Billings murder victim a former Fort Belknap resident

The Fort Belknap tribal council has condemned the November death in Billings of former Fort Belknap Indian Reservation resident Myron Wesley Knight, saying it will continue to do all that it can to protect the safety of members of its community on and off the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation.

“We as a council condemn the recent actions that led up to the November 15 discovery of the brutal homicide in Billings, MT,” a letter from Fort Belknap Indian Communtity Council President Andrew Werk Jr. says.

The letter says the tribal council has continually taken a strong stance on hate or racially motivated acts.

Werk had not responded to multiple calls and messages for questions on his statement.

Knight’s body was found Nov. 15 in the area of 32nd Street West and Gabel Road, Billings Police said in a press release. Yellowstone County court files charge Donald Cherry and Jeffrey Haverty with deliberate homicide in Knight’s death.

Former Fort Belknap council CEO Bum Stiffarm, who now works for Island Mountain Develppment, said Friday that Knight was adopted into a Fort Belknap family and graduated from Harlem High School.

Tracy King said it was his family that adopted Knight. King had no further comment on Knight’s death.

Stiffarm and King both declined to comment on the matter as well.

Court documents, as reported by the Billings Gazette, say the two men killed Knight after all three left Montana Lil’s Casino Oct. 26 night to check out one of the men’s tent that was set up nearby. Knight asked a casino employee to hold his $120 winnings and said if he didn’t come back, it would be because Cherry and Haverty were responsible.

Cherry’s girlfriend, who is cited in the court documents, said she came back from the gas station and found Knight with blood on his neck. The two men then took turns cutting Knight’s head off as part of a plan to dispose of the body. The girlfriend said Haverty was angry Knight had only $6 on him.

Documents say Knight’s head was found about 30 feet away from his body. A state medical examiner said Knight was likely still alive when his killer began cutting his head off.