Larry Kline
Havre Daily News
lkline@havredailynews.com
A 46-year-old Cut Bank man who told authorities he has a history of committing violent crimes while blacking out was charged Monday with the killing of a co-worker at the Chinook Hotel.
Blair “Mickey” Little Dog is being held at the Hill County Detention Center on $250,000 bail. He is accused of stabbing Jonathan Hugh Combs, 47, at least once in the neck and repeatedly in the upper torso, a state District Court document said.
Blaine County Attorney Yvonne Laird said Monday that authorities believe both men are from the Glacier County area. Hill County Sheriff Greg Szudera today said booking records indicate Little Dog lives in Cut Bank.
Laird said both men were working for Faith Drilling Co., which has an office in Chinook. A woman who answered the phone today said the company would not comment. She would not identify herself.
Little Dog made an initial appearance on Monday before state District Judge John McKeon on a charge of deliberate homicide. McKeon raised the bail to $250,000 from the $120,000 listed on a warrant for Little Dog's arrest.
According to the court document, Little Dog and Combs attended a party in the basement of the hotel until about 5 a.m. Saturday. When Little Dog and his boss went to awake Combs on Saturday afternoon, there was no answer. A hotel manager used a master key to enter the room about 2:40 p.m., and Combs' body was discovered.
Little Dog told state Division of Criminal Investigation agents that he walked Combs to his room after the party and then continued on to his own room, the court document said. He told investigators that he does not remember anything from then until 2 p.m. Saturday.
Little Dog told agents that he has a history of violence associated with blackouts, according to the document. He said he was convicted of manslaughter in federal court in 1980 in the stabbing death of his brother, the court document said. He also told investigators that he was convicted of assault with serious bodily injury in the late 1980s after he blacked out and beat another person.
In Little Dog's hotel room, investigators found pants with “extensive” blood stains and “numerous” knives, the court document said. Investigators said a tooth fragment found on Combs' bed appeared to come from Little Dog's mouth, the court document said.
Information from the National Criminal Information Center was used to verify Little Dog's statements about his criminal history, the court document said.
Havre lawyer Jeremy Yellin was appointed as Little Dog's defense attorney, Laird said. Arraignment is set for Feb. 14.
Laird said the homicide investigation has been going well.
“We're going to proceed with it and see where it takes us,” she said.
Blaine County's last homicide was the 2003 slaying of deputy sheriff Joshua Rutherford. Laurence Dean Jackson Jr. was sentenced last month to two life terms in prison, plus 100 years, without the possibility of parole.
