A man who fatally shot his wife and three children in a remote
Montana forest cabin over the weekend then set his house on fire
and committed suicide was described on Tuesday by police as a
survivalist who lived off the grid.
Michael Augustine Bournes, 59, called an acquaintance around the
time he used a .45 caliber handgun to kill his wife, Arie Arlynn
Lee, 37, and his two sons, Augustine Lee Bournes, 5, and Woodrow
Lee Bournes, 4.
He shot his infant daughter, Arie Lee Bournes, 1, as she lay in
her crib.
Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Police Chief Tim Barkell said that
authorities who investigated the scene said books found at the
cabin indicate Bournes may have been “a Constitutionalist who
didn’t believe in government.”
Barkell, who described the couple as survivalists based on the
fact that the residence was ‘off the grid’ or not hooked up to
public utilities, said the family had moved to the area from New
Mexico nearly three years ago, but was unknown to his department.
Barkell said each victim was shot once in the head and likely
died instantly, but gave no details on the sequence of the
deaths.
“We know where mother, baby and two boys were shot, and have a
good idea of the order, but hate to put it out,” he said.
Barkell said Bournes shot his two sons outside the cabin, but
carried them in and laid them on a bed beside his infant
daughter’s crib. He then set fire to a chair, laid down beside
his children, and turned the gun on himself.
Police said little is known of his motive other than when he
called the acquaintance and threatened harm to his wife and
children.
The acquaintance, who has chosen not to be identified, described
Bournes to police as a relative loner who worked as a handyman,
plumber and occasional logger, Barkell said. Autopsies are
underway at the state crime laboratory in Missoula.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/10/us-usa-crime-montana-
idUSKBN0OQ00P20150610