David Earl Connors, a 52-year-old man from Simi Valley, California, was shot and killed on July 15, 2025, at a residence south of Hamilton, Montana. Connors had traveled to Montana to assist family; he was the cousin of Shannon Connors, who lived at the home with her husband, Scott Paul Peratis, who reportedly was undergoing cancer treatment and was separated from his wife but still living in the same residence.

On the afternoon of July 15 the three returned from a medical appointment in Missoula. Peratis and Connors became agitated in the kitchen and pushed one another, after which Peratis’ wife left the room. A short time later she heard a single gunshot and found Connors with a fatal gunshot wound to the head and Peratis nearby holding a firearm. Investigators determined one round had been fired from a five-shot .38 Special Taurus snub-nose revolver. Connors was pronounced dead at the scene.

Peratis told detectives he pulled the revolver from his right front pocket and fired when Connors advanced toward him, but investigators said physical and medical evidence did not support all aspects of that account. Ravalli County authorities arrested Peratis and charged him with deliberate homicide and assault with a weapon. He pleaded not guilty in district court; bond conditions prohibited him from possessing firearms and other specified weapons while the prosecution was pending.