Update: Suspect in Orland shooting gets 50 years in Montana

By Larry Judkins

Glenn County Observer

One of the suspects in a double homicide in Montana, a 19-year-old Corning man who was allegedly involved in a February, 2024, shooting incident in Orland, has been sentenced to 50 years in prison.

At about 10:52 p.m. on February 28, 2024, Orland police officers responded to the Paigewood Apartments, 745 Paigewood Drive, for a report of multiple shots fired from two vehicles.

Officers found evidence of shots having been fired, and, with the help of Glenn County Sheriff’s deputies and California Highway Patrol officers, began searching for the two vehicles: a black Honda Accord and a black Dodge Charger.

Both vehicles were found in different locations (one of them on South Street), and the occupants of at least one of them were detained at gunpoint.

Following an investigation, firearms and other evidence were discovered and seized.

Angelo Hawk Sanchez, 18, of Corning, was arrested at South and Eighth Streets and booked into the Glenn County Jail on charges alleging carrying a loaded handgun by someone who was not the registered owner (a felony), possession of a billy club, leaded cane, blackjack, etc. (a felony), willful discharge of a firearm in a grossly negligent manner (a misdemeanor), and contributing to the delinquency of a minor (a misdemeanor).

Sanchez’s bail was set at $20,000.

The three boys, ages 17, 16, and 16, also from Corning, were arrested for firearms and weapons violations and turned over to Glenn County probation officers.

No injuries were reported during the incident and both vehicles were towed.

A month later, on Thursday, March 28, 2024, Hill County, Montana, Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a report of shots fired in the parking lot of the D&L Bar in Box Elder. According to a complaint and affidavit of probable cause from Agent Ryan Eamon of the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation in the case of The State of Montana v. Angelo Hawk Sanchez:

At about 1:30 a.m. on March 28, Hill County Sheriff’s Deputy Cole Molyneaux was dispatched to 335 Highway 87, the D&L Bar, in Box Elder, Montana. Hill County dispatch relayed that a 911 call was received that gunshots had been fired at the bar.

While he was responding, dispatch informed Deputy Molyneaux that a gunshot victim was located in front of the Box Elder School. Deputy Molyneaux requested Hill County Sheriff’s Deputy Hooper continue to respond to the bar, while he, Molyneaux, respond to the gunshot victim at the school.

Upon Deputy Molyneaux’s arrival at the school, he found Darrin Wade Caplette. Caplette was receiving medical treatment from Rocky Boy Indian Reservation officers.

Molyneaux assisted with Caplette’s medical aid, during which he knew from his training, experience, and observations that Caplette had suffered multiple gunshot wounds.

A Rocky Boy ambulance arrived at the Box Elder School, and Caplette was transported to the Northern Montana Hospital. Deputy Molyneaux knew from his training and experience that Caplette’s condition was deteriorating rapidly.

Deputy Molyneaux saw Melody Bernard on Main Street in Box Elder. Molyneaux knew from prior experience and contacts that Bernard was an associate of Caplette.

Deputy Molyneaux spoke with Bernard, who was highly distraught and crying. The only information Molyneaux could ascertain was that Caplette had “fallen off the wagon” and Bernard was instructed to find him.

Bernard told Molyneaux that she found Caplette at the D&L Bar. There, he waved at Bernard, and she spoke with him.

Bernard told the deputy that she believed that Caplette thought she was fighting with someone. She then told Molyneaux that when she was leaving the bar, she heard gunshots from the parking lot.

Bernard said she saw Caplette on the ground, screaming for her. She gathered Caplette into her vehicle, a white Dodge pickup, and transported him.

The other man, Thomas Roderick (T.R.) Yallup, was also transported in a private vehicle. The ambulance met it in Laredo, Hill County, Mont.

Deputy Molyneaux then went to the D&L Bar, where Deputy Hooper told Molyneaux that individuals in the parking lot were identified as witnesses to the shooting.

From information gathered from the witnesses, Hooper learned that the victims, Darrin Caplette, 41, and Thomas Roderick (T.R.) Yallup, 42, both of whom were residents of the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation, were in the parking lot when the shooting occurred. The witnesses said they did not see the shooting but heard the gunshots and saw the aftermath.

The D&L Bar owner met with the Hill County deputies at the scene. Deputy Molyneaux requested Deputy Hooper go with the owner and view the surveillance footage from the bar.

While Hooper was with the bar owner, Deputy Molyneaux walked through the crime scene, looking for evidence of the shooting. He found blood stains, saliva, tire tracks, possible shoe impressions, and personal items.

Deputy Hooper returned from viewing the surveillance footage and reported that there were two suspects involved in the shooting and both of them fired guns. Hooper added that the vehicle they exited belonged to Melody Bernard.

Deputy Molyneaux notified the Rocky Boy Police Department of the suspect vehicle from the shooting. Deputy Bicknell told him that both Caplette and Yallup had died from the injuries they sustained in the shooting.

Deputy Hooper told Deputy Molyneaux that he was able to review the footage in more detail. He said he saw two suspects exit an older model, silver, pickup with several unique identifying characteristics. Deputies Hooper and Molyneaux know from prior experience that the vehicle in question belonged to Melody Bernard.

The footage showed her vehicle parked a distance away from the bar’s parking lot. The two suspects exited the vehicle and walked through the road embankment or drainage area to a collar-style fence.

The suspects moved around the gas pump in the D&L parking lot and approached Caplette and Yallup. One suspect was wearing all dark-colored clothing while the other was wearing blue sweatpants and a black hooded sweatshirt.

The faces of both suspects were obscured.

Later, Division of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Agent Bruce McDermott was provided video footage from March 27 of Melody Bernard’s residence. Three males shown on that footage corresponded with the suspects seen on the video footage from the D&L Bar on March 28.

Also on March 28, DCI Agent McDermott interviewed Melody Bernard, who was the registered owner of the suspect vehicle. Bernard identified the three individuals in the suspect vehicle as Angel Castillo, Miguel Ibanez, and Angelo Sanchez.

Two suspects, Ibanez and Castillo, allegedly presented firearms from their persons, firing several times at Caplette and Yallup. The suspect vehicle was seen moving closer to Ibanez and Castillo during the shooting, thereby aiding in their flight from the scene.

Deputies Molyneaux and Hooper determined that the suspects traveled away from the shooting the same direction from which they approached. The suspects then got into a silver or gold Chevy pickup known to belong to Bernard and fled the scene, traveling north on Montana Highway 87.

During a walk-through, DCI Agent Ryan Eamon observed a dark-colored Mercedes parked in the D&L lot, reportedly belonging to one of the victims.

While processing the scene at the D&L Bar, Montana DCI agents, along with deputies from the Hill County Sheriff’s Office, began initial interviews with individuals identified as people of interest in the shooting. DCI agents found evidence at the bar consistent with the shooting.

During the investigation, law enforcement gathered information that the suspects involved in the shooting were at the Super 8 Motel in Havre, Montana. Super 8 management allowed law enforcement to view the room registry and found that room #109 was registered to Angel Castillo.

During the earlier interviews by law enforcement officers, Angel Castillo was allegedly identified as the suspect driving the Chevy pickup away from the D&L Bar. The pickup was seen on surveillance footage from the bar as the vehicle the shooting suspects came to the bar in and entered as they fled from the scene.

Officers proceeded to room #109 at the Super 8 Motel and knocked on the door several times. Four individuals were found in the room.

The four were identified as Ashley Cortez, Angelo Sanchez, Miguel Ibanez, and Angel Castillo. They were transported to the Hill County Sheriff’s Office, where they were interviewed.

All four were advised of their rights. They declined to speak with law enforcement.

Three of the individuals – Sanchez, Ibanez, and Castillo – were arrested for deliberate homicide. A person convicted of deliberate homicide can be punished by death unless the guilty person is less than 18 years of age at the time of the commission of the crime, or by life imprisonment, or by imprisonment in the state prison for a term of not less than 10 years or more than 100 years.

Hill County deputy sheriffs were assisted in their investigation by Cascade County Sheriff’s detectives, tribal police, Chouteau County deputies, and the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation.

Hill County Sheriff Jamie Ross said, “The initial information indicates that this was a targeted assault directed at these two men and we don’t have any evidence currently that would indicate a risk to the public at large.”

Because this is a homicide investigation, the bodies will be sent to the Montana State Crime Lab for autopsy.

Back on Monday, March 4, 2024, Miguel A. Reyes Ibanez of Orland went to the Orland Police Department lobby to report his 16-year-old son, Miguel, missing. Since he lives outside the city limits of Orland, the Glenn County Sheriff’s took the call.

Deputy Gonzalez was dispatched and contacted Ibanez in the OPD lobby to take the missing person report for his son. The boy was entered into the Missing or Unidentified Persons System (MUPS).

On Tuesday, January 7, 2025, Judge Kaydee Snipes Ruiz sentenced Angelo Hawk Sanchez to 50 years in the Montana State Prison, with 10 years suspended and credit for 285 days already served. She also ordered him to pay $11,609 in restitution.

Sanchez was not the one who pulled the trigger on either Darrin Wade Caplette or Thomas Roderick (T.R.) Yallup, but he did drive the vehicle in which the shooters got away.

By state law, Sanchez will be up for parole after serving 12 and a half years in state prison.