Montana Man Charged With Shooting Four People at a Bar Pleads Not Guilty
- Published In: Criminal Justice
- Last Updated: Sep 03, 2025
This image made from video provided by the Anaconda Deer Lodge County Justice Court shows Michael Paul Brown, who is accused of killing four people in a bar, during a virtual court appearance, Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, in Montana. (Anaconda Deer Lodge County Justice Court via AP)
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A Montana man suspected of killing four people at a bar then evading capture for a week was charged with additional crimes including attempted arson during a Wednesday court appearance.
State District Judge Jeffrey Dahood ordered Michael Paul Brown to be held without bail after the defendant’s attorneys said mental illness could be an issue in the case. No further details were given.
Brown’s family has said the 45-year-old former soldier long struggled with mental illness before allegedly shooting a bartender and three patrons at The Owl Bar in Anaconda, Montana on Aug. 1.
Brown, who lived next door, also tried to damage or destroy the bar by lighting objects inside it on fire, according to newly-released court documents.
Defense attorney Walter Hennessey pleaded not guilty on Brown’s behalf to charges that also include four counts of murder, theft and eluding police. Brown appeared before the court by video from jail in Butte, Montana.
A conviction for murder, known in Montana as deliberate homicide, is punishable by death in the state. However, executions in Montana have been on hold since 2015 under a court ruling regarding a drug used in lethal injections.
A decision on whether to seek the death penalty against Brown is pending, Deer Lodge County Attorney Morgan Smith told the court Wednesday.
Anaconda, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northwest of Butte, is home to roughly 9,000 people. It’s surrounded by mountains, and following the shooting Brown allegedly stole a truck that he ditched several miles outside of town at the base of a mountain before escaping into the forest.
He hid for a week in that area west of Anaconda where he was eventually apprehended, moving locations while helicopters and drones circled overhead and officers and dogs searched on the ground, officials said. Brown was captured on Aug. 8 inside an unoccupied structure near a bar in the small community of Stumptown, authorities said.
Investigators also have been examining whether he had any contact with individuals or property owners who might have helped him while he was on the run.
The owner of The Owl Bar has said Brown patronized it over the past several decades and knew the victims.
