Investigation of Billings bail‑bond company ties back to Lewis and Clark County case after fatal Missoula shooting

Lewis and Clark County had an active arrest warrant out for Joshua Wykle for 13 days when four men employed by a Billings bail-bond company shot and killed him at a Missoula gas station on March 4. State records show the Montana State Auditor's Office was already investigating the company, Mr. Bail, for deploying unlicensed bondsmen before the shooting ever took place.

Two of the four men who approached Wykle's vehicle that morning had never held valid licenses, having failed the required state exam multiple times. The remaining two had received temporary licenses less than a month before the shooting.

Wykle, 41, first appeared in Lewis and Clark County court records in 2024, when he was charged with drug possession and driving under the influence. He was initially released without bail but was arrested in September 2025 after missing a court date. He posted a $20,000 surety bond through Mr. Bail and was released. Lewis and Clark County authorities issued a new warrant for his arrest on Feb. 19 after he failed to appear at a pretrial hearing.

Video footage documented what followed on March 4. Wykle was sitting in a Saturn parked at the Town Pump on Reserve Street in Missoula when a Honda pulled up behind him. Four Mr. Bail employees, all in body armor and armed, moved toward his vehicle. When the Saturn began to reverse, bondsman Brandon Wakefield raised his weapon and fired. Wykle died at the scene. Wakefield and fellow employee Austin Mistretta have since been charged with felonies. Two other employees who participated, Jorrell Nagel and Ryan Smith, were the unlicensed pair.

Following Wykle's death, the auditor's office suspended the licenses of Mr. Bail, its manager Anna Yarbro, Wakefield and Mistretta, and ordered both Mr. Bail and Yarbro to cease all operations in Montana. Mr. Bail is a Virginia-based company operating nearly 30 locations nationwide. Its Billings office did not return calls seeking comment.

The case has forced a pointed question about how defendants with outstanding warrants are tracked across county lines. Wykle had an active Lewis and Clark County warrant and a documented history of failing to appear, yet a bail company operating out of Billings held authority over his release with no apparent coordination between jurisdictions. State regulators are continuing their review of Mr. Bail's licensing practices, and county prosecutors and court administrators may face pressure to tighten procedures for monitoring defendants who skip hearings before private bondsmen with uncertain credentials are sent to bring them back.