Prisoner charged with 2020 crime given five year sentence

A Lincoln County man previously convicted on animal cruelty and witness tampering charges in that jurisdiction received Monday a five year sentence for shooting at a pair of anglers in Flathead County in 2020.

Domingo Jose Palafox, 32, pleaded guilty to a single felony count of assault with a weapon in late August, shortly before his expected jury trial in Flathead County District Court. In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors opted to drop a second count of assault with a weapon.

According to court documents, two anglers heard gunshots as they approached the Hungry Horse Reservoir’s Doris Point on June 5, 2020. The gunfire came from a man hefting a rifle while standing on the shoreline, court documents said.

Using expletives, the gun-wielding man encouraged them to leave. The anglers obliged, but also called 911, court documents said.

Deputies with the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, working with Forest Service agents, later identified Palafox as the man shooting from shore and found him not far from the scene. While he admitted to firing a rifle under questioning, he had hidden the weapon and changed clothes since the shooting, court documents said.

A witness told investigators that Palafox intended to “scare away” the anglers, according to court documents.

While the incident occurred in June 2020, charges in Flathead County were filed in late 2021. In the interim, Palafox was brought up on one count of aggravated animal cruelty and two counts of tampering with a witness in Lincoln County. The charges stemmed from the abuse of an Alaskan malamute in Troy and the subsequent attempted coverup.

A day before the Doris Point shooting, residents of Libby and Troy marched through the latter community hoping to raise awareness around the investigation.

Authorities in Lincoln County arrested Palafox on June 22, 2020. He later pleaded guilty to the aggravated animal cruelty charge and was found guilty of the tampering charges during a bench trial in December of that year. In February 2021, Lincoln County District Court Judge Matthew Cuffe gave Palafox 10 years in state prison with another 12 under supervision.

Palafox’s five year Flathead County sentence, handed down by Judge Heidi Ulbricht on Sept. 26, will run concurrent to his Lincoln County sentence. Ulbricht also gave Palafox credit for 328 days of time served.

News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or dperkins@dailyinterlake.com.