ANACONDA — The man accused of shooting up an Anaconda bar and killing four people will be placed in the custody of the Department of Public Health and Human Services, and judicial proceedings are suspended after he was found to lack mental "fitness to proceed" Tuesday morning.
Michael Brown, an Army veteran from the Smelter City, was ordered to be placed in an appropriate mental health facility "for as long as the unfitness endures." District Court Judge Jeffrey Dahood also ordered that Brown must undergo a mental health examination with a written report of the examination within 90 days.
According to court documents, the evaluator's report must include a description of the examination, a diagnosis of Brown's mental condition, including an option as to whether Brown suffers from a mental disorder and may require commitment or is seriously developmentally disabled.
Evaluators will weigh in if Brown suffers from a mental disease or disorder and has the capacity to understand the proceedings against him.
Brown's next court appearance is set for March 18, 2026.
Brown has been charged with four counts of deliberate homicide in the shooting deaths of David Leach, 70, Daniel Baillie, 59, Tony Palm, 74, and Nancy Kelley, 64, on the morning of August 1, 2025, at the Owl Bar in Anaconda.
According to charging documents, he then fled the scene in a stolen pickup truck, leading law enforcement on a week-long manhunt in the mountainous, wooded area west of town. Brown was arrested on Friday, Aug. 8, just west of Anaconda.
Shortly after his arrest, Clare Boyle, the niece of Brown, said that she and her family were heartbroken over the situation and the four lives that were lost.
Boyle said, “My heart breaks for this town. There is no amount of apology or words that could ever describe how sorry I am and how I feel for these families, my own included.”
She said that Brown suffered from significant mental health challenges, including schizophrenia and PTSD from serving in the Army.
