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Suspect in Anaconda Bar Massacre Apprehended After Weeklong Manhunt

Investigators are pressing to uncover Brown’s motive in the Aug. 1 bar shooting; prosecutors are preparing formal charges.

Montana Division of Criminal Investigation tells CNN the suspect authorities are searching for in connection with a deadly shooting in Anaconda is Michael Paul Brown.
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The owners of Carmel's Bar & Grill in Anaconda have decided to keep doors locked around the clock while a killer is on the loose. Customers must call or knock on the door to be screened before entering.
A view of the town of Anaconda, Montana in 2019. The Anaconda Smelter, which was in operation for 97 years before closing in 1980 looms in the background. A golf course has been built on top of the black slag piles in the foreground, which contain toxic metals such as arsenic and lead. Residents of the neighboring town of Opportunity, which sits directly downwind from the smelter operation, are plaintiffs in a lawsuit against giant ARCO for insifficient clean up of toxic materials on their properties.

Overview

  • Michael Paul Brown was taken into custody around 2 p.m. on Aug. 8 near the Garrity Mountain Wildlife Management Area after hundreds of officers from local, state and federal agencies spent a week scouring rugged terrain.
  • The four victims—bartender Nancy Lauretta Kelley, 64, and patrons Daniel Edwin Baillie, 59; David Allen Leach, 70; and Tony Wayne Palm, 74—were known neighbors of the suspect.
  • Authorities say Brown used his own rifle in the attack, but they have not determined a motive for the killings.
  • Brown lived next door to The Owl Bar, served as an armor crewman in the U.S. Army (2001–05) and in the Montana National Guard (2006–09), and his family says he struggled with long-standing mental health issues.
  • With Brown in custody, the tight-knit town is beginning to reopen while prosecutors advance charges and officials face renewed focus on rural veteran mental health support and firearm oversight.