Kalispell fugitive featured on 'Most Wanted'

A former Kalispell man who shot at Missoula County sheriff’s deputies before fleeing into the mountains west of Lolo in June is the subject of Saturday’s episode of “America’s Most Wanted.”

David Burgert, 47, has a long history of scuffles large and small with Flathead Valley law enforcement and political leaders including a charge of assaulting a sheriff’s deputy in January 2001 and a February 2002 armed standoff with officers west of Kalispell.

County Commissioner Jim Dupont, who previously was sheriff here, was one of Burgert’s targets during his campaign against Flathead Valley leaders. Dupont said he was not surprised when he found out the show created and hosted by John Walsh would be filming an episode on the fugitive.

“His case was a unique case,” Dupont said. “You don’t see it very often where someone organizes a group that wants to take over something.”

Dupont was among those interviewed for the episode, which will air at 8 p.m. Saturday on Fox. According to the Fox website, Saturday’s episode will be a “50 Fugitives, 50 States Special Edition.”

Also interviewed were current Sheriff Chuck Curry (who was involved in the 2002 standoff involving Burgert), the Missoula County deputies involved in the June shootout and detectives assigned to the case.

“They basically used me for history on him,” Dupont said. “Obviously I’m not connected to what happened in Missoula County.”

The episode will also feature re-enactments of several key incidents in Burgert’s history, including the location of a cache of weapons in Flathead County, the chase, shootout and manhunt in Missoula County  and interviews with Burgert’s ex-wife.

In Flathead County a decade ago, Burgert and five others faced federal charges related to their participation — his in a leadership role — in Project 7, a small group of Flathead County residents who amassed weapons and allegedly plotted to kill local officials. Project 7 was described as a local militia cell with ties to other militia groups.

During court proceedings, it was found that Burgert was suffering from paranoid personality disorder and believed law enforcement officials eventually would attempt to kill him. At the time of his Missoula County disappearance, he was on probation after serving time in a Rochester, Minn., federal medical center for possession of an illegal machine gun and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

“It’s a huge two-hour special, their very first two-hour special they’ve ever done,” Liz Cain said of the “America’s Most Wanted” episode.

Cain, a Whitefish resident, served as production assistant, makeup technician and recreational-vehicle driver for the filming. She said several local people were used in the re-enactments, including her son, Brian, who portrayed the ex-boyfriend of Burgert’s girlfriend. Burgert himself was played by Missoula resident Dan Lehn.

According to Cain, Walsh was a joy to work with.

“After all the filming was done, he insisted on every one of the law enforcement officers get in line and come have a picture taken with him shaking their hands, which they were all dying to do,” Cain said.

When Walsh saw Cain standing off to the side from the rest of the group, trying to stay out of the way, he asked her to come over and introduce herself as well. She said he hugged her and took a picture with her as well, that she is now eagerly awaiting in the mail.

Along with the photos, DVD copies of the episode are being provided to the Missoula County and Flathead County sheriff’s offices, Cain and Lehn.

Dupont was glowing in his thoughts on the show.

“The show’s really effective; it’s caught a lot of bad people,” Dupont said. “They’ve done a lot of good for the people of the United States, that’s for sure.”

Dupont explained that a past episode of “America’s Most Wanted” helped solve one of his own cases that had gone unsolved for more than two decades.

A woman in Texas saw the episode in 2006, searched the case online, found Dupont’s name and contacted him with information that led to the arrest of James Ambrozuk.

Ambrozuk had disappeared in 1982 after fleeing from a small plane crash in Little Bitterroot Lake that killed his girlfriend, Dianne Babcock. Ambrozuk, a Canadian citizen, moved to a different state, adopted an alias, and picked up a new Social Security number while eluding the law for 24 years.

Even as Burgert is featured on the upcoming show, however, Dupont has doubts about whether he will ever be found.

“I’m surprised that something hasn’t already popped up on Mr. Burgert, because in his past history he hasn’t been able to keep his mouth shut for more than three or four months,” Dupont said. “That makes me wonder if something happened to him. It’s not in his character to stay silent that long.”

Reporter Jesse Davis may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at jdavis@dailyinterlake.com