A former Cody resident is alleged to have deliberately crashed into and killed one motorcyclist and injured another outside of Belfry, Montana, on Tuesday. Michael J. Gambale, 47, is also alleged to have repeatedly tried to hit and kill two other motorcyclists near Rockvale, Montana.

After a multi-agency search that spanned Montana and Wyoming, Cody police located and arrested Gambale on Tuesday afternoon. Authorities in Carbon County, Montana, have since charged the Billings resident with one count of deliberate homicide in connection with the death of 70-year-old Martin Hans Peter of Switzerland, along with three counts of attempted deliberate homicide.

On Wednesday, Gambale remained in the Park County Detention Center while awaiting further proceedings. He had been jailed on a disputed probation violation last week, but, over the objection of Park County prosecutors, was released on Friday.

Court records indicate Gambale is a military veteran with a history of mental illness. Hours ahead of Tuesday’s incidents, he apparently sent a bizarre email to the Federal Communications Commission and others in which he identified himself as “the Angel of the Lord’s Destruction.”

“You are all doomed to hell, 256 times 256 time and more of death and hell coming,” says a portion of the email, followed by a link to a music video for Eminem’s song “Antichrist.”

Fatal crash

It was about six hours later, around 1:30 p.m., that Gambale allegedly made repeated attempts to crash into two motorcyclists near Rockvale, Montana. At one point, the men and witnesses said, the driver flipped a U-turn and drove the wrong way on U.S. Highway 310 in an attempt to run down one of the bikers. Gambale allegedly hit one man on the leg but the experienced bikers were able to stay upright and get to a parking lot. Both said they feared for their lives.

The men contacted police, but authorities were still investigating when a second incident occurred south of Belfry on Montana Highway 72. According to witness accounts, it initially appeared that Gambale was attempting to pass a motorcyclist, but he instead swerved into the bike two different times.

“The second collision caused the motorcycle to leave the roadway and crash,” Carbon County Attorney Alex Nixon wrote in an affidavit.

Peter, the Swiss cyclist, died at the scene, Carbon County officials said, while a woman riding with him was taken to a hospital with injuries.

Authorities in Park County were asked to be on the lookout for Gambale around 3:15 p.m. and Cody police spotted him on Yellowstone Avenue around 4:10 p.m. With the assistance of the Park County Sheriff’s Office and Wyoming Highway Patrol, Gambale was stopped and taken into custody without incident.

After his arrest, he allegedly claimed he had been harassed by a biker gang and that the motorcyclists near Rockvale had prevented him from passing, the affidavit says; Gambale is also alleged to have asserted that the motorcyclists he encountered south of Belfry had tried forcing him to the left, which made him angry.

However, Nixon wrote that Gambale’s accounts of the incidents were “inconsistent with independent witnesses.”

On probation

Gambale is currently serving unsupervised probation for an incident last November, in which he used a crossbow to fire a series of bolts from his Cody home onto the Yellowstone Regional Airport runway. Responding officers reportedly found Gambale outside, wearing a bathrobe and playing a trumpet. He was taken into custody and at some point placed on a Title 25 hold, being deemed to pose a danger to himself or others as a result of mental illness. Court records indicate it was at least the second time in 2023 that he’d been subject to such a hold.

Gambale served 101 days jail before pleading no contest to a misdemeanor count of reckless endangering and being placed on probation in February. The terms of his probation barred him from possessing any weapons and required him “to continue to take his required medications as prescribed.”

The veteran was released from jail on Feb. 14, with plans to be admitted to a treatment program at the Sheridan VA the following day. However, Gambale later informed a VA staffer he would not be coming, prompting then-Deputy Park County Prosecuting Attorney Jack Hatfield to seek to revoke his probation. In a Feb. 29 petition, Hatfield noted that Gambale had been required to “sign a written release for his prescriptions from [the] VA” so they could be provided to the county attorney’s office.

A warrant was issued in February, but Gambale remained at large until last week, when Cody police spotted and pulled him over, also on Yellowstone Avenue.

Arguing bond

Following his Sept. 17 arrest, Gambale’s new private defense attorney, Rives White, sought to quash the warrant, arguing Gambale hadn’t actually violated his probation conditions. White noted in part that there was no requirement to actually receive treatment at the Sheridan VA and argued the sentence was illegal, because the combined jail time and probation exceeded one year.

At a Friday hearing, Park County Circuit Court Judge Joey Darrah said he would hear White’s motions at a later date, but listened to the parties’ arguments about bond.

White asked for Gambale’s release on a signature bond. Based on the information he had, “I don’t think continued detention is appropriate,” White said.

However, Deputy Park County Prosecuting Attorney Laura Newton argued the defendant should remain in jail. She said Prosecuting Attorney Bryan Skoric believed “that there is a very high risk for reoffending.”

“And the underlying case is disconcerting,” Newton added, noting Gambale had fired bolts onto the tarmac and then apparently failed to follow his mental health recommendations.

Newton asked for a $50,000 cash bond, with a requirement for an electronic GPS ankle monitor.

However, White argued that beyond the disputed violation with the VA, there appeared to have been no issues over the past seven months.

“Mr. Gambale has led a law-abiding life,” White said, arguing that keeping him in jail “is certainly not an efficient carriage of justice, and is a misjustice to Mr. Gambale.”

Given that it appeared there had been no trouble since February’s sentencing, Darrah generally agreed with the defense.

“I think under the circumstances, Mr. Gambale, it would be good for you to get out of jail, and there’s some protective measures in place,” the judge said.

He required Gambale to post $125 in cash and then sign a signature bond, along with the requirement for the ankle monitor.

Toward the end of the 15-minute hearing, Gambale offered his thanks to the judge.

“I appreciate you and my counsel,” he said.

Bizarre missives

On Sunday evening, however, he apparently sent a bizarre, lengthy email to the court, his attorney, churches, the military and others in which he asserted he’d been “tortured” during his jail stint last year — including being “tempted with food impurity” and “molested by demons on purpose.” He also appeared to take issue with medications he was administered.

More apparently delusional mass emails followed on Monday night and Tuesday morning. In one, he identified himself as “Michael the Gambale, AKA Michael the Mighty, Michael the Merciful and Michael the Archangel” and railed against his GPS tracker, calling it “a Mormon prosecutor’s ankle friendship bracelet.”

(Cody Police Chief Jason Stafford said data from the device helped authorities locate and arrest Gambale on Tuesday.)

Citing the various emails, County Attorney Skoric had asked Judge Darrah to reconsider his earlier ruling and raise Gambale’s bond to $100,000 cash.

“The State asserts that the Defendant is a threat to the community and others [as] demonstrated by his own words and previous actions,” Skoric wrote Tuesday morning.

Darrah raised Gambale’s bond to $100,000 later that day.
Gambale is set to reappear in circuit court on Friday, while Carbon County authorities are seeking to have him returned to Montana on the new charges.