Montana/Region

Montana man gets 110-year sentence for raping pregnant woman

Published on Wed, 08/03/2016 - 4:20pm

BILLINGS, Mont. — A Montana man is facing 110 years in prison after being found guilty of raping and assaulting a pregnant woman.

The Billings Gazette reports that 35-year-old Jessy Lee Williams was sentenced to Montana State Prison Tuesday on charges of sexual intercourse without consent, aggravated burglary and aggravated assault.

He won't be eligible to seek parole until he is at least 60 years old.

Judge says state owes nearly $15M to liquor store owners

Published on Wed, 08/03/2016 - 4:19pm

GREAT FALLS, Mont. — A judge says the state owes nearly $15 million in damages to liquor store owners who sued in 2014 arguing the state used outdated information to reimburse stores for the discount the state requires they give bars and other liquor license holders that purchase liquor by the case.

District Judge Greg Pinski last year ruled that the law that set the formula was unconstitutional. On Tuesday he issued the order determining damages from 1997-2016.

Bullock campaign reimburses state for airplane use

Published on Wed, 08/03/2016 - 4:17pm

BILLINGS, Mont. — Gov. Steve Bullock's campaign has reimbursed the state another $1,155 for extra costs incurred when pilots who flew him for state business had to wait to return while he conducted campaign activities.

The Billings Gazette reports the reimbursements for costs added to nine flights in April, May and June were included in campaign finance reports filed Monday.

Amber Alert issued for missing Montana girl

Published on Wed, 08/03/2016 - 4:16pm

HELENA, Mont. — The state Department of Justice has issued an Amber Alert for a 16-year-old Madison County girl missing since early Wednesday.

Officials say Sandy Moore is 5 feet, 7 inches tall with brown hair and eyes. She wears glasses and is mentally delayed.

It is believed Sandy was taken from her residence in Sheridan by 60-year-old Rodney Lee Zahn and that they might be traveling to Billings or to Boise, Idaho.

Man found dead in train tunnel had been hit by train

Published on Wed, 08/03/2016 - 4:13pm

HELENA, Mont. — Lewis and Clark County officials say a 65-year-old man whose body was found in a train tunnel west of Helena had been hit by a train.

Deputy Coroner Bryan Backeberg tells the Independent Record that an autopsy determined Alan Jay Willis of Minneapolis died of blunt-force trauma caused by a train. His body had been in the Mullen Tunnel for less than a day when Montana Rail Link employees spotted it last Friday.

Strong winds expected at Montana fire mean more evacuations

Published on Tue, 08/02/2016 - 4:51pm

HAMILTON, Mont. — Firefighters were bracing for strong winds and the sheriff's department has ordered more evacuations in the area of a western Montana fire that destroyed 14 homes and may have contributed to a man's death, officials said.

The flames had burned nearly 7 square miles in the Bitterroot National Forest by early Tuesday, said fire information officer Mike Cole. Residents of about 500 homes southwest of Hamilton were evacuated or warned to be ready to evacuate after the fire started Sunday afternoon.

Gianforte receives more donations than Bullock in July

Published on Tue, 08/02/2016 - 4:50pm

BOZEMAN, Mont. — Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte received more money from individual donors than Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock did in July, but the governor has more than $1.5 million in campaign funds remaining.

The candidates filed their campaign finance reports Monday for fundraising between June 27 and July 27.

Gianforte received nearly $700,000 in donations during that time, but contributed $550,000 of that amount. Individual donations last month totaled just over $148,000.

Sonar finds probable spot in lake search for motorcyclist

Published on Tue, 08/02/2016 - 4:49pm

HELENA, Mont. — Searchers using sonar have found an "area of substantial interest" as they try to recover the body of a 19-year-old man who crashed while trying to ride a modified motorcycle across Canyon Ferry Lake east of Helena.

Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton told the Independent Record on Tuesday there's a "high degree of probability that we will find him," after matching sonar data with witness statements.

Grizzly bear euthanized after breaking into trailers

Published on Tue, 08/02/2016 - 4:48pm

KALISPELL, Mont. — State wildlife officials have euthanized a female grizzly bear suspected of breaking into three camp trailers east of Fortine and showing other food conditioned behavior in previous years.

Fish, Wildlife and Parks grizzly bear management specialist Tim Manley says the bear was captured on July 29 in a culvert trap near one of the unoccupied trailers that had been broken into the night before.

The bear that entered the trailers suffered a cut and the captured bear had a cut on the left front foot pad.

Defense attorney: Kidnapping suspect had stopped taking meds

Published on Tue, 08/02/2016 - 4:46pm

BILLINGS, Mont. — A man charged with kidnapping and raping a 4-year-old girl on a Montana Indian Reservation stopped taking his prescribed anti-psychotic medication before the alleged attack and does not remember the events, according to his defense attorney.

Raising the possibility of an insanity defense, Assistant Federal Defender Henry "Hank" Branom asked for a mental health evaluation for 21-year-old John William Lieba II to determine if he is competent to stand trial.