Kendall fled home arrest on April 7

Jeremiah Kendall broke the terms of his house arrest as early as April 7, when law enforcement officials watched him flee his property on a four-wheeler, according to recently filed court documents.

Kendall, 40, was expected to begin two decades behind bars with the Montana State Prison on April 9. Charged with aggravated assault and tampering with physical evidence in connection to the brutal beating of his then-girlfriend in 2014, he received his sentence March 29.

But Kendall was in quarantine at the time after coming into close contact with an individual infected with the coronavirus, said Lincoln County District Judge Matthew Cuffe. Rather than continue the hearing, Cuffe added a house arrest component to Kendall’s sentence. On April 9, Kendall was to turn himself into law enforcement to begin his jail time.

Kendall never surrendered to law enforcement officials, though.

Officials with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Kendall missed his appointment over the weekend. But, according to court documents, investigators had been searching for him for several days by then.

An arrest warrant signed April 8 includes an incident report detailing Kendall’s disappearance the day prior. According to Probation Officer Darrell Vanderhoef, he arrived at Kendall’s home about 3:35 p.m. after Undersheriff Brad Dodson and another deputy spotted the man drive off on a blue four-wheeler.

Vanderhoef reported trying to contact Kendall and knocking on the house’s door to see if anyone was home. No one answered and the door was locked, Vanderhoef said.

Five deputies spent about two hours unsuccessfully searching the Libby Creek and Crazyman Creek areas in the meantime.

Vanderhoef wrote that he contacted Kendall’s wife (Kendall recently married). The woman claimed no knowledge of his whereabouts. She allegedly last saw him that morning before leaving for work.

Vanderhoef also reached out to Kendall’s sister. He instructed both women to tell Kendall to contact the sheriff’s office if they came across him or he returned home, court documents said.

Kendall apparently did contact law enforcement about 9:30 p.m. that evening. According to Vanderhoef’s account, Kendall told dispatchers that he planned on turning himself in on April 12.

Vanderhoef tried to return the call, but could only reach voicemail. Kendall’s wife later told deputies that his four-wheeler had broken down and he was on foot, though Vanderhoef described her update as bogus.

Officials with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office have not responded to multiple media requests for more information about the search for Kendall.

Under the terms of his house arrest, Kendall was to leave only during an emergency and contact law enforcement as soon as possible. Cuffe also forbade anyone not living at the home from entering it.

Along with the 20-year stint in the Montana State Prison, Kendall was to pay restitution and consecutively serve a suspended, 10-year sentence under close supervision. Both are to run concurrent to a federal sentence he already is serving.

Authorities charged Kendall in the 2014 assault in 2019 after he was released from federal prison. According to court documents, Kendall and his mother dropped the victim off at a local medical center well after the beating and claimed she had fallen from a table after heavy partying.

Doctors examining the victim disagreed with the story and contacted law enforcement. Kendall later offered differing accounts of what happened and accessed the victim’s mobile phone while she lay in a medically induced coma to erase evidence of past abuse.

He pleaded guilty to the charges earlier this year after securing an agreement with prosecutors.