Man charged in fatal Montana traffic incident appears in court, Cody

The man accused of intentionally killing a 70-year-old motorcyclist in a traffic accident near Belfry on Tuesday appeared in court in Cody, Wyoming, on Friday for two separate hearings on two separate crimes.

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

He now provides a billing address for postal shipping.

Neighbors say he was reserved and fairly quiet.

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

Gambale is charged with one count of voluntary manslaughter and three counts of attempted voluntary manslaughter for attempting to run other motorcyclists off the road.

A Park County, Wyoming, district judge agreed with prosecutors' recommendation of $1 million bail in the Montana case.

Gambale faced another complaint from the district attorney that he had failed to comply with his probation orders from a separate case.

Revis White, Gambale's attorney, said the prosecution failed to report Gambale's medication to the Veterans Administration in Sheridan.

“They believed that, but no one has done anything since February,” White said.

White argued that it was possible that Gambale did not report to the VA, but he also took his medication.

Gambale served and continues to serve a suspended sentence for an incident that occurred in November 2023.

He argued that firing arrows from up to 350 yards into the Cody airport runway was out of the question.

Court documents say the bolts were short, thick arrows used with crossbows and air bolt guns and could potentially damage aircraft tires.

Gambale was arrested on September 17 for a probation violation and released on bail just days before the road rage incident.

His neighbors said they saw him walking along the fence at the airport on the day of the incident.

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

He'll be in Montana soon.

“He will be incarcerated in Carbon County, at least for a short period of time, and that essentially closes the Wyoming case,” Revis said. “It’s certainly the small piece of the puzzle at this point.”