Inmate with attempted murder charge accused of vandalism

A 24-year-old man arrested on suspicion of trying to stab his father to death in January picked up a felony vandalism charge while in jail May 2.

The man, Miguel Angel Godinez Arreygue, used a shelf in his cell to break the cell window, according to an affidavit filed in county justice court.

“I went to cell A-202 and saw that the cell door window had several cracks all over making it difficult to clearly see into the cell and glass particles on the floor,” reads the affidavit, which was written by a sheriff’s deputy. “I entered the cell and saw the shelf was gone from the wall and was now located on the bed.”

The deputy/affiant took photos of the alleged damage and obtained an estimated cost of repairs: $1,520. Vandalism causing over $1,500 in damage is a felony in Montana punishable by as much as 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Arreygue has been in jail since his arrest at gunpoint in early January at the Quality Inn at 828 Wheat Drive. He’d had been staying with his father in a room on the second floor when he decided to kill his father, according to an investigator’s affidavit. Arreygue allegedly confessed to trying to kill his father out of feeling betrayed and picked on.

“Miguel stated he boiled water in the microwave with the intention of throwing the boiling water on his father,” the affidavit reads. “Miguel advised his father noticed when he placed the boiling water near his head, and his father then ‘straightened up.’ Miguel then stabbed his father. Miguel stated he intended to cut his father’s throat for a ‘clean death.’ Miguel stated he was unable to cut his father’s throat due to him fighting back, so Miguel stabbed his father in the chest.”

Arreygue reportedly told an investigator – through a Spanish-language interpreter – that he was being picked on by his father and coworkers at work and that they had threatened his family in Mexico.

“Miguel suspected his father and his co-workers wanted him dead, although he never heard them specifically state that,” the affidavit reads. “Miguel assumed his father wanted him dead because his father would bother him and pick on him at work.”

Witnesses allegedly reported seeing Arreygue and his father physically fighting in the hallway.

“Witnesses stated they observed Miguel’s father with Miguel in a headlock, and Miguel actively attempting to stab the victim,” the affidavit reads. “Eventually, the knife was separated from Miguel and fell to the hallway floor of the hotel. Miguel then retreated to the end of the hallway and laid down until officers located him. Miguel did not render medical aid to his father.”

The older man was admitted to intensive care and intubated. Hospital staff reported that if the stab wound had been an inch higher or lower, the older man would have died, according to the affidavit. The knife allegedly found in the hotel’s second floor hallway was 10 inches with the blade fully extended.

“I asked Miguel if he regrets stabbing his father, and he replied no,” the affidavit reads.

Arreygue faces an attempted deliberate homicide charge.