Tim Leeds Havre Daily News tleeds@havredailynews.com
Elwyn Floyd “Jay” Has The Eagle Jr. Of Fort Belknap, 25, has been charged with murder for a double homicide in Lodge Pole early Wednesday morning. Blaine County Coroner Marvin Edwards said this morning that Calvin Snell, 69, and Doreen Manzanares, 62, a common-law married couple, were killed by multiple wounds by a sharp instrument. Has The Eagle was arrested after a high-speed chase involving tribal law enforcement and Blaine County and Phillips County sheriff’s deputies that led from Lodge Pole into Phillips County and back onto the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. Has The Eagle was apprehended after he barricaded himself in his home following the chase, and was checked over at the Indian Health Services at Fort Belknap before he was taken to custody at the jail in Chouteau County. He has been charged in Fort Belknap tribal court with two counts each of murder, aggravated assault and elder abuse. FBI Special Agent Juan Becarra of Salt Lake City said this morning that the federal government is likely to either file a federal criminal complaint next week or to bring the case before a grand jury next year. Has The Eagle was out on relase on both state charges and a federal sentence when the incident occurred. Has The Eagle and Derek Gunn were both incarcerated in the Hill County Detention Center starting on Sept. 16 on charges of attempted deliberate homicide, assault with a weapon and aggravated assault, both on $50,000 bond. The charges stemmed from an incident on Aug. 30 in which Has The Eagle was accused of beating a man on the head with a rock near Dodson and leaving him for dead. Gunn was charged by accountability and was also being held for probation violation. Has The Eagle bonded out on Dec. 1. Has The Eagle is also out on release for a federal sentence on a count of assault with a weapon. He was indicted on that charge on June 17, 2004, and pleaded guilty in a plea agreement on Sept. 22, 2004. He was sentenced on Dec. 12, 2004, to 33 months with the Bureau of Prisons followed by three years of special release. Has The Eagle, who was cited for violations of conditions on his pretrial release before pleading guilty, has appeared in federal court twice more for violating conditions of his release. On Sept. 18, 2006, he was resentenced in federal court after Judge Sam Haddon of Great Falls found Has The Eagle had violated two conditions of his release, Sentencing him to 18 months with 18 months of special release. On Feb. 19 of this year, a motion to revoke his release for violating conditions again was filed against Has The Eagle. On March 17, Haddon revoked the supervised release for violations of conditions and resentenced Has The Eagle. Info rmat i on f rom The Associated Press was used in this story.
