Bigknife sent to prison for BB-gun assault
Marshall Bigknife
A former Polson man, who was convicted of shooting a man’s eye out with a BB gun, was sentenced in Polson District Court March 27 to the Montana State Prison for 15 years with five years suspended for violating terms of a deferred sentence.
Marshall Bigknife, 19, was initially serving six years of supervised probation under the deferred sentence issued Sept. 27, 2023. Within two months, Bigknife violated a number of the release conditions, including testing positive for methamphetamine and marijuana, consuming alcohol, absconding from supervision, failing to register as a violent offender, not paying restitution to his victim, nor paying fines and court fees, and not receiving court-ordered evaluations.
In revoking the deferred sentence, Judge Molly Owen described Bigknife’s performance on supervised release as “abysmal” before handing down the prison term.
According to court records, at about 1:15 a.m. Sept. 6, 2022, Polson Police responded to a report that a man on Main Street had an injury to his face. On scene, police witnessed an elderly man sleeping on a mattress in the alley off the 400 block of Main Street. The man claimed that he had been shot with a BB gun multiple times.
Bigknife was apprehended in a short time and distance away. When questioned about the BB gun and where it might be, Bigknife was silent. Within seconds he admitted that he shot the man 15 to 16 times with a CO2-powered BB gun.
The victim was shot three times in his left eye, and was initially treated at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Polson, before he was airlifted to a hospital in Missoula. He underwent multiple procedures.
The victim in the case, David Vanhaverbeke, took the witness stand at the initial sentencing and asked Bigknife “how would you like it?” He also explained that he still has a BB lodged in his brain and one in his cheek that are too dangerous to operate on. He also stated that he lost the use of his left eye and is losing vision in his right eye, as a result of the shooting.
The victim’s sister, who we have chosen not to identify, told Judge Molly Owen that her brother’s health has been diminishing since the hearing last September. The victim was not present at the March 27 hearing.