By Alan Sorensen
Accused murderer Jacob Gary Spang remains jailed in Havre despite needing just $25,000 bail, a family to house him and financing for electronic monitoring equipment.
Twelfth Judicial District Court Judge John Warner set Spang's bail at $25,000 with conditions during an omnibus hearing last Thursday.
Spang, 18, his 16-year-old sister Francine, and Reid Danell, 19, are charged with two counts of deliberate homicide by application of the felony murder rule, two counts of intimidation by accountability, one count of tampering with evidence, and car theft.
Kristi Walker, 30, and Kevin Caplette, 35, were found shot to death at a home in the 1200 block of Sixth Street shortly before 1 p.m. on Sept. 16. Danell is accused of pulling the trigger on both victims.
Warner set several conditions on Spang should his family and friends be able to come up with the money to spring him from his Hill County jail cell. His release would be contingent on his cousin Andre LaFrance taking Spang into his home in Bighorn County.
Should LaFrance let Spang move in, Spang would have to comply with an 11-hour curfew. He would be required to be in LaFrance's home from 7 p.m. each night to 6 a.m. the next morning. Spang also would have to submit to electronic monitoring at his own expense and have no contact with the relatives of his co-defendants except when accompanied by LaFrance or LaFrance's wife. He would be required to refrain from the use of alcohol and drugs and maintain contact with his lawyer by telephone.
As an added condition of his release, Spang would be forbidden from returning to Hill County except for his court proceedings. He must also remain law-abiding.
Deputy County Attorney Aileen Miller said Tuesday that the process of setting up the electronic monitoring system could take up to a month.
Judge Warner also heard arguments on a motion to suppress evidence in Spang's trial. The evidence that defense attorneys want suppressed is Spang's interview with police in Great Falls after his arrest at a Great Falls motel the day after the bodies were found.
Warner said he has taken the motion under advisement and would rule on it later.
Danell is scheduled to go on trial May 22.
Danell also is accused of stabbing fellow inmate Dominic Hanway in the eye with a pencil while they were watching television at the Hill County Detention Center on Saturday, March 11. Miller said her office is waiting on the medical reports on Hanway, 28, before filing any charges for that incident. Hanway was taken to a Great Falls hospital but has been back in his Hill County cell for several days, a detention officer said. Hanway is awaiting extradition to Nebraska.
Spang's trial is set for June 5 and Francine Spang is scheduled for trial on June 19.
