Mugshot released after Montana bar massacre suspect captured by authorities
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BUTTE, Mont. – Authorities on Saturday released the mugshot of the suspect in a quadruple homicide at a small town bar in rural Montana.
Michael Paul Brown, 45, is being held in the Butte-Silver Bow County Jail, in Butte, only about 20 miles from where he allegedly gunned down four people at The Owl Bar in the town of Anaconda on Aug. 1.
Jail records do not say what crimes he has been charged with.
Michael Paul Brown’s mugshot overlayed on a photo of The Owl Bar in Anaconda, Montana (Butte-Silver Bow Jail; Peter D’Abrosca/Fox News Digital)
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Daniel Edwin Baillie, 59, Nancy Lauretta Kelley, 64, David Allen Leach, 70, and Tony Wayne Palm, 70, were killed in the attack. Kelley was a bartender, and the other three victims were patrons. All were from Anaconda.
After a dramatic week on the run, which left residents in the 9,000-person community of Anaconda on edge for fear that Brown might return to kill again, a joint task force of local police, state authorities, and federal law enforcement apprehended Brown on Friday.
The Owl Bar where Michael Paul Brown allegedly shot and killed four people on Aug. 1, 2025 (left) and Brown’s boarded up home (right). Photographed Aug. 8, 2025. (Peter D’Abrosca/Fox News Digital) (Peter D’Abrosca/Fox News Digital)
In a press conference outside the Deer Lodge County Courthouse in Anaconda, Gov. Greg Gianforte announced the arrest.
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“Our brave men and women in law enforcement didn’t waste a second,” he said. “They jumped into action and began the search with the promise to not give up until they found this suspect. Today I am grateful to report that Michael Brown has been apprehended, arrested and is in custody.”
Authorities said Brown was captured near a barn on private property just west of Anaconda, only about five-and-a-half miles from where the alleged crime occurred.
Main St. in Anaconda, Montana, leads to the Deer Lodge County Courthouse with mountains in the background. Photographed on Aug. 8, 2025 (Peter D’Abrosca/Fox News Digital) (Peter D’Abrosca/Fox News Digital)
Brown’s motive remains unclear, though residents told Fox News Digital that he had mental health problems.
His niece, Clare Boyle, speaking with a local news outlet, said that Brown suffered from PTSD from his time in the Army, along with schizophrenia. She said the VA refused to help him, which has been disputed by residents who knew Brown.
Mountains in Anaconda, Montana on August 8, 2025. The Anaconda Smelter Stack (right) is the oldest surviving masonry structure in the world and a National Historic Landmark. (Peter D’Abrosca/Fox News Digital) (Fox News Digital)
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“Mikee’s decline started really heavily when my grandma passed,” she told KTVQ. “The trauma from losing his last parent broke Mikee. The VA said he no longer qualified for assistance with obtaining prescriptions and help.”
Boyle did not return multiple comment requests.