By Ellen Thompson/Havre Daily News/ethompson@havredailynews.com
Four suspects in the June 18 slaying of Alton "Muck-Tune" Boyd Alexander are being held on unrelated charges, family member said they were told by the FBI.
FBI agents also provided the family with new details about Alexander's final hours, his sister, Jamie Alexander-Mendez, said today.
Alexander's body was found near his home in Box Elder. Six days later, the FBI announced that suspects had been identified but declined to provide more information.
Last week was the first time the FBI has provided the victim's family members with new information, Alexander-Mendez asid.
FBI special agent John Quinlan declined today to comment on whether any suspects were in custody. He said no federal charges have been filed, and that the case has been referred to the U.S. Attorney's Office for review.
According to the family, Alexander left his home at 9:45 p.m. on June 18 with a group of teenage boys who had pulled up in a white car.
Hours later, Alexander's body was found not far from his home. The coroner said Alexander had been bludgeoned to death. Family members said he'd been stabbed 14 times.
Last week, the family learned that Alexander and the teens were involved in a scuffle at the dump near Alexander's home. Agents told the family that Alexander was running away when he was struck, either by a moving car or a car door, Alexander-Mendez said. Alexander would not have survived the blow to his head, she added.
The morning after Alexander's body was found, the FBI impounded a white car. Agents told the family that they are awaiting the results of lab tests before charges could be filed against four suspects.
The family was also told that the four suspects, all 16 or younger, will be charged as juveniles, news that Alexander-Mendez said upset the family.
She said the family has had a hard time since Alexander's death. At the funeral, the family was unable to dress him according to custom because of the injuries he had suffered, Alexander-Mendez said.
"From my sister's room, where I'm sleeping, you can see right there" where Alexander was killed, Alexander-Mendez said. "Every morning I see it."
Alexander-Mendez said that Tuesday night she and her mother, Ila Denny, spoke again about her brother's death.
"I can't believe they did this to my son. ... I feel hate even though I don't want to hate them," Alexander-Mendez said her mother told her.
