The small Montana town of White Sulphur Springs is mourning the loss of a man many residents describe as one of the community’s most beloved figures.
Gene Gudmundson, longtime owner of the Spa Hot Springs Motel, died Sunday after being shot at the business he had run for decades. Authorities have charged 73-year-old Kyle Ann Morrow, also a longtime Meagher County resident, with deliberate homicide in connection with his death.
Gudmundson was remembered by neighbors as the heart of the town, with one friend saying he never met a person who didn’t like him.
A Community in Shock
Gudmundson first visited White Sulphur Springs in the late 1980s. He spent just one night in the town before learning the hot springs and motel were for sale.
He purchased the property and spent years building it into a destination that drew tourists from across the region, running it alongside his wife, Annie.
Local artist Gary Larson, whose studio sits across the street from the motel, said he has known Gudmundson since 2020. Gudmundson commissioned Larson to paint murals at the springs over nearly four years, a partnership that grew into a close friendship.
Larson said the news left him unable to speak for some time, describing Gudmundson as a generous and kind man who helped anchor the town of fewer than 1,000 residents. He said the full impact of the loss likely will not be felt until much later, comparing it to a shock wave still moving through the community.
Despite the tragedy, staff at the Spa Hot Springs Motel say the business will remain open for visitors.
Details Emerge on the Shooting
According to court documents, staff members inside the hotel reported that Morrow walked into an office before gunshots were heard. She later told investigators that she had killed Gudmundson, court records show.
The Meagher County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene Sunday and found Gudmundson dead from a single gunshot wound. Investigators say witness accounts and surveillance video helped identify Morrow as the suspect.
Morrow has been taken into custody and charged with one count of deliberate homicide. Her bond has been set at 1 million dollars, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for August 11 at 2 p.m.
The Meagher County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information about the case to come forward and contact investigators directly.
As the small community processes the loss of a man who helped put White Sulphur Springs on the map for travelers, residents say his kindness and generosity will not be forgotten, even as the town works to understand how such violence touched one of its most familiar faces.
