Lawyers of Transient Man Charged in Deadly Fuel Fitness Shooting Seek New Trial Venue

Attorneys defending a 37-year-old transient man charged in a deadly September 2021 shooting outside a Kalispell fitness center have asked for a change of venue for an upcoming jury trial, citing unfavorable pre-trial publicity and the “negative attitude” displayed by some Flathead County leaders toward the homeless population.

The defendant in the case, Jonathon Douglas Shaw, has entered not guilty pleas to a felony count of deliberate homicide and a second felony count of attempted deliberate homicide for allegedly killing the manager of Fuel Fitness and Nutrition and injuring a customer more than a year-and-a-half ago.

According to charging documents, witnesses told law enforcement that Fuel Fitness Manager Matthew Hurley approached Shaw in the parking lot when he learned the defendant had been sleeping at the facility without permission. Hurley then revoked Shaw’s gym membership in exchange for a partial refund, prompting Shaw to shoot at Hurley, who died at the scene.

Shaw also allegedly shot and injured Fuel Fitness customer William Keck, who retrieved a pistol from his vehicle during the shootout and exchanged fire with the defendant.

Shaw’s defense attorneys, Colin Stephens and Paul Simon, on May 23 filed a motion in Flathead County District Court for a change of venue, citing “extensive and unfavorable media coverage” as the basis for their request. They argued the publicity surrounding the case would make it impossible for the defendant to receive a fair and impartial jury trial in Flathead County, according to the motion.

In their argument, Stephens and Simon said the extensive pre-trial publicity has “inflamed the sentiments of the local community,” and that media coverage portrayed their client as a homeless individual who was trespassing on property at the time of the shooting.

In addition to newspaper and broadcast television coverage of the high-profile incident, the motion cites a community-wide discussion about the local homeless population that unfolded across social media platforms earlier this year, as well as an open letter written by the Board of Flathead County Commissioners.

Flathead County Commissioners Pam Holmquist, Brad Abell and Randy Brodehl published the controversial letter in local newspapers in reference to the growing homeless population in the county. In the letter, commissioners suggested that community nonprofits and services had enabled the homeless population and empowered the “homeless lifestyle.”

According to the change-of-venue motion, attorneys argued that the letter “reflects the commissioners’ negative attitude towards homeless individuals” and that “it can be assumed the Commission’s collective condemnation can be seen as reflective of a broader community bias against the Defendant and those deemed to be transient.”

“Given the extensive pre-trial publicity, the biased media portrayal of the Defendant, and the heightened community sentiment against homeless individuals, as evidenced by the Flathead County Commissioners’ letter, the Defendant cannot receive a fair trial by an impartial jury in the current venue,” the motion states.

As of May 26, Judge Dan Wilson had not ruled on the motion. The five-day jury trial remains scheduled for July 10 in Flathead County District Court.

Shaw remains jailed in the Flathead County Detention Center on a $1 million bond. He faces a maximum sentence of 100 years in the Montana State Prison or the death penalty.