HAVRE, Mont. (AP) - A 24-year-old Havre man who was convicted of a 2017 aggravated assault is charged with beating a fellow inmate to death at the Hill County jail in Havre.
KOJM-AM reports Jesse Shane Valdez was charged Tuesday with deliberate homicide in the Nov. 17 death of 54-year-old Gordon Cochran of Chinook.
Charging documents say Valdez said he was acting in self-defense, but he acknowledged stomping on Cochran’s neck while he was on the ground and throwing him into a wall. Court records say Valdez may have believed Cochran had something to do with a relative’s death.
Valdez remained jailed with his bail set at over $545,000. He has been appointed a public defender and is scheduled to make an initial appearance in District Court on Dec. 3.
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Information from: KOJM-AM, http://www.kojm.com
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