Man Accused of Shooting and Dismembering His 2 Friends Pleads No Contest to Second-Degree Murder
January 27, 2018A man accused of shooting and then dismembering his friends has avoided a murder trial by changing his plea at the last minute.
Michael Montano’s murder trial was scheduled to begin on Monday when a week earlier, he decided to change his not guilty pleas.
Montano, 37, pleaded no contest to two counts of second-degree murder and guilty to two counts of mutilation of dead bodies on Monday, Campbell County officials confirmed to PEOPLE.
On Oct. 8, 2016, investigators discovered the dismembered bodies of Phillip Brewer, 33, and Jody Fortuna, 38, in plastic totes in a pickup truck inside a storage unit, according to the Gillette News Record.
Police officials suspect the pair was killed more than a month earlier.
In his first interview with officials, Montano denied killing Brewer and Fortuna. He said they drove to the home of his girlfriend Kylee Collins and he could only recall waking up the next morning, unaware how Brewer and Fontana died.
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During a break in the interview, he allegedly told officials, “I did it. I killed them.” He later recanted his admission.
In another interview, he said he did not remember pulling the trigger that left them dead but was prepared to plead guilty. Instead, he pleaded not guilty.
Witnesses, including Montano’s girlfriend Collins, spoke with officials, according to court documents obtained by the News Record.
Collins allegedly told officials that she asked Montano why the pair were in her bathtub.
“[H]e told her he had messed up and started crying,” according to the News Record.
Court documents reportedly indicated Brewer died from a gunshot wound to the back of the head, and Fortuna died from a gunshot wound to the back of the head and two shots to the back.
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After a couple of days of trying to determine what to do with the bodies, Montano allegedly used handsaws to cut up Brewer and Fortuna.
“It took him one to two days to cut up their bodies, he told investigators,” according to the News Record.
In an amended probable cause affidavit filed on Jan. 20, Montano allegedly told a friend that the deaths were “over drugs and money.”
Montano is scheduled to be sentenced on April 25. The prosecution and defense are prepared to recommend a sentence of 51-and-a-half-years to life for each count of second-degree murder.
A call to Montano’s attorney was not returned.