Friday, March 29, 2024

Jeff Kostelecky, whose brother, Jayson, is a Broadwater County Sheriff’s deputy, designed this buckle to honor fallen Deputy Mason Moore.

Montana Silversmiths, Columbus IGA honor murdered Broadwater sheriff’s deputy

When Jeff Kostelecky first heard a Broadwater County Sheriff’s deputy had been murdered, his first thought was of his brother — Deputy Jayson Kostelecky.

Fortunately for the entire Kostelecky family, Jayson was safe.

It was Deputy Mason Moore who had been shot multiple times by a father and son and left in his patrol car to die — the nightmare of every police officer’s family.

The murder devastated the Broadwater County Sheriff’s Office, and deeply affected nearly every law enforcement agency in the state.

Jeff Kostelecky, a stone-setter at Montana Silversmiths, wanted to do something to honor and memorialize Deputy Mason. He designed a memorial tribute buckle with Moore’s name on it, EOW date (end of watch), and eight stones to commemorate his badge number — 438.

Kostelecky took the badge to the Broadwater County Sheriff’s Office and presented it, where it will be kept.

“The emotion in that room was overwhelming,” Kostelecky recalled this week.

The deputies asked what it would cost for each of them to have one for themselves and Kostelecky went to work, figuring out how he could come up with 11 more buckles.

Montana Silversmiths eliminated some of its normal costs and the Columbus IGA stepped to the plate in a big way.

“He (Mike Matovich) just asked me how much I needed,” said Kostelecky, who left with a check that day.

Last Friday, at the Townsend rodeo’s Black The Blue night, Kostelecky and his wife, Kristi, presented each deputy with his own buckle, as well as Moore’s wife, Jody.

Moore was shot and killed May 16 while on a traffic stop outside of Three Forks at approximately 3 a.m. by a father and son who reportedly had planned on finding and murdering a law enforcement officer that night.

A high-speed pursuit ensued, spanning more than 100 miles and hitting speeds of 100 mph before it ended in a shoot-out with police.

The suspects are Lloyd Montier Barrus, 61, and Marshall Barrus, 39. The younger Barrus was shot in the head and died the following day. Lloyd Barrus has been charged with two counts of accountability deliberate homicide and multiple counts of attempted deliberate homicide.