An effort by a Rimini resident to halt the pending sale of accused Capitol shooter Russell Weston Jr.'s Helena area property is unjustified, and his motives, questionable, a lawyer for Weston's parents wrote in documents filed in Helena District Court late last week.

Helena attorney Iris Basta urged for the dismissal of Roger Siewert's request to intervene in a settlement reached recently between Weston's parents, Russell and Arbah Jo, and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Montana allowing the sale of Weston's property for $8,000.

In addition, she asked that Siewert be ordered to pay her clients' legal bills associated with his after-the-fact assault on the settlement.

"In bringing such a frivolous motion, Siewert has wasted the court's resources and time and he has wasted the resources and time of the (Westons) and the very small estate belonging to Rusty," Basta wrote in her response to Siewert's filing.

In October 1998, Weston was charged in a six-count indictment in the District of Columbia with the July 24, 1998 murder of two United States Capitol police officers and the attempted murder of a third.

The former Lewis and Clark County resident was later deemed to be incompetent to stand trial and is being held at a federal correctional institution in North Carolina.

In March 2001, the United State Court for the District of Columbia authorized the federal Bureau of Prisons to treat Weston involuntarily with anti-psychotic medication in an effort to restore his mental health to a point where he may be tried on the criminal charges against him.

In 2003, Weston's parents filed court documents requesting that they be designated as guardians for their son until his mental health improves. This portion of the request remains unresolved, and must be decided before any land sale can proceed.

The negotiated settlement allows the Westons to sell the Rimini property for $8,000. Of that, $4,350 would be placed in an investment account where it should remain until 2020.

Should any restitution be ordered on behalf of Weston's alleged victims prior to that date, the Escrow agent would pay the amount out of the account.

If no restitution is ordered, the settlement delineated that the money should be turned over to a funeral home in Illinois to purchase a burial trust on behalf of Weston. If Weston is already dead, the money would be paid to Weston's heirs.

In Siewert's motion to intervene in the case, Siewert's attorney suggested that the $8,000 sale amount agreed upon by the Westons and Rimini residents, Kirk and Cathy Eakin, wasn't in the best interests of the families of Weston's alleged victims.

Siewert argued that he offered to pay $12,500 for the property, and later, $20,000. He said the acquisition would "clear up several land title and easement issues for him" and allow him to merge Weston's lot into his adjoining piece of property.

Siewert's attorney, John Shontz, argued that his client's offer was more appropriate that that of the Eakins' and "it is the court's responsibility to maximize the recovery to the United States of America in this matter and to maximize the restitution to (the victims' families)."

In last week's filing, the attorney for the Westons questioned Siewert's true motivation for wanting to halt the sale.

Due to concerns of water contamination in the Rimini area, only a limited number of sewer hookups are available -- the Weston property is among those.

In addition, court documents indicate, Siewert has fought an ongoing battle with the Westons regarding an easement across their property.

"It is thus quite reasonable to conclude that the threats to sue for an access easement and the difficulties in obtaining a sewer/water hook-up form the true basis for Siewert's motion in an attempt to coerce the Westons to sell the property to him and does not arise from some altruistic concern for the Capitol policemen and their families," wrote the Westons' attorney.

In addition, Basta argued in her brief that the Westons are under no legal obligation to sell to the highest bidder, but instead chose to sell to the Eakins who were, at times, of assistance to Weston and to his grandmother prior to her death.

"My mother expressed her dying wish to our family that if the property ever had to be sold that we sell it to the Eakins in order to express her gratitude to them for their many acts of kindness to us all and to Rusty and to ensure that the Eakins are left alone, without harassment and lawsuits brought against them," Russell Weston Sr. wrote in an affidavit attached to last week's filing.

No court date has been set for the case.