A jury found Vincent Lovelace Lowe guilty of the 2013 murder of Albert Lee last week.

The murder trial got off to a rocky start last week. Unsatisfied with his court-appointed attorney, Lowe interrupted Tuesday’s proceedings to say he would represent himself.

The interruption came during District Attorney Charlotte Tesmer’s questioning of Lowe’s former roommate, an alleged witness of the 2013 shooting death of Lee.

“I’ll take over from here,” Lowe said, standing up.

Lowe’s family members also reacted to the testimony. His mother and sister had to be removed from the courtroom and were charged with contempt of court, after failing to heed the judge’s warnings to remain quiet.

After a short recess, Lowe performed the cross examination of his former roommate and attempted to establish that both men feared Lee.

A second witness for the prosecution said she saw a man stand over Lee’s body and shoot him in the head.

“He walked up to him and shot him three times,” she said.

During the testimony of a forensic expert, Lowe asked his attorney to handle the questioning and chose not to represent himself during the rest of the trial.

Tesmer said Lowe testified during the trial.

“He claimed self defense and that he did not shoot Mr. Lee when he was on the ground,” she said.

Authorities say Lee was shot in the head after an alleged argument over drugs and money in December 2013. He was killed near the intersection of Hwy. 97 and Upper Bozeman Road, which is near the Davenport community.

Lowe was charged with the murder Dec. 5, 2013. Sentencing has not been set but Tesmer said she hoped it would be June 2.