The Star Valley Independent is part of the Wyoming News Exchange. These stories come courtesy of the WNE.
Prosecutor looks to dismiss charges in shooting death
CHEYENNE (WNE) — The Laramie County District Attorney’s Office filed a motion Thursday afternoon to dismiss a single count of voluntary manslaughter for a local man accused of killing his 35-year-old roommate last year.
Cody Hess, 21, was arrested after being accused in November of shooting his roommate, Michael Robbins, three times and killing him.
But Laramie County District Attorney Jeremiah Sandburg said Friday that charge likely wouldn’t hold up in trial in light of test results, issues with evidence and a recent Wyoming Supreme Court decision.
“Once you add all those things up, we weren’t really left with a case that was tryable,” Sandburg said.
The motion still hasn’t received a judge’s signature – a necessary component for the case to be fully dismissed. As of Friday afternoon, it was unclear whether the motion had been signed.
“I don’t think anybody was at fault (with this dismissal),” Sandburg said. “The evidence did not pan out for us.”
Sandburg wouldn’t elaborate on specifics of the test results that complicated the case, but he did acknowledge that a burglary at the Hesses’ trailer one day after the shooting complicated things.
On Nov. 15, Laramie County sheriff’s deputies arrested Matthew Laganiere on suspicion of burglary.
But in addition to the evidence issues, a recent Wyoming Supreme Court decision from Uinta County would have made a difficult case harder, Sandburg said.
In that ruling, the court determined that the so-called Castle Doctrine – the part of state law giving people the right to use deadly force without the duty to retreat – applies when they use that force on a household member.
Throughout preliminary proceedings, Hess’ attorney argued that the then-21-year-old was acting in self-defense when he shot Robbins.
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Yellowstone Superintendent Went announces retirement
JACKSON (WNE) — Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Dan Wenk announced Friday plans to retire next March after a distinguished 43-year National Park Service career.
The announcement came amid rumor of an involuntary reassignment, but Wenk told the Jackson Hole Daily he planned to leave the agency anyway come next spring and is only telling people now to quiet talk of his departure.
“I told my immediate supervisor last fall that I was intending to retire early in 2019,” the 66-year-old superintendent said. “I felt like I needed to bring certainty, to the extent I can, to my tenure here. … I will be here for the next 10 months.”
Beginning his Park Service career with a landscape architect gig in 1975, Wenk climbed to the high rank of deputy director of operations. For a nine-month span in 2009 he stepped in to lead the agency as its acting director. He will retire after an eight-year stint overseeing Yellowstone.
Looking back on his Yellowstone tenure, Wenk said he’s most proud of bringing finality to the decadeslong debate over regulating snowmobiling and negotiating a concession contract with Xanterra that returned $200 million in infrastructure investment. Helping turn the tide in the fight against non-native trout in Yellowstone Lake and park streams was an accomplishment he named, as was helping to recover the region’s wolf and grizzly bear populations.
Wenk is prioritzing a number of issues during his last year on Park Service payroll: the bison quarantine program, long-term visitor use management, negotiating concessions contracts, managing transboundary wildlife issues and improving workplace culture.
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Trooper assaulted in arrest, member of public lends assistance
GREEN RIVER (WNE) — A Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper was reported injured Thursday following a traffic strop, foot chase and physical altercation where a member of the public and another officer came to the trooper’s aid.
The trooper stopped Dustin Roberts, 36-year-old McKinleyville, California resident, for alleged speeding. The stop began around 7:45 a.m. May 31 at milepost 92 on Interstate 80, just east of Green River.
The trooper became suspicious of additional criminal activity, according to a press release, and Roberts alleged attempted to flee on foot and ran out into traffic.
Once the trooper caught up with Roberts, a physical altercation allegedly ensued. Roberts allegedly attempted to disarm the trooper of his handgun.
A member of the public stopped along the interstate to assist and was followed, shortly thereafter, by another trooper. With the help of the resident and the other trooper, Roberts was taken into custody.
Roberts and the trooper reported minor injuries, according to the Wyoming Highway Patrol. Roberts received medical clearance and was transported to the Sweetwater County Detention Center.
Investigators said they found approximately 74 pounds of marijuana and approximately 1 gram of cocaine in Robert’s vehicle.
The Division of Criminal Investigation has been asked to assist with the investigation.
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UW social justice leader faces felony theft charge
CHEYENNE (WNE) -– A former University of Wyoming student government official who in April received an accolade for his social justice efforts on campus is facing felony and misdemeanor charges for allegedly using a university credit card for personal purchases.
Dimitri Nesbitt of Torrington, who is up for graduation with a degree in international studies, was arrested Thursday on a warrant in Goshen County, Albany County Attorney Peggy Trent confirmed Friday. Nesbitt posted $10,000 cash bond and has been asked to appear Monday in Albany County Circuit Court. He is being charged with a felony for credit card theft and a misdemeanor for theft.
Court documents state that the student organization MECHA was issued a university credit card, or “p card,” for MECHA leadership to purchase items for a social gathering on April 11. The UW Police Department was contacted May 22 with a report that unauthorized purchases were suspected to have been made with the credit card after the last authorized use. A bank statement showed more than 60 transactions totaling $1,200 were made between April 11 and May 23.
Members of MECHA confirmed to investigators that Nesbitt was a former member and would have had the opportunity to procure the card without authorization. A photograph from an ATM at UniWYO Federal Credit Union showed an individual identified as Nesbitt withdrawing money without authorization from MECHA.
When MECHA leadership asked Nesbitt if he knew where the card was, it’s alleged he denied knowledge of its whereabouts.
This follows an April 12 UW news release that stated Nesbitt was named the recipient of the university’s 2018 Willena Stanford Commitment to Diversity Award. The nominator told UW that Nesbitt was a “familiar face for students participating in social justice-oriented activities.”
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Former DOT employee accused of forgery
GILLETTE (WNE) — A former Wyoming Department of Transportation employee is accused of using a state credit card to buy personal items — including a hunting license and home school book material — as well as faking letters from the state so that he could buy a manufactured home.
Travis N. Schlager, 39, has been charged with theft, two counts of forgery, attempting to obtain goods by false pretenses and two counts of making false written statements to get property or credit — all felonies.
Schlager was the Gillette area mechanic supervisor in November when he told his boss that he thought he was being scammed because he had received a letter from the state guaranteeing him a loan to buy a home up to $250,000. Those involved in the early investigation thought the story seemed “a little far-fetched,” and placed Schlager on administrative leave with pay while the investigation continued.
At his work area, officials found statements from his state-issued credit card that seemed to be high, with $4,000 charged in October and $1,800 for the first week of November. Included with the statements were receipts that appeared to be altered. While the receipts listed the purpose of two radio kits, they found in checking with Walmart that what really had been bought was several gift cards, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
When agents with the state Division of Criminal Investigation interviewed him Dec. 28, Schlager admitted altering receipts starting in July when his personal credit card was rejected at Walmart for insufficient funds. He used his state-issued purchase card and it worked.
He then looked up online how to alter receipts and documents and tried it on his work computer. When that worked, he continued to use it on other documents, according to the affidavit.
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Game wardens investigate grizzly shooting
JACKSON (WNE) — Game wardens are investigating the Thursday shooting death of a grizzly bear sow shot in self-defense by a party of three hikers on the fringes of the Wind River Range.
The afternoon encounter, which happened in the Boulder Basin north of New Fork Lakes, has for now left two cubs orphaned, according to a Wyoming Game and Fish Department email notice.
“The incident was reported immediately,” the notice said. “While investigating the scene, department personnel were unable to locate the cubs. No human injuries were reported and the investigation is ongoing.”
The Jackson Hole Daily’s calls to Game and Fish late Friday afternoon were not immediately returned.
While lethal hunter-grizzly conflict is commonplace in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, deadly incidents involving hikers don’t happen nearly as often. This is the second self-defense killing of a grizzly in recent weeks in Wyoming. The last shooting, which occurred on Sheep Mountain near Cody, also involved a female with cubs.
A federal database lists 11 known or probable grizzly mortalities so far in the Yellowstone region in 2018. If the cubs orphaned near Pinedale don’t survive, that would increase the count to 14 bears.
Grizzlies in the ecosystem were listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act until last year, when jurisdiction was turned over to Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. Because of the change, Wyoming officials now take the lead in investigating and prosecuting grizzly bear killings.
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UW wins $9.7 million grant for CO2 storage
GILLETTE (WNE) — The University of Wyoming has received a $9.77 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy to study the feasibility of storing 50 million tons of carbon dioxide underground near Dry Fork Station.
“This is a really big deal for us,” said Mark Northam, director of the UW School of Energy Resources at the Joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development in Gillette. “Wyoming now becomes a very attractive area for carbon capture use and storage.”
The award is part of the DOE’s Carbon Storage Assurance and Facility Enterprise, or CarbonSAFE, initiative, which was started in 2016. The university had submitted two applications, one for Dry Fork Station and one for Rock Springs Uplift, but only Dry Fork was successful. Northam said it probably wasn’t “acceptable to award two of these highly competitive grants to the same organization.”
The university also is getting $2.47 million from its partners, which includes Basin Electric Corp., which owns Dry Fork Station.
The two-year, $12.25 million project will involve drilling a stratigraphic test well near the Dry Fork Station power plant about 10 miles north of Gillette to collect core material to evaluate the geological, geophysical, geochemical, geomechanical and hydrological characteristics present. The data will help determine the suitability of the underground geologic formations for commercial carbon dioxide storage.
If it turns out that Campbell County is a suitable place to store CO2, it will be just another reason for carbon capture companies to do business in northeast Wyoming because storage would allow them to continue operating regardless of what is going on in the market, Northam said.
That’s important for Wyoming and the Powder River Basin because any long-term carbon capture and utilization solutions for waste CO2 from power plants will need to include storing that captured carbon dioxide, Northam said.
