GREAT FALLS — Michael J. Ackerman, a/k/a Michael J. Littlebull, accused of killing three people in Poplar on September 11, 2025, appeared in federal court in Great Falls on Wednesday, September 17, 2025.

U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said in a news release that Ackerman, 73 years old, appeared on a complaint alleging he committed three counts of second-degree murder.

The affidavit in support of the complaint alleges that a person called the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office on September 14, 2025, to report that Ackerman admitted killing three people in Poplar.

Deputies interviewed Ackerman and he said on September 11, he was using meth with the three victims, believed they were “setting him up,” and shot and killed them.

Court documents state:

After the deputies read his Miranda rights, A

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