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Family urges state‑level review after alleged evidence gaps, missing body‑camera footage in 2021 homicide
Summary
Relatives of a 2021 homicide told the Helena City Council they have not received meaningful updates and said key evidence and body‑camera footage are missing; city staff said the case was reopened in 2023 and that they will pursue interagency help and paperwork to request state police review.
Relatives of a person killed in November 2021 told the Helena City Council that early investigative steps were incomplete and that promised follow‑up has not occurred.
At the start of the meeting a family member said Detective Sanders had been newly assigned but that the family had received no returned phone calls and ‘‘no body cam is nowhere to be found’’ for the case. The family described missing fingerprints and photos, questioned the chain of witness interviews and said the initial file contained errors they hoped the city would correct.
A city official (Speaker 3) told the council the prosecutor’s office reopened the file in early 2023 and said the original investigation included ‘‘a lot of mistakes’’ and hearsay issues. Staff warned that a suspect could be time‑barred from prosecution in some circumstances because of speedy‑trial timing and that investigators were trying to reassemble evidence and contact witnesses, some of whom are out of state.
Family members asked the council to request an outside review. City staff and council members replied that the council cannot direct a state police investigation but that the city can prepare the paperwork to formally ask state police or troop D to re‑examine the case. Staff said they had already been in touch with the prosecutor’s office and that consultants or state agents could be asked to ‘‘put eyes on’’ the evidence.
Mayor and council members expressed condolences and said they would try to improve communications with the family. Council staff noted gaps in body‑camera storage practices before 2022—officers sometimes relied on personal jump drives and the city previously did not provide consistent storage devices—so some footage from 2021 may not be retrievable under current practices.
The council did not take a formal vote to open a new investigation during the meeting; staff said they would gather paperwork and ‘‘try to get somebody from a different troop’’ to review the file and follow up with the family.
What happens next: staff said they will prepare the formal request paperwork for state police and continue discussions with the prosecutor’s office; family members were offered follow‑up contact from the mayor’s office.
