Thursday, March 28, 2024
38.0°F

Browning man sentenced for murder, kidnapping on Blackfeet Reservation

by SCOTT SHINDLEDECKER
Hagadone News Network | July 23, 2021 12:00 AM

A Blackfeet Tribal member who admitted to murdering a man and then holding a woman hostage at knifepoint on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation was sentenced Wednesday to 26 years and eight months in prison.

Jason Avery Mattson, 30, of Browning, pleaded guilty on March 30 to second degree murder and to kidnapping as charged in an indictment, according to acting U.S. Attorney Leif M. Johnson.

In addition to the prison term, Mattson must serve five years of supervised release.

In court documents filed in the case, the government alleged that on March 3, 2020, law enforcement officers were called to a clearing near Cut Bank Creek, close to the boarding school community on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation after the discovery of a body, identified as John Doe. An autopsy confirmed the manner of death was homicide, with evidence of blunt force injury.

Other media accounts indicated the Glacier County coroner reported the victim was decapitated and both of his hands were cut off at the wrists.

The FBI and Bureau of Indian Affairs began to investigate the murder and found a witness who said the victim showed him a baggie with a large amount of meth inside. The witness also reported dropping the victim off at Mattson’s trailer on Feb. 28, 2020.

The government further alleged that on March 10, 2020, Mattson called Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services, confessed to killing John Doe and told dispatch he had a knife and a gun. While officers were responding to the residence, Mattson called again and told dispatch he was holding a hostage, identified as Jane Doe, at knifepoint.

A 911 dispatcher who spoke to Mattson could hear the hostage crying and begging to be let go. Mattson, who told the dispatcher he “liked to kill,” threatened to kill the woman and held her hostage for about four hours before she was able to escape. Mattson was taken into custody.

Mattson also served time in prison for a 2013 assault with a handgun in which he and Jerry Ward Mattson III, were accused of trying to kill Jason’s friend.

Court documents indicate Jason Mattson shot the friend after he tried to break up a fight between two women who had accompanied the three men to a remote area to drink and swim between East Glacier and Browning on June 10, 2013. Jason Mattson shot the friend in the side of the neck with the bullet exiting the victim’s back, narrowly missing his spine.

A retired FBI agent was fishing nearby when he saw the incident and called police. Charges were filed in July 2016 and the Mattson brothers were arrested on Aug. 9, 2016.

Jason Mattson pleaded guilty in March 2017 and was sentenced to four years in prison with three years probation. He was released on Oct. 18, 2019.

But on Jan. 28, 2020, a warrant was issued for Mattson’s arrest after his probation alleged he used methamphetamine on Dec. 20, 2019, and failed to show up for drug testing on two occasions in January 2020.

Mattson was arrested on March 10, 2020, for the murder he confessed to. He was sentenced on March 18, 2020, to five months in prison for violating his probation.

Reporter Scott Shindledecker may be reached at 758-4441 or sshindledecker@dailyinterlake.com.