Plains investigation moved to county

It has been nearly a year since Mark Legard was found dead in his Plains home, the result of a gunshot wound, but investigators are still attempting to determine whether his death was homicide or suicide.

“It’s not like TV. Cases aren’t solved in 30 minutes,” said Detective Chad Cantrell of the Sanders County Sheriff’s Office, which took the case over from the Plains Police Department in October because it has more resources and because Chief of Police Shawn Emmett, who had been investigating the incident, was scheduled for shoulder surgery and would not be able to devote the needed time to the case.

The 44-year-old Legard was found dead in his home on Lynch Street on March 15, 2019. However, officials haven’t determined whether his death was homicide or suicide and had labeled the cause of death “undetermined,” which still has not been changed and continues to frustrate Pat Legard, Mark's father. 

It was Pat who discovered his son’s body in his bed wearing a CPAP machine, but with no gun or spent shells in the room. A small caliber handgun was found in another room of the house, but the magazine was full and the chamber empty, said Pat, who had been asked by police if he had moved the gun. “I told them I didn’t touch anything. I never touched the gun, even when Mark was alive,” said Pat, who believes Emmett was trying to eliminate him as a suspect.

Pat said Mark became severely depressed and started drinking heavily seven years ago when he lost his mother and son in a vehicle accident, but he said his son was turning his life around. He got a job and was relatively happy, he said. He visited with Mark the night before he died and said his son was cheerful. Rumors immediately spread that Mark’s death was a suicide, but Pat doesn’t believe it.

“I don’t think it was suicide, but right now it doesn’t matter if it was suicide or homicide, somebody else was in that house,” said the 71-year-old Pat, who added that he hasn’t heard any update from investigators since mid October and has lost confidence in officials working on the case. “I’m not casting any stones at Chad, I just don’t think he has anything to work with,” said Pat.

“It’s an active ongoing investigation and I feel that any information released to the public may jeopardize the integrity of the case,” said Cantrell, who added that the Legard investigation is one of many felony cases he’s working on. 

Emmett, who said it was a suspicious case, sent the gun and other evidence to the crime lab in Missoula and checked on the status on a regular basis, something Cantrell continues to do. Cantrell wouldn’t say whether or not the lab had returned the gun. “This is an important case to me and sometimes this will be the only case I work on all day. I feel for the family and friends and we want this closed as well,” said Cantrell, a veteran law enforcement investigator. Cantrell couldn’t discuss any specifics of the case, but said evidence has been sent to labs. He said they rely a lot on science to solve cases, but that science sometimes takes a long time. “Sometimes these kinds of cases are never solved, but they remain open,” he said.

“This is an important case to me and the Sheriff’s Office and the community, and I’m devoting as much time to it that I can until it’s resolved,” said Cantrell. The detective added that anyone with information about the case is asked to come forward by calling Cantrell at 827-6945.