David Earl Connors, a 52-year-old White/Caucasian man, was shot and killed on July 15, 2025, at a residence south of Hamilton, Montana. Although the case is associated with Hamilton, authorities identified Connors as a resident of Simi Valley, California. He had traveled to Montana because of a family connection: Connors was the cousin of Shannon Connors, the wife of Scott Paul Peratis.
Court documents described Peratis and his wife as separated but still living in the same residence, and said Connors had come from California to assist them while Peratis was undergoing cancer treatment.
On the day of the shooting, Connors drove Peratis to Missoula for a medical appointment. They returned to the Hamilton-area residence shortly after 1:30 p.m. According to Peratis' wife, the two were already speaking in an agitated manner when they entered the kitchen. The disagreement intensified into a physical confrontation, with Connors and Peratis pushing one another hard enough that both fell down. Peratis' wife told investigators that she left the kitchen and went toward her bedroom as the confrontation escalated. A short time later, she heard a single gunshot.
When she returned, she found Connors suffering from a gunshot wound to the head, with Peratis nearby holding a firearm. Investigators determined that one round had been fired from a five-shot. 38 Special Taurus snub-nose revolver. Connors was pronounced dead at the scene. During an interview with detectives, Peratis acknowledged pulling the revolver from his right front pocket and firing the shot that struck Connors. Peratis reportedly told investigators that Connors had advanced toward him immediately before the gun discharged, but investigators said physical and medical evidence did not support all aspects of that account. The state medical examiner found no indications on Connors' hands or forearms of injuries associated with the firearm being discharged, and the evidence showed that he had been struck by a single shot to the head.
Both Peratis and his wife separately called 911 within approximately a minute of one another after the shooting. His wife told emergency dispatchers that Peratis had shot her cousin. Ravalli County authorities responded, began investigating the scene and took Peratis into custody. Sheriff Steve Holton publicly identified Peratis as the person arrested in connection with the killing and said the preliminary charge was deliberate homicide. The sheriff's office characterized the shooting as an isolated incident and said investigators did not believe there was any continuing danger to the surrounding community.
As investigators developed the case, prosecutors formally accused Peratis of deliberate homicide as well as assault with a weapon. He appeared in Ravalli County Justice Court on July 17, where bond was set at $500,000. Peratis subsequently posted bond and was released from custody while the prosecution continued. The available reporting did not identify another suspect or indicate that authorities believed anyone else participated in Connors' shooting. Instead, the criminal case centered on Peratis and on what happened during the confrontation inside the residence.
Peratis returned to court on August 7, 2025, appearing in Ravalli County District Court before Judge Jennifer Lint. He pleaded not guilty to deliberate homicide and assault with a weapon. Because he had posted bond, he remained out of custody pending further proceedings. The judge imposed restrictions intended to prevent him from possessing deadly weapons while the case was pending. Those conditions prohibited firearms, bows and arrows, flamethrowers and non-kitchen knives; kitchen knives were restricted to ordinary kitchen use. The court also approved revised conditions allowing Peratis to travel within Montana.
At that August hearing, the court scheduled an omnibus hearing for September 4, 2025, established a September 25 deadline for motions and set a face-to-face status hearing for no later than October 23. The publicly available news coverage located for this synopsis does not establish that Peratis was subsequently convicted, acquitted or sentenced in Connors' death. The latest detailed criminal-court reporting located described the prosecution as pending following his not-guilty pleas, meaning the deliberate-homicide and assault allegations remained accusations rather than findings of guilt.
