Attorney General’s office secures guilty verdict in Three Forks homicide case

HELENA – A Three Forks man was found guilty Thursday in Gallatin County District Court on one count of deliberate homicide, Attorney General Austin Knudsen announced.

Zachary Eugene Norman, 26, was found guilty on one count of deliberate homicide with a weapons enhancement by a judge in the murder of Chase Eastbrook in January of 2022. The murder happened outside of a home in Three Forks following visits to multiple local bars. The judge found Norman not guilty on another deliberate homicide charge in the death of Chase’s brother, Brendan Eastbrook, who prosecutors say died protecting Chase. Norman faces up to 110 years in prison for the homicide conviction

In July 2023, Norman was found guilty on two counts of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence in the same case. Prosecutors are asking the judge to impose an additional 10 years for both those charges as well.

Prosecutors used testimony from over 25 different witnesses, and evidence including Norman’s clothes found in the bathtub, the double stacked pistol seized from the Norman residence linked to the wounds found on both victims, and video from multiple locations to secure the verdict. 

Assistant Attorneys General Jordan Salo and Mike Gee prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office with support from the Bozeman Police Department and Special Response Team.

The sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 17.