in february 1924, kalabić and five other members of the gendarmerie arrested montenegrin officers and brothers stevan and along with some relatives and friends for no apparent reason. both brothers were tortured and killed. kalabić later informed their relatives that the two had frozen to death on the way to the prison. seventy-five days later, the body of šćepan mijušković was discovered and kalabić was forced to flee montenegro into kosovo. in 1930, he was tried and found guilty of the murders. he was given an eighteen-year prison sentence but was later pardoned of the crime and reappeared in belgrade in 1940.