Graeter enters guilty plea in Ace Hardware fire
Terry Graeter entered a guilty plea in district court on Jan. 15 in accordance with a plea agreement.
He was charged with felony arson for an August 2025 fire at Ace Hardware store at 215 N.W. Bypass.
In the agreement, the county attorney’s office is recommending a seven year commitment to the Montana Department of Corrections with four suspended, a mental health evaluation and that Graeter follow all treatment recommendations.
During his Jan. 15 hearing, Graeter admitted to starting the fire by the loading dock and didn’t realize how much damage was done but was informed that it was close to $20,000.
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Judge Dave Grubich accepted his plea and sentencing will be set at a later date.
Video footage shows Graeter alone behind the building just before the fire started, repeatedly bending over to the ground “before smoke begins billowing,” according to charging documents.
The store’s insurance agent told investigators that the damage was at least $20,000.
Prosecutors requested $100,000 bond as Graeter is “on an escalating climb of arsons in the community,” according to charging documents.
He’s been held in the Cascades County Adult Detention Center since August and is on a $50,000 bond.
Graeter was charged with felony arson in June for setting fire to the Sinclair’s on 12th Avenue, when employees saw him start that fire.
That charge was dropped down to negligent arson because the damage didn’t meet the threshold for the felony charge, according to Cascade County Attorney Josh Racki, and the case was resolved in Justice Court, but he wasn’t sure of the resolution.
“Now [Graeter] intentionally set fire to an occupied commercial building. The fire caused extensive damage to the building. Employees and patrons were at risk if the fire were to have spread beyond the rear of the building. Employees risked injuries to themselves to try and contain the fire,” prosecutors wrote in their charging documents.
If Graeter is released, “his next fire may kill someone,” they wrote.
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He has a misdemeanor history with at least one failure to appear in Glacier County.
A person convicted of arson faces a prison term of up to 20 years and a fine of up to $50,000 or both.
During his initial appearance on Aug. 8 in district court, Mark Frisbie representing Graeter for the hearing requested that his bond be lowered to $10,000.
Judge John Kutzman said he takes the prosecution’s point about the escalating series of events and “this is not funny at all.”
But he said he didn’t think it rose to the level of a $100,000 bond and reduced it to $50,000.
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Among the conditions Kutzman imposed was a prohibition from being on the premises of both Ace Hardware stores, including their parking lots.
At the end of the hearing, Graeter said he thought his bond was $10,000 and the judge raised it to $50,000.
Kutzman explained the process and said that he determined it was a serious case but not at $100,000 so he set it at $50,000.
Graeter said that he served in the Air Force from 1982-1992 and was honorably discharged.
In June, Great Falls Police officers were dispatched to a dumpster fire at Noons Sinclar at 1300 12th Ave. S.
Callers reported that a male wearing a black jacket and gray beanie carrying a white bag had set the cardboard box bin on fire.
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Graeter was identified as the person in question and was located nearby with three lighters on his person.
In that case, prosecutors initially requested $8,500 bond with pretrial services, including GPS monitoring.
Graeter has several prior misdemeanor convictions, a failure to appear from 2022 and multiple misdemeanor cases pending in Municipal Court from late 2024 and early 2025.
