The charge follows a homicide at Sky Dancer Casino & Resort. The casino sits on the Turtle Mountain Reservation.<\/p>\n
Rigoberto Mendez-Morales<\/strong> was taken into custody after a 911 call early Saturday. The victim\u2019s identity has not been released.<\/p>\n Court records say a 911 call came in around 6 a.m. Saturday. Turtle Mountain Bureau of Indian Affairs officers responded to the casino.<\/p>\n Investigators say officers detained Mendez-Morales shortly after they arrived. He was later transported to the Rolette Law Enforcement Center.<\/p>\n Court documents say he was booked around 10:30 a.m. Saturday. He remained in custody as of Monday.<\/p>\n The FBI is investigating the case. The Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services is assisting.<\/p>\n The FBI said there is no threat to the public. Officials have not released the victim\u2019s name.<\/p>\n Authorities also have not shared the cause of death in public documents. The case remains active.<\/p>\n Leadership with the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa described the incident as domestic violence. Leaders called it a \u201csenseless act.\u201d<\/p>\n The tribe offered condolences to the victim\u2019s family. Leaders said they hope the community supports the family.<\/p>\n The homicide happened on tribal land near Belcourt. That can place the case under federal jurisdiction.<\/p>\n Reports say federal charges are expected. The matter is under review by the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office for North Dakota.<\/p>\n Court records show a bond hearing was held Monday morning. Additional hearings are expected.<\/p>\n Sky Dancer Casino & Resort is in Belcourt, North Dakota. The casino lists its address as 3965 Sky Dancer Way N.E.<\/p>\n For general information, visit the Sky Dancer Casino & Resort website<\/a>.<\/p>\n The FBI\u2019s Minneapolis Field Office<\/a> is a regional contact point. Tips can be submitted at tips.fbi.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n Learn more about the BIA Office of Justice Services<\/a> and its role in tribal policing.<\/p>\n Information about the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office in North Dakota<\/a> is also posted online.<\/p>\n I\u2019m Chris Harper reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Belcourt (trfnews.i234.me) \u2014 A 58-year-old man from Mandaree is charged with felony murder. The charge follows a homicide at Sky Dancer Casino & Resort. The casino sits on the Turtle Mountain Reservation. Rigoberto Mendez-Morales was taken into custody after a 911 call early Saturday. The victim\u2019s identity has not been released. 911 call and detention… Continue reading Belcourt: Felony Murder Charge in Casino Death<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":null,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12],"tags":[8472,9062,9061,9064,6176,848,772,1994,2164,7756,961,9059,9060,1505,9058,1173,8735,8649,8648,8651,9063,9057],"class_list":["post-9700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-belcourt","tag-bia-office-of-justice-services","tag-bia-officers","tag-bond-hearing","tag-casino","tag-charge","tag-crime","tag-death","tag-domestic-violence","tag-fbi-investigation","tag-felony","tag-felony-murder","tag-mandaree","tag-murder","tag-murder-charge-filed-in-skydancer-casino-homicide","tag-north-dakota","tag-rigoberto-mendez-morales","tag-rolette-county","tag-sky-dancer-casino","tag-turtle-mountain-reservation","tag-u-s-attorney-north-dakota","tag-updated-with-booking-photo-fbi-investigating-casino-murder-at-belcourt","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9700"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9874,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9700\/revisions\/9874"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}911 call and detention<\/h2>\n
![\"Rigoberto](\"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Rigoberto-Mendez-Morales-300x292.png\")
FBI leads the investigation<\/h2>\n
Tribal leaders call it domestic violence<\/h2>\n
Federal charges possible<\/h2>\n
Location and resources<\/h2>\n