Decapitated Man, Shooting Victim Both Identified

The Gazette reports Billings police have identified the man who was found decapitated on Wednesday near 32nd Street West and Gabel Road as 41-year-old Myron Wesley Knight of Billings. Deputy Coroner Cliff Mahoney confirmed Monday that the body was decapitated, and that Knight had suffered multiple blunt force traumas, indicating he’d been beaten. They could not provide an estimated time of death. Autopsy results won’t be available for a week or two. The case is being investigated as a homicide.

BPD also identified the man killed by police Saturday on Billings South Side as 24-year-old Preston David Bell. Five officers opened fire on Bell at 12:13 a.m. Saturday in the 400 block of Bunting Street. Deputy Coroner Cliff Mahoney could not confirm the precise number of times Bell was struck during a police chase as of Monday morning.