Billings Leaders Push For Urgent Reform After Tragic Murder

Billings leaders are calling for review and reform of the city's domestic violence policies, following the apparent murder of a local woman this past weekend.

Bail has been set at $3-million dollars for Tanner Grove, who's being charged with killing his wife over the weekend, and leaving her body in a car near Hardin.

MTN News is reporting that Grove remained silent during his court appearance on Tuesday, with the judge defaulting to an initial "not guilty" plea.

Prosecutors say Grove killed his wife, Shawna Hart, also known as Grove, with the pair going through a divorce since last year. Although she had a restraining order issued last fall, there were indications she may have left willingly with Grove before her disappearance last week.

Reaction to murder could lead to changes

Reaction to the case led to an emotional city council meeting Monday night, where council members and the public discussed the need for a new approach to domestic violence.

Councilman Scott Aspenlieder noted that Grove is now the 5th woman to die from domestic violence in recent years.

"In the past 24 months, we've seen 2 confirmed domestic violence deaths, homicides, and 2 homicides likely tied to domestic violence in our community," Aspenlieder noted during Monday's meeting. "Law enforcement itself acknowledges, and we see it in the statistics in the reports every year. The 3 years that I've been on council now, domestic violence is the number one driver of violent crime in our community. It's near 50% in our own statistics."

     Council members are calling for reforms, including improved budgets and training for police.

Rivers rising

Warmer temperatures in the next few days will bring spring runoff conditions to most of the rivers in Western Montana and across the state, and agencies are warning people to be especially aware of changing conditions. Not only higher, faster flowing water, but the possibility of trees that were downed in last winter's storms.

Floaters should wear PFDs, and check flow rates and other hazards from the listings by Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, as well as other local agencies.

"Funny money" used in a theft scheme

A Laurel man is behind bars after allegedly using a "Hollywood" twist to rob a local bank.

Thirty-five-year-old ATM technician Donald Jerry Walker pleaded not guilty in Billings federal court yesterday to three counts of wire fraud. Prosecutors say that starting last August, Walker emptied nearly $55,000 dollars from a Laurel Wells Fargo machine, replacing the real cash with phony movie prop bills.

Walker reportedly reported the "counterfeit" finds to his employer himself to cover his tracks. He’s currently being held at the Yellowstone County Detention Facility and faces up to twenty years in prison if convicted.

Settlement in Whitefish immigration case

The City of Whitefish has agreed to a $90,000 settlement following allegations of racial profiling and the illegal seizure of a local resident.

The lawsuit stems from an April 2025 traffic stop. Despite presenting a valid Montana driver’s license and legal residency documents, Beker Rengifo Del Castillo was detained after a Whitefish police officer called Customs and Border Protection.

The officer reportedly told federal agents he was, quote, “out with a male that only speaks Spanish,” and asked if they wanted to “check him.”

Del Castillo, who has no criminal history, was subsequently held in a federal detention facility in Washington for nearly a week before being released without explanation.

Andres Haladay, an attorney with Upper Seven Law, says the case should serve as a warning to local law enforcement that they are not—and should not act as—border patrol.

     The settlement resolves claims that the city violated both the Montana and U.S. Constitutions.