BOZEMAN — The Bozeman Police Department announced at a news conference on Friday the arrest of Austin Clowes of Bozeman in connection with the 2021 murder of Steven Kilwein.
Clowes, 25 years old, was arrested on a warrant on Thursday, July 10, 2025, charged with deliberate homicide.
Charging documents state that police officers were dispatched to check the welfare of Steven Kilwein on June 13, 2021. When they arrived, they found the body of Kilwein inside his home on North Ninth Avenue.
Two days later, an autopsy was performed in Billings, and the medical examiner determined Kilwein's cause of death to be homicide and noted the man had endured multiple "chop-style" injuries.
Bozeman Police Department detectives then initiated a homicide investigation. During the initial crime scene sweep, they located an Apple iPhone in Kilwein's front yard. The detectives then determined the phone belonged to Austin Clowes. Later, when detectives interviewed Clowes, he reportedly claimed it was his cellphone. Call detail records were analyzed by the FBI Cellular Analysis Survey Team, which showed Clowes' cellphone to be in the area of the crime between approximately 12:15 a.m. and 1 a.m. on June 13, 2021.
A neighbor told detectives they heard some noise over the weekend, one early morning around 2 a.m., describing the sound as possibly three people having an argument or talking loudly. The neighbor then reportedly heard what sounded like something falling and making a sharp noise, after which the neighbor heard someone say, "Oh shit."
A detective interviewed Clowes to find out why his cellphone was recovered in the front yard of the crime scene. Clowes reportedly stated he was walking in the area of the crime scene and must have lost his phone. He told the detective he was drinking in downtown Bozeman on the night of June 12 into the early morning of June 13, 2021. Clowes reportedly told the detective he wanted to go home before his friends, so he started walking toward Kimball Ave. in Bozeman, where he was staying with friends.
Clowes allegedly stated he would provide a voluntary DNA sample, but changed his mind the following day.
On Sept. 9, 2021, the detective received a phone call from Clowes, who reportedly said that after speaking to his family and consulting an attorney friend of the family, he was declining to consent to a buccal swab and fingerprinting.
Documents state that in November 2021, a detective examined the trash at Clowes' residence in an attempt to get Clowes' DNA sample. A small trash bag reportedly contained documents and mail for Clowes, including a DMV letter addressed to Clowes, a Great Clips receipt, and two car dealership key tags. In an interview with the detective, Clowes stated he was employed at JC Billion at the time of the homicide. A water bottle was also located inside the trash bag.
The water bottle was seized and submitted to the Montana State Crime Lab for analysis, which was able to obtain a DNA profile from the water bottle.
DNA was also collected from Kilwein's fingernails and pajama bottoms. The analysis revealed that the mixture of DNA obtained from Kilwein's pajama bottoms is 3.2 billion times more likely to have originated from Kilwein and Clowes, and an unknown contributor, than from Kilwein and two unknown contributors.
Clowes graduated from Bozeman High School in 2019 and is also an MSU graduate.
He's being held in the Gallatin County Detention Center on $1M bail.
We will update you as we get more information.
(JUNE 15, 2025) It has been four years since the unthinkable happened to Steven Kilwein, leaving his family devastated. Today, they still look for answers.
“My dad was murdered on June 13, 2021. Somebody made the choice that I no longer get to have my father,” says Kari Gray, one of Steven’s daughters.
Steven grew up in North Dakota, where he raised his five children. But a dream to live in Bozeman drew him west, where he found his true home in 1986.
“Anyone would walk past his house and if he was outside he would strike up a conversation with them. He was just trusting of the world,” said daughter Karla Hacker.
But on a Sunday like any other, the Kilwein family grew suspicious after not hearing from their father.
COLD CASE: PART 1
“There must've been 100 messages calling and texting. It weighed heavy,” recalled Karen Hamilton. They called police, requesting a welfare check.
When authorities arrived, they found Steve dead on the floor.
“I was in disbelief. He couldn’t have been gone,” Kari says holding back tears.
The original coroner's report named electrocution as Kilwein’s cause of death.
But further investigation revealed “multiple chop type injuries."
COLD CASE: PART 2
And with a door and window busted into Kilwein's home? Murder was suspected.
“Was it just somebody walking by? There’s a lot of crazy people. Bozeman is not the Bozeman that I knew in the late 80s,” shared son Kurt Kilwein.
Kilwein was murdered at around 11:00AM, across the street from a church where crowds were gathered for Sunday services. No one saw a thing. Nothing was stolen from Kilwein’s home. Not even his wallet that contained $2,400 in cash.
Four years later, the case is still cold.
“We don’t know the details, but the detectives do. They know a lot more than they can share with us because it’s an ongoing investigation,” said Karla.
On a phone call with Karen and Karla, they said they’re still working with detectives, and their reward of $100,000 still stands for anyone with information that could lead to the arrest and conviction of their father’s killer.
“No one has been brought to justice for this,” says Kari, “and we just want anyone out there to help us.”
“His sense of humor and his love of life? He gave that to all of his kids. We laugh so much. And I have to say since June 13th that laughter has certainly been extinguished,” adds Karen.
