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Man accused of road rage fatality in Montana appears in court

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The man charged with intentionally killing a 70-year-old motorcyclist Tuesday in a road rage incident near Belfry appeared in court in Cody, Wyoming, on Friday in two different hearings for two different crimes.

Michael Gambale, 47, lived in a Cody up until the time of an incident last year when he was arrested. He asked in court to waive extradition and return to Montana.

He now lists a Billings address for mailing. 

Neighbors say he kept to himself and he was fairly quiet.

Carbon County Attorney Alex Nixon alleges that Gambale crashed his car into a motorcycle intentionally, killing a man on Highway 72 just south of Belfry on Tuesday.

Gambale faces charges of one count of deliberate homicide and three counts of attempted deliberate homicide for attempting to run other motorcyclists off the road.

A Park County, Wyoming, district judge agreed with the prosecution's recommendation of a $1 million bond for the Montana case.

Gambale faced another complaint from the county attorney that he wasn't following the orders of his probation stemming from a different case.

Revis White, Gambale’s attorney, said the prosecution Gambale was not reporting to the Veterans Administration in Sheridan, about his medication.

“That's what they believed, but nobody followed up with anything since February," White said.

White argued that it's possible for Gambale to have not reported to the VA, but he also took his medications.

Gambale was and will continue serving a probation sentence for an incident that happened in November of 2023.

He pleaded no contest to shooting arrows up to 350 yards onto the runway of the Cody Airport.

Court documents state that the bolts were short thick arrows used with crossbows and air bolt guns and potentially could cause damage to aircraft tires.

Gambale was arrested on a probation violation on Sept. 17 and released on bond just days prior to the road rage events.

His neighbors say they saw him pacing along the fence the day of the airport incident.

They say he served in the military, was quiet and needed help.

Soon he will be in Montana.

"He will be incarcerated at least short term in Carbon County and so for intents and purposes, the Wyoming case is effectively done," Revis said. "It's certainly the small piece of the puzzle at this point."