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November 15, 2024
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FBI: Sheldon Bernard Chase arrested, 3-year-old witnessed triple slaying in Mont.

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear
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jodi@imfreedomalliance.org https://twitter.com/JodiRave
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The North Dakota Native Tourism Alliance will be hosting its second annual Native American Heritage Month Celebration at the state capital in Bismarck from Nov. 15-16. (Photo courtesy of the North Dakota Native Tourism Alliance)

Body being removed from house on Crow Reservation, site of triple slaying
Read the entire Associated Press article, which was posted at 11:16 p.m.

By MATTHEW BROWN and NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS , 10.06.11, 11:16 PM EDT

BILLINGS, Mont. — A 3-year-old child witnessed the killing of three people in a remote area of Montana’s Crow Indian Reservation and named a family member as the shooter, according to an FBI affidavit.

Sheldon Bernard Chase, 22, was captured in Washington state Wednesday after a multi-state manhunt and made an initial appearance before a judge Thursday. He’s accused of killing his grandmother, cousin and cousin’s boyfriend at their rural home on Tuesday.

Dressed in a yellow jumpsuit and wearing leg shackles, Chase gave yes and no answers to a series of questions from U.S. Magistrate Cynthia Imbrogno on Thursday, and asked to be returned to Montana as soon as possible.

The violence inside a prominent Crow family known for its adherence to traditional tribal values has roiled the reservation south of Billings. An FBI affidavit filed in the criminal complaint against Chase offers new insight into what happened.

Chase suffers from mental illness, according to authorities and those who know him. The affidavit said Chase had stopped taking his medications prior to the shootings, although it does not specify when or what the medications were.

Full AP story on Forbes.

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Jodi Rave Spotted Bear
jodi@imfreedomalliance.org https://twitter.com/JodiRave

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear is the founder and director of the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance, a 501-C-3 nonprofit organization with offices in Bismarck, N.D. and the Fort Berthold Reservation. Jodi spent 15 years reporting for the mainstream press. She's been awarded prestigious Nieman and John S. Knight journalism fellowships at Harvard and Stanford, respectively. She also an MIT Knight Science Journalism Project fellow. Her writing is featured in "The Authentic Voice: The Best Reporting on Race and Ethnicity," published by Columbia University Press. Jodi currently serves as a Society of Professional Journalists at-large board member, an SPJ Foundation board member, and she chairs the SPJ Freedom of Information Committee. Jodi has won top journalism awards from mainstream and Native press organizations. She earned her journalism degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

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