HELENA — A Helena man has been found guilty of one count of deliberate homicide in connection with the 2022 killing and robbery of a man near Rimini.
Robert Harvel was charged with deliberate homicide or accountability to deliberate homicide in the death of Michael Biggs. Last month, Harvel appeared before state District Judge Chris Abbott for a weeklong bench trial – meaning there was no jury and the judge would determine the verdict himself.
Abbott released his verdict on Friday. He determined Harvel was not guilty of being directly responsible for Biggs’ death. However, he did find him guilty under Montana’s “felony murder rule,” which says someone is guilty of deliberate homicide if they commit or try to commit a “forcible felony” and a person dies as a result.
Abbott also found Harvel guilty of one count of tampering with evidence, a felony.
In January 2022, Harvel and another man, Brandon Beckman, are accused of driving Biggs to Moose Creek Campground near Rimini under false pretenses of a drug deal, then killing him and taking his money. In 2023, Beckman was convicted by a jury – also found not guilty of direct deliberate homicide but guilty by participating in Biggs’ robbery – and sentenced to 100 years in state prison.
During Harvel’s trial, his attorney said he was asked to take Beckman and Biggs to Rimini to buy methamphetamine, but he was “unaware of any intent to rob.”
Harvel took the stand in his own defense, saying Beckman had killed Biggs and he helped Beckman move the body, and that he was afraid Beckman would kill him if he didn’t cooperate.
Prosecutors claimed Harvel was an equal participant in a plan to kill Biggs and take his money, and that he had been committing other thefts to get money for drugs.
In his ruling, Abbott said prosecutors hadn’t proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Harvel knew or intended that Biggs would be killed when he brought him to the trailhead. However, he said they had shown sufficient proof that Harvel knew Biggs would be robbed and intended to help Beckman do it, and that “Biggs’s death was the natural and probable consequence of Harvel’s participation in the robbery.” Abbott said he didn’t find Harvel’s alternate explanations for how he got a large amount of cash after Biggs’ death to be credible.
Read Abbott's full ruling:
Abbott has not yet scheduled a sentencing hearing for Harvel. He ordered Harvel be held at the Lewis and Clark County Detention Center without bail until sentencing.
