In the early hours of May 15, 1990, the quiet halls of Langford Hall at Montana State University in Bozeman were shattered by an act of violence that would leave a lasting scar on the campus community. James Allen Clevenger, a 19-year-old White/Caucasian male student, was in his dorm room with his roommate, Brian Boeder, also 19, when another student, Brett Byers, entered their room armed with a 12-gauge shotgun.
Byers, a freshman from Great Falls, opened fire on the two young men.
Both Clevenger and Boeder were critically injured but were still conscious when police arrived. They were rushed to Bozeman Deaconess Hospital, where they succumbed to their shotgun wounds around 5:00 a.m. In their final moments, they were only able to describe their attacker as a "redheaded kid." The motive for this violent act remains unclear, and there was no evidence to suggest that the victims knew their killer.
The perpetrator, Brett D. Byers, also a 19-year-old freshman, fled the scene after the shooting. His escape was short-lived, however. Three hours after the incident, he was apprehended following a high-speed chase with Lewis and Clark County sheriff's deputies. The chase ended dramatically in East Helena when the pickup truck Byers was driving crashed into gas pumps, telephone poles, and another vehicle in the parking lot of a Circle K store. He was taken into custody and charged with two counts of deliberate homicide. Byers pleaded not guilty but was ultimately convicted and sentenced to 165 years in prison for the murders of James Allen Clevenger and Brian Boeder.
