A man accused of killing four people at a Montana bar and evading capture for a week while hundreds of law enforcement officers searched for him in the nearby mountains faces four counts of murder, according to court records.
Defendant Michael Paul Brown lived next door to The Owl Bar in Anaconda, Montana, where a bartender and three patrons were shot and killed on August 1.
Authorities have not revealed a possible motive for the 45-year-old former soldier. According to his niece, Brown has suffered from mental illness for a long time.
Brown’s charges were posted on a court website on Saturday, after the case had previously been sealed by a state judge. The charging documents were not immediately available.
Following the shooting, authorities claim Brown stole a truck and abandoned it a few miles outside of town, near where he was eventually apprehended.
He hid in nearby forests, moving around as helicopters and drones circled overhead and officers and dogs searched the ground, officials said. However, the pressure of so many officers looking for him eventually forced him into a sparsely populated area near a state highway, according to officials.
Brown was apprehended on August 8 inside an unoccupied building near a state highway.
Investigators are also looking into whether he made any contact with individuals or property owners who could have assisted him while he was on the run.
Chase Scheuer, a spokesperson for the State Department of Justice, confirmed Friday that the investigation is ongoing.
Brown has an initial district court appearance scheduled for September 3. He is being held on $2 million bail and represented by attorney Walter Hennessey, who did not return phone messages on Friday or Saturday.
Anaconda, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northwest of Butte, is home to approximately 9,000 people. A copper magnate established it in the late 1800s, surrounded by mountains. A decommissioned smelter stack looms over the valley.
According to the owner of The Owl Bar, Brown has been a frequent customer for several decades, but he is unaware of any conflicts between the suspect and the victims.
A conviction for murder, also known as deliberate homicide in Montana, carries the death penalty. Executions have been halted since 2015 due to a court ruling involving a drug used for lethal injections.
