{"id":7566,"date":"2026-08-27T21:40:43","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T21:40:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=7566"},"modified":"2026-08-27T21:40:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T21:40:43","slug":"exclusive-gunman-in-montana-massacre-that-left-8-dead-pictured-for-first-time-as-his-slain-sisters-best-friend-reveals-red-flags","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=7566","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive | Gunman in Montana massacre that left 8 dead pictured for first time \u2014 as his slain sister’s best friend reveals red flags"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The gunman who slaughtered eight of his relatives at a Montana home has been pictured for the first time \u2013 as his sister\u2019s best friend has revealed his \u201cverbally abusive\u201d behavior before the tragedy.<\/p>\n

Read more Mamdani posts emotional message mourning accused knife-wielding killer \u2014and is slammed by victim\u2019s family<\/a><\/p>\n

Alan Smith, 44, had \u201cno job\u201d and \u201cno money\u201d when he stormed out of the family home in Billings, before returning weeks later and murdering eight relatives before torching the house and taking his own life, according to a close friend of his victim and sister, Megan Ireland-Ghekiere, 39.<\/p>\n

Megan\u2019s two children, Chloe, 7, and Owen, 13, and stepchildren\u00a0Charlotte, 12, and\u00a0Landon\u00a0Ghekiere, 15, were killed in the attack, along with her parents, Barbara, 72, and Dana Smith, 73, and grandma, Evelyn Smith, 92.<\/p>\n

Kelsey Granger, 36, who was maid of honor at both of Megan\u2019s weddings, told The Post how she had known Smith for years \u2013 but hadn\u2019t known him to be physically violent.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know he was verbally abusive towards Megan occasionally as well as her children. He hadn\u2019t been very nice to her children when he left,\u201d Granger said from her home in Washington State.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut as far as I know from what she told me, he left of his own accord. Nobody kicked him out of the house,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Granger, who has matching butterfly tattoos to her \u201csister\u201d Megan, described how Smith left the home around the \u201cend of July.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know she talked to me about it about July 14 or so, and then I believe the following week he left and did not tell anyone where he was going,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut he didn\u2019t have a job. He had no income as far as I know. So we didn\u2019t know where he was, but we were not concerned,\u201d Granger said. \u201cI don\u2019t believe her parents thought he was violent.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Granger, who had known Megan since she was just eight years old, described how her best friend had sent her a video discussing plans to see \u201cThe Nutcracker\u201d at Christmas on Sunday at around noon \u2014 just six hours before police say her older brother arrived at the house.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer husband [Adam] called me that night. He called me when he found out the house was on fire to tell me that they were all in the house and he wasn\u2019t sure if anyone was okay,\u201d Granger said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI immediately called her. Her phone went to voicemail. Her mom\u2019s phone went to voicemail. And then a couple of hours later, he told me what happened, that they were all gone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Cops still don\u2019t have an official motive for Saturday\u2019s mass killing, as they continue to painstakingly sift through the ashes of the house.<\/p>\n

Read more Lindsay Clancy\u2019s lawyer calls her a \u2018darn good mother\u2019 during closing arguments in trial for murdering her 3 kids<\/a><\/p>\n

Follow the latest news on the tragic massacre of a family in Montana:<\/h2>\n