DuBois sentenced on lesser charges in children's deaths

Travis DuBois, the St. Michael, N.D., man jailed since last weekend when two of his children were found slain in his home, pleaded guilty Tuesday in tribal court to reckless endangerment and public intoxication.

According to Joe Vetsch, prosecutor for the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe headquartered in Fort Totten, N.D., DuBois was sentenced to two years and 60 days on the charges. Other charges likely will follow in the apparent homicides of the children, Vetsch said.

DuBois, 41, was caring for three of his children last week after their mother, Mena Shaw, 40, had moved out with their youngest child, 2, to live with her parent nearby.

Last Thursday, DuBois reported the two older children, a girl, 9, and a boy, 7, missing. Family and friends searched for them and Shaw found them Saturday, slain and hidden under a mattress in their home.

A younger child, a boy, 4, was found unharmed in the home in St. Michael.

DuBois was arrested nearby Saturday and has been in jail in Devils Lake since.

U.S. Attorney Timothy Purdon said Wednesday the FBI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs continue an investigation into the case, but would say no more.

Vetsch said that nothing about the charges DuBois was sentenced on this week preclude either tribal or federal officials from filing more charges.

DuBois was sentenced to a year on the reckless endangerment charge, which involved the fact "that he was in an intoxicated condition and was left in charge of the children and they ended up dead," Vetsch said.

The children's deaths are being investigated as homicides, Vetsch said.

A relative of Shaw with knowledge of the scene said the two children had been slain with a knife or other sharp bladed weapon.

DuBois also pleaded guilty to the public intoxication charge, which was amplified under a "repeater" provision in tribal law because he has been convicted of it four or more times, Vetsch said. So DuBois received 60 days for public intoxication and a year on the "repeater" provision, in addition to the year sentence for reckless endangerment, Vetsch said.

DuBois will serve the two years and 60 days in the Lake Region jail in Devils Lake, Vetsch said.

But there's little doubt he soon will face more serious charges, Vetsch said.

Purdon is expected to release more information about the federal investigation into the children's deaths later this week.