Tips sought on murder of former tribal chairman

By Vince Devlin
The Missoulian

POLSON - The Lake County Sheriff's Office, with help from the family of Harold W. Mitchell Jr., has upped the ante in an effort to bring the murderer of the former Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribal chairman to justice.

Undersheriff Jay Doyle said a $15,000 reward is now offered in the case through Crimestoppers. The money was put up by Crimestoppers and Mitchell's family.

Mitchell, 73, was murdered in the early morning hours of July 7, 2005, at his home at 1380 Mission Creek Lane near St. Ignatius. The mobile home was then set on fire in an attempt to cover up the crime.

Doyle said the St. Ignatius Volunteer Fire Department “did an outstanding job preserving what they did. Generally speaking, a trailer that age goes up real quick.”

Mitchell's body was discovered during the fire suppression efforts, and an autopsy indicated he had been killed before the fire was started. Authorities believe robbery was the motive.

“We don't know for a fact, but we believe it may have been due to the victim having a large amount of money in the house,” Doyle said. “A lot of locals knew about it.”

Investigators have not released information on how Mitchell was killed.

“Since we started working the case, we've had some leads coming in,” Doyle said, “but not enough to have someone in jail, or we would.”

The undersheriff added that Lake County investigators have “persons of interest that we're following up leads on,” and that they are awaiting results from the State Crime Lab that could help move the case forward.

Mitchell grew up in St. Ignatius, where he was a star athlete in high school.

He served on the CSKT council from 1966-77, and was its chairman for nine years. A retired logger, Mitchell lived alone at the time of his death, but has many family members in the St. Ignatius area who survive him, plus five children who live out of state.

Anyone with information about Mitchell's death is asked to call Crimestoppers at (406) 883-7309 or, toll-free, 1-888-883-7309.

 

Call to help

If you have information about the death of Harold W. Mitchell Jr. and the fire that burned his home, call Crimestoppers at (406) 883-7309 or, toll-free,

1-888-883-7309. A $15,000 reward has been offered for information that leads to an arrest and conviction.