Inset: Justin A. Hosey (Yellowstone County Detention Center). Background: The mobile home where Hosey allegedly killed and burned a 62-year-old man (KRTV).
A 32-year-old man in Montana has been arrested for allegedly killing a 62-year-old amputee, drugging his victim before dousing him with gasoline and burning him alive inside a mobile home for allegedly making a comment about a 13-year-old girl. James A. Hosey was taken into custody on Monday and charged with one count each of deliberate homicide, arson, theft, and tampering with evidence in connection with the slaying of Michael Lee Huston, authorities announced.
According to a news release from the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office, deputies and fire personnel at about 7 a.m. on Saturday, May 10, 2025, responded to a report of a structure fire in the 200 block of Jim Street. Firefighters extinguished the blaze and a subsequent investigation revealed a dead body — later identified as Huston — inside the residence.
“Evidence at the scene indicated that foul play was likely a factor in the death,” the release states. “Investigators were able to identify a person of interest, and put out a description of the vehicle that the individual was possibly driving. A Montana Highway Patrol Trooper located the vehicle and individual in Big Horn County, and took him into custody shortly after noon on Saturday.”
A subsequent autopsy determined that the victim’s manner of death was a homicide. The cause of death was not included in the news release.
That individual was later identified as Hosey of Billings, Montana. Authorities said he was located and arrested at the Love’s Travel Stop near Hardin, Montana, using his cellphone’s “emergency locate” function.
According to court documents obtained by Great Falls, Montana, CBS affiliate KRTV, authorities were first tipped off to Hosey’s possible involvement in Huston’s death by a gas station attendant. She spoke to Hosey on the day of the fire, describing him as a regular customer and claiming that he told her he had tied someone up and set them on fire.
The gas station attendant said Hosey claimed to have “smoked a pedo,” Billings NBC affiliate KULR reported.
Hosey also reportedly phoned a friend in Michigan and told him that he’d just killed Huston over remarks the victim allegedly made about an underage girl.
“So I went over and got him high, on the brink of passing out, tied him up, beat his ass and poured gas in the house and set fire to him,” Hosey told the friend, per court documents.
Hosey appeared in Yellowstone County District Court before Judge Jeanne Walker on Thursday, where he pleaded not guilty to all the aforementioned charges. He is currently being held in the Yellowstone County Detention Facility on $500,000 bond, online records show.
