Failure to serve, protect: Victims recount rape, murder and how tribal cops failed them
Some on the Nez Perce Reservation, including former law-enforcement employees, believe investigators’ failures to listen to the women who reported Travis Ellenwood’s alleged abuse allowed his violence to become deadly.Â
(6) updates to this series since Updated
Nez Perce reservation residents discuss the murder of Bessie Blackeagle and potential tribal police misconduct. Video by: Shanna Madison, Missoulian
Some on the Nez Perce Reservation, including former law-enforcement employees, believe investigators’ failures to listen to the women who reported Travis Ellenwood’s alleged abuse allowed his violence to become deadly.Â
Several women, including a former tribal cop, said Nez Perce police didn't respond effectively to multiple reports of violence against a man who went on to murder his girlfriend.Â
Kenton Beckstead said dysfunction in the Nez Perce tribal law enforcement came to a head when a 28-year-old tribal citizen named Bessie Blackeagle was murdered by her boyfriend.Â
Five former employees of the tribal justice system – including the system's former head – told Lee Enterprises that department administrators failed to enforce the law adequately or fairly on the reservation.Â
After nearly killing his brother, Zachary Holt spent less than a year in tribal jail. Soon after, he went on a crime spree that ended with two dead.
Some on the Nez Perce Reservation, including former law-enforcement employees, believe investigators’ failures to listen to the women who reported Travis Ellenwood’s alleged abuse allowed his violence to become deadly.Â
The 53-year-old faces two counts of attempted first degree intentional homicide with use of a dangerous weapon. Each are a class A felony that, if convicted, could result in a life sentence.
Sheriff Christopher Schmaling also urged parents to discuss the responsibility of operating a vehicle with young drivers.
The Racine man faces one felony child neglect charge from an incident in 2024. The maximum sentence upon conviction is a fine up to $10,000, imprisonment of up to six years, or both.
