investigation on the part of detectives with the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office revealed that Finch allegedly attempted to assume complete control of her grandfather’s finances, then forged documents to make her a beneficiary in the event of his death. Along with his guilty plea, Frost agreed to testify against Samantha Finch, should her case go to trial.

“I killed your f---ing grandfather,” Frost texted Samantha Finch in the wake of murdering Donald Finch. “I helped you forge a notary I’ve done more for you than I’ve ever done for anybody for free.”

In October 2024, according to court documents, Donald Finch moved from Idaho to Huntley to stay on his granddaughter’s property. Almost immediately after the move, Finch allegedly started reaching out other family members, saying that Samantha Finch was mistreating him, forcing him to stay in trailer with no heating and assuming total control over his finances.

Along with making large cash withdrawals from her grandfather’s bank accounts, YCSO detectives pulled documents showing that Samantha Finch allegedly made herself the person to whom the funds would be transferred after he died. In December 2024, according to charging documents, Finch went to one of the banks that held her grandfather’s accounts and requested an affidavit that would allow her to collect all of Donald Finch’s money at the bank.

YCSO detectives also uncovered an allegedly forged will and title signed shortly after Donald Finch’s arrival in Huntley in October 2024. The documentation of the will left Samantha Finch all of her grandfather’s property.

The day before he died, Donald Finch was confronted by Dean Frost at the trailer, court documents said, accusing the older man of blocking Frost and Samantha Finch’s access to the bank accounts. Donald Finch’s family last heard from the 80-year-old on November 9 and were preparing to help him move back to Idaho.

On Nov. 10, 2024, YCSO responded to a call at Samantha Finch’s property in Huntley. Two relatives of Donald Finch had found the man’s body in a trailer where he’d been living. The Montana Medical Examiner Office eventually determined that Finch’s body showed signs of trauma, including strangulation and smothering, court documents said. The examiner ruled his manner of death to be a homicide. Samantha Finch allegedly tried to stop a deputy county coroner from conducting an autopsy, apparently threatening to sue her.

During an initial interview with a YCSO deputy, Frost denied ever speaking with Finch about financial issues. Finch’s granddaughter, who was also at the scene, said she did have access to Finch’s account but never took any money without permission, according to charging documents.

YCSO detectives were granted a warrant to search Frost’s cell phone records. Text exchanges between Frost and Finch’s granddaughter showed their relationship crumbled after the murder.

“I have done everything you asked of me including what I did to your grandfather,” Frost allegedly texted her, “and it’s still not good enough.”

Investigators pulled audio recordings of Finch’s granddaughter responding to Frost, according to charging documents, in which she called him a “snitch” and a “f---ing rat.”

Frost was arrested on June 30, 2025, on a warrant connected to a traffic charge. Two days later, he was charged with murder. He pleaded not guilty July 3 to deliberate homicide and has remained in custody since on a $500,000 bond.

Yellowstone County prosecutors filed criminal charges against Samantha Finch two months later, charging her with elder exploitation, elder abuse and two counts of forgery. Finch was booked into Yellowstone County Detention Facility three days later. After pleading not guilty to the charges, Finch’s bail was also set at $500,000. Earlier this month, her charges were amended to include the charges of deliberate homicide by accountability and tampering with evidence.

Yellowstone County District Judge Jessica Fehr presided over Frost’s change of plea hearing Wednesday, noting that prosecutors are recommending a 75-year prison sentence with 25 years suspended. However, Fehr told Frost, she is not bound to follow the recommendation and could sentence him up to life in prison. Frost’s defense attorneys, meanwhile, will be free to argue for a lesser sentence. The hearing concluded with Fehr asking Frost how he would like to plead to the count of deliberate homicide.

“Guilty,” Frost said.

Montana has one of the highest rates of those ages 65 and older in the country, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, with roughly one in five residents being elderly. Reports of elder abuse to Adult Protective Services in Montana have surged, going from 4,900 victims in 2021 to over 14,000 cases in 2024, according to the state’s Department of Public Health and Human Services. Those reports included physical assaults and financial exploitation. About 20% of cases submitted to APS in 2024 involved financial exploitation.

Rates of elder abuse and exploitation prompted the Montana Department of Justice to create a unit dedicated specifically to responding to such cases across the state. On Tuesday, the Montana attorney general, state auditor and other advocates spent a day in Billings raising awareness about elder financial exploitation.

Frost will be sentenced later this year. Finch has a trial date slated for June 8, 2026.