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Cowboy State Daily is Wyoming’s largest newspaper with Wyoming’s most experienced journalists. 

<title>You Still Here? Bonus: We Support Harry Baals Edition | Cowboy State Daily</title>

You Still Here? Bonus: We Support Harry Baals Edition

 Every now and then, it's important to make a stand. And we feel it's our patriotic duty to make it known that we support Harry Baals...

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Crime & Courts

A Colorado man accused of leading a Wyoming state trooper on a 

 that ended with one of his passengers dead has been bound over to district court on aggravated homicide by vehicle and several other charges.

But a second-degree murder allegation — which carries a potential sentence of 20 years to life in prison — did not move forward with the case Monday.

James K. Moore, born in 1999, now faces aggravated homicide by vehicle involving DUI, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, along with property destruction, two aggravated fleeing charges, reckless driving and a taillight violation in connection with the July 23 crash south of Cheyenne.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"It Started With The Taillights"}]

Wyoming Highway Patrol Trooper Brandon Todd spotted a white Hyundai traveling south on Interstate 25 in Laramie County at about 11:12 p.m. the night of the crash.

It had “no active taillights,” Todd wrote in an affidavit of probable cause.

The trooper caught up with the Hyundai and activated his emergency lights near Exit 7. At first, the car appeared as though it was going to pull over.

Instead, it went up the off-ramp, turned onto Clear Creek Parkway and accelerated.

Todd activated his siren and reported the Hyundai reaching speeds of more than 100 mph in a 45-mph zone.

About a minute into the pursuit, Todd saw what he described as a “small explosion” as the Hyundai crashed. He continued south but lost sight of the car.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Parking Lot"}]

Three minutes later, Todd found the mangled Hyundai in the parking lot of Simon at 6215 Clear Creek Parkway.

Moore was unconscious and unresponsive behind the wheel, still belted into the driver's seat, the affidavit says.

A second man was semi-conscious in the passenger seat with severe bruising on the right side of his face.

As Todd tried to speak with the men, Moore began itching his nose but would not respond to verbal commands. Todd also reported smelling a strong odor of a flavored alcoholic beverage coming from inside the vehicle.

Then the trooper began walking back through the debris field toward his patrol car.

At about 11:24 p.m., he found a third passenger, later identified as Christian Dawsey.

Dawsey was lying face down and had suffered injuries “not compatible with life,” Todd wrote.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Beer Cans, ‘Shooters’ And A Sex Toy"}]

The wreckage scattered across the parking lot offered investigators another look at what may have been happening inside the Hyundai before it crashed.

Todd reported finding empty beer cans and liquor “shooters” throughout the vehicle and debris field. A small red-and-clear alcoholic beverage was also found in the driver's side cup holder.

As investigators went through backpacks scattered in the wreckage, Todd reported finding fake urine and a sex toy.

Four days later, Todd learned Moore was on probation and said he believed the fake urine was intended to defeat urine tests required as part of that probation.

The next day, Todd contacted the Larimer County Probation Office in Colorado and was told Moore was on probation for felony menacing involving a real or simulated weapon. Moore's probation officer also told Todd that Moore was not permitted to be in Wyoming.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Blood Draw"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Emergency crews extricated Moore and the surviving passenger."}]

Because the crash involved a death and serious bodily injury, a blood sample was taken from Moore at about 11:43 p.m., the affidavit says.

[{"type":"text","text":"The court documents do not state the results of that blood test."}]

Moore was later flown by LifeFlight to Colorado for further medical care. The other man, from South Carolina, was taken by ground ambulance to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center.

Investigators estimated the 2025 Hyundai sustained between $13,180 and $18,180 in damage.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Charges Narrowed"}]

When Moore appeared in circuit court Aug. 3, Judge Nathaniel S. Hibbens set his bond at $100,000 cash only and appointed public defender Michael R. Vang to represent him.

At Monday's preliminary hearing, the court found probable cause to send six counts to district court: aggravated homicide by vehicle involving DUI; property destruction of $1,000 or more; two counts of aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude police, one involving bodily injury and another involving more than $10,000 in property damage; reckless driving; and a taillight violation.

If Moore is released, his bond conditions require mandatory drug testing and prohibit him from having contact with Dawsey's family.

Monday's bind-over is not a finding of guilt. It means the court found enough evidence to establish probable cause and send the case to Laramie County District Court, where Moore will be arraigned on those six counts. 

High Speed crash WHP 7 30 26

<title>Colorado Man Faces Aggravated Homicide Charge In Fatal 100-MPH Chase Near Cheyenne | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Colorado man accused of leading a Wyoming state trooper on a 100-mph chase that ended with one of his passengers dead has been bound over to district court on aggravated homicide by vehicle. Investigators found fake urine and a sex toy in the wreckage.

Colorado Man Faces Aggravated Homicide Charge In Fatal 100-MPH Chase Near Cheyenne

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily reporter, Dale Killingbeck

Dale Killingbeck

A 38-year-old New York woman admitted in Natrona County District Court on Tuesday to traveling to Wyoming and attempting to steal money from banks to pay off her drug debt.

Christine Fitzpatrick made her confession as part of a plea agreement with the Natrona County District Attorney’s Office before Judge Kerri Johnson. Fitzpatrick appeared beside her attorney Dylan Rosalez.

Rosalez told the court that under terms of the plea deal with Assistant District Attorney Amanda Kirby, Fitzpatrick would plead guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit forgery and conspiracy to commit theft.

A third charge of possession of forged writings would be dismissed.

The deal caps any prison sentence at five years, Rosalez said. His client would also have to provide restitution for stolen funds.

Johnson read the charges against Fitzpatrick and asked if she understood the potential penalties as well as the plea agreement.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"“Yes, ma’am,” she said."}]

The judge said she would “defer acceptance of the agreement” until after a pre-sentence investigation.

Fitzpatrick then pleaded guilty to the two charges and Johnson asked her for details about what she had done.

Fitzpatrick said she owed her drug dealer money in New York City.

“He sent me with a driver from New York to take (money by) withdrawal from banks,” she said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Stolen IDs"}]

Fitzpatrick agreed with the judge that she used stolen identification documents that were altered with her own photo to do the withdrawals.

The judge asked if she obtained funds from a bank in Casper.

“For the one here in Natrona County, I don’t believe so,” Fitzpatrick said.

Rosalez asked the judge to continue his client’s $100,000 cash or surety bond. The judge agreed and ordered the pre-sentence investigation.

A Casper police affidavit states that Fitzpatrick and her two partners were successful in obtaining $12,500 from a Buffalo ANB branch before arriving in Natrona County in the late afternoon of April 3 to try the same scheme.

A Casper ANB Bank branch contacted the Casper Police Department at 4:30 p.m. about a woman trying to obtain an $8,400 line of credit using a military ID of a woman they did not believe was the person standing in front of them.

Police found Fitzpatrick in an alley near the bank and approaching a black Mitsubishi Mirage hatchback that immediately left the scene when the officer initiated her lights, a police affidavit states.

The vehicle was later located by Laramie County Sheriff’s deputies and two suspects were arrested and sent to Natrona County to face charges.

Court cases involving conspiracy to commit forgery and conspiracy to commit theft charges continue in Natrona County District Court against Fitzpatrick’s co-defendants Anthony Reynolds, 21, and John Stallworth, 45.

Casper police reported that Fitzpatrick possessed a fraudulent U.S. Army ID and a fraudulent U.S. passport. Both had the same name on the IDs and displayed Fitzpatrick’s photo.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Line Of Credit Withdrawals"}]

“(Fitzpatrick) stated that during her three days in Wyoming she committed several line-of-credit withdrawals from numerous banks in the state,” the affidavit states. “Two days prior to this incident, she made three successful withdrawals in the amount of $8,400 at unknown banks.”

Fitzpatrick told police she had two unsuccessful attempts at other banks on April 2 but had been able to successfully withdraw $12,500 from the ANB Bank in Buffalo.

The woman also told police she did not know what city she was in but knew she was in Wyoming and that she knew the IDs she possessed were fraudulent.

Fitzpatrick also told police she had been instructed to leave all her identifying information in New York.

A phone seized from Fitzpatrick contained information on the name of the person on the passport and U.S. Army ID. 

The Washakie County Sheriff’s Office contacted Casper Police about an identity theft case involving the name of the woman on the IDs carried by Fitzpatrick, the affidavit states.

The Buffalo Police Department confirmed to a Casper investigator the theft of $12,500 from the Buffalo ANB Bank branch.

Christine fitzpatrick 8 11 26

<title>New York Woman Pleads Guilty To Trying To Defraud Wyoming Banks Over Drug Debt | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A 38-year-old New York woman pleaded guilty Tuesday in Natrona County District Court to traveling to Wyoming and trying to defraud a Casper bank of funds using stolen and altered IDs. She arrived in Casper after defrauding a bank in Buffalo.

New York Woman Pleads Guilty To Trying To Defraud Wyoming Banks Over Drug Debt

Kerry Drake

A Cheyenne woman who was added to Laramie County’s “10 Most Wanted” list last year was arrested earlier this month and waived her preliminary hearing Monday on a February 2023 charge of child endangerment for smoking methamphetamine and using fentanyl around her two children.

Ashley Nicole Bennett was also charged with two counts of forgery in 2023. Bennett, 40, skipped town after posting a $5,000 cash bond and was not arrested until Aug. 2 of this year. She is being held at the Laramie County Detention Center.

Bennett’s daughter, who is listed as “NB” in court documents, called the Cheyenne Police Department in February 2023, when she was 15 years old. 

According to an affidavit filed by police, who asked her if Bennett had smoked with her or provided her drugs, NB stated she overdosed in 2022 by taking her mother’s Suboxone and had intended to take her own life.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Not Taken To Hospital"}]

“Although Ashley did not provide the fentanyl or Suboxone on this occasion, Ashley did nothing to prevent the accessibility of these drugs to NB,” the affidavit states. The teen said her mother used Narcan on her but did not call emergency medical services or take her to the hospital.

Bennett was one of five fugitives added to the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office “most wanted” list in December.

NB’s 9-year-old brother, called “MM” in court documents, was allegedly also exposed to the two controlled substances. If convicted of this felony, Bennett faces up to five years in prison and/or a $5,000 fine.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Try Fentanyl"}]

NB told police her mother let her use fentanyl after she said she wanted to try it, and her mother said it tasted like “burnt popcorn.” 

The daughter said Bennett took her to a convenience store and had her act as a “lookout” while her mother smoked drugs, and another time smoked drugs in a bathroom stall at a gas station while NB also served as a lookout.

NB told police Adam Schmidt, then 39, and James Dykema, then 50, also lived in the family’s trailer house and smoked methamphetamine there, according to the police affidavit.

When police attempted to do a welfare check on the children on Jan. 24, 2023, Dykema allegedly answered the door and said they needed Schmidt’s permission to enter, and he was not home. 

Police called Schmidt, who said he was at work and did not want them at the trailer while he wasn’t there.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Scared Of Arrest"}]

The next day NB contacted police and told them the two men were scared they would arrest Dykema because he had an outstanding warrant, and affidavit says. NB told police Schmidt hid the drugs in the yard but did not know exactly where.

She also said her mother had a lock box where she kept some drugs, pipes and Narcan.

The affidavit said Bennett allowed police to do a welfare check at 2:30 p.m. Jan. 25, 2023, and they asked if they could search for drugs. An officer said he could not complete a thorough search at that time.

The next day, the officer said he spoke with NB, who told him she took a photograph of her mother’s drugs. “I observed a small, partially melted blue pill on a piece of tin foil, with burnt residue around it,” he wrote. Through his training, he noted, he knew people often consume fentanyl pills by placing them on aluminum foil, heating the underside and inhaling the fumes.

The officer said that process was consistent with what he observed in NB’s photo.

On Jan. 26, 2023, police obtained a search warrant and said they found used drug paraphernalia commonly used to smoke methamphetamine and fentanyl, used plastic bags with methamphetamine residue, and burnt foil. The bags tested presumptively positive for methamphetamine, the officer wrote.

Bennett’s two children were then placed in protective custody.

On the two forgery charges, Bennett is accused of cashing two fraudulent checks made out to Otis Burchett, who died in November 2022. Bennett was identified by an employee at First Education Federal Credit Union as the person who cashed the two fraudulent checks. The account was drawn from WyHy Federal Credit Union.

The two checks cashed totaled $1,345. The forgery count are felonies and punishable by up to 10 years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.

Kerry Drake can be reached at: Kerry@CowboyStateDaily.com

Ashley bennett with cops 8 10 26

<title>Cheyenne Woman Who Allegedly Let Teenage Daughter Use Fentanyl Captured | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Cheyenne woman who has been wanted by the police since 2023 for child endangerment after allegedly letting her teenage daughter use fentanyl and acted as her mom's "lookout" was captured earlier this month and waived a preliminary hearing on Monday.

Cheyenne Woman Who Allegedly Let Teenage Daughter Use Fentanyl Captured

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's general assignment reporter, Clair McFarland.

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Politics

Wyoming’s gubernatorial campaign is ratcheting up with attack ads now targeting Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder.

One of her two Republican opponents, Sen. Eric Barlow, has been the target of attack ads for weeks by both TV and mail.

A new political action group (PAC) that registered in Wyoming on Aug. 5 has started airing a commercial against Degenfelder, implying she engaged in “dirty deals” while working for a coal company.

U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman condemned the ad and blamed Barlow for it in a Monday Facebook post.

Degenfelder spokeswoman Charlotte Jones did the same in a Monday email to Cowboy State Daily.

Barlow, conversely, says he did not orchestrate the ad, and he too condemns it. 

[{"type":"text","text":"First, The Narrative"}]

The ad opens on a female voice and an artificial intelligence-rendered avatar of Degenfelder in a sleek black suit.

“For Megan Degenfelder, dirty politics was just business as usual,” the ad alleges. It says Degenfelder was “paid thousands to lobby for loopholes that let her company dodge millions in local taxes.”

[{"type":"text","text":"It then notes that her company went bankrupt."}]

“Degenfelder made money, Wyoming got left holding the bag,” the ad says, showcasing a July 

 reporting that Cloud Peak Energy coal company still owed Campbell County around $30-$40 million in unpaid taxes after it filed for bankruptcy.

[{"type":"text","text":"The ad does not say what “loopholes” allowed that."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Second, The Facts"}]

Before August 2017, when then-Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow hired Degenfelder, the latter 

Cloud Peak Energy in August 2019 found a buyer, Navajo Transitional Energy, which agreed to pay the company’s taxes, 

Wyoming Secretary of State filings say Degenfelder was a registered lobbyist for Southland Royalty Company LLC from 2016 into early 2021. That was an oil and gas company, 

[{"type":"text","text":"Third, The Backlash"}]

Barlow and Degenfelder, now both the targets of political action groups’ high-profile TV attack ads, both deny coordinating those ads.

Team Degenfelder doesn’t believe Barlow, a Monday email from Jones says.

“Wyoming voters know hypocrisy when they see it,” said Jones. “At the same time Eric Barlow decries negative campaigning calling him to task on his record, his out-of-state allies are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on an entirely AI-generated attack ad on Megan Degenfelder’s career fighting for Wyoming’s coal industry and energy jobs.”

Jones calls the ad a misguided attack and even more of an attack on Wyoming’s coal and energy industry and workers.

She also called it “consistent with Eric Barlow’s record of siding with environmental activists over Wyoming coal miners. Wyoming voters should take note, it speaks volumes about whose side Eric Barlow is on and how he would govern.”

Hageman was also unimpressed and redoubled her long-standing support for Degenfelder.

“I have learned first-hand as a legislator that what you say in a campaign defines what you will do when elected, and this ad speaks volumes,” said Hageman. “Campaigning on an anti-coal message shows that this is a concerted effort to stop production of one of our biggest assets.”

She called the Powder River Basin Resource Council, which the Barlow family helped to build, a "passion project" of the state senator's. 

Barlow countered that he’s pro-coal and pro-energy, and not behind the ad.

 “I’m from Campbell County. I grew up in Campbell County,” said Barlow. “I’ve been elected six times in Campbell County, by coal miners and rig hands.”

On the one hand, Barlow had banded with other western ranchers and landowners in 2002 to oppose what he 

 development on northern Wyoming ranchlands, and had ties then to the environmental group Powder River Basin Resource Council. Vanity Fair 

 to reduce severance taxes for coal. It wasn’t successful that year but later, more incremental bills drove coal severance taxes down 

He also said he ran a budget amendment to move a coal mining road and allow for 97 million more tons of coal to be mined.

“For anybody to think I’m not supportive  of coal and oil and gas and uranium is disingenuous,” he said. “And they’re just trying to dredge something up that does not exist.”

After the anti-Degenfelder ad aired, Barlow took to Facebook himself to condemn disparaging ads “against other gubernatorial candidates.”

“So I am not involved and I don’t know who is, and I want them all to stop,” he said. “These outside money outside agendas outside voices trying to push Wyoming people around, knock it off … We don’t need you.”

As for the third well-known Republican candidate in that race, retired Marine Corps Col. Brent Bien, his campaign outreach coordinator Cheryl Aguiar also said the Bien campaign had nothing to do with the ad.

"We don’t have any money," said Aguiar with a laugh. "I mean if we were to do an ad it would be to say good things about Brent, promote him. I don’t even know anything about her coal stuff."

[{"type":"text","text":"And, The Tangents"}]

The anti-Degenfelder PAC Keep Wyoming Working listed Armada Strategies as its ad buyer in an Aug. 6 Federal Communications Commission filing, with a Florida contact, Taylor Fernie, listed as the billing contact.

Fernie in turn is listed as a senior buyer with AxMedia, the same firm 

 for the group Barlow for governor. Similar crossover between the firms has surfaced 

“They do races all over the country,” Barlow countered, “and I don’t have any idea what other things they do. So I can’t speak to what a national company does.”

Jones said previously that Degenfelder is not affiliated with the federal issues group Women for Responsible Government Action. Regarding the state-level PAC, Jones added, “The campaign has not and is not permitted to communicate or coordinate with outside groups."

Mix Collage 10 Aug 2026 06 56 PM 6140

<title>More Dark Money In Governor's Race, With New Attack Ad On Degenfelder | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A new attack ad surfaced against gubernatorial candidate Megan Degenfelder this weekend, after independent groups attacked her opponent Eric Barlow for weeks. Rep. Harriet Hageman condemned the ad and said Barlow created it, which he denies.

More Dark Money In Governor's Race, With New Attack Ad On Degenfelder

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's Feature Reporter, Andrew Rossi.

Andrew Rossi

Wyoming Life

 on Saturday. Its prognosis for Wyoming and the Rocky Mountain region is “cold, snowy at times, and breezy.”

Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day is aware of this and other long-range forecasts coming out for the upcoming winter. He's not buying what anyone's selling.

“I'm not going to follow the herd into slaughter this time,” Day said. “The Farmer’s Almanac does what the Farmer’s Almanac does. The National Weather Service will do what they do, and people on social media can post every computer model that they want, but I’m not going there yet.”

With a Super El Niño on the horizon after several consecutive historically dry months, Day was willing to discuss the broad trends that could impact Wyoming this winter. As for the specifics, there’s such a thing as being too early.

Day's message: trust these at your peril, especially when it’s still summer.

“Last year was a good example of getting too far ahead of your scheme, but it's so easy,” he said. “I’ve learned the hard way, so I’m not seeing expectations when we’re still in August.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Super, But How Super?"}]

The “biggest player” this winter, according to Day, will be 

the much-anticipated “Super” El Niño

. Weather patterns and water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, which have been 

, are manifesting as one of the most intense El Niños in recent years.

“We're definitely going to have this very strong El Niño,” Day said. “It's going to be the dominant factor this winter, but it's not the only one.”

Many long-range forecasts circulating are relying on historical data from past El Niños to provide an outlook for how it will impact global weather.

Day is a huge proponent of using historical data, but there might not be a historical precedent for what’s coming. A strong El Niño can be great for Wyoming or miss it entirely.

“The El Niño can be so strong it shifts the storm track to our south,” he said. “The enhanced rain and snow you can get in the winter can bypass Wyoming. It can just miss.”

In other years, a strong El Niño has tracked farther north, inundating parts of Wyoming with precipitation.

A strong El Niño is a given this winter. At this point, its trajectory could take it either way, which is why Day isn’t giving into the pressure to release a long-range forecast.

“The north-south extent of the El Niño signal is a real concern I have,” Day said. “It's really too early to glob onto and go all-in on either a model-driven forecast or what we would call an analog forecast of looking at El Niños from the past.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Hangover"}]

The top reason to be skeptical of any long-range winter forecasts for this winter is the lessons still to be learned 

Day acknowledged how his long-range forecast for the 2025-2026 winter season, released in August 2025, was radically different from the winter Wyoming got. That stung, but his misery had good company.

“That’s the cautionary tale,” he said. “We had 90 blocking patterns this winter. Nobody anticipated that, and no models predicted it. Simply put, our models fail.”

Those “blocking patterns” were stubborn ridges of high pressure that essentially 

 from reaching Wyoming and siphoned it elsewhere. That’s why it was historically dry in the western U.S. and historically cold and snowy in the eastern U.S.

By November 2025, it was clear that the colder, snowier winter forecasted wasn’t going to plan. Nearly every month since then has been 

“This summer was a hangover from last winter, especially through July,” Day said. “Last winter, all our weather went north. A really strong El Niño can direct all the storms south. That is a concern.”

El Niño isn’t known for having frequent blocking patterns. Instead, it tends to have one blocking pattern that can last for several months without let-up.

According to Day, very persistent, stubborn blocking patterns are “a concern” with the incoming El Niño. Where those patterns could set up, and how it would impact the winter, remain to be seen.

That’s one area where Day had a sliver of confidence when looking ahead. Historically, the enduring block patterns have favored Wyoming.

“You can have a semi-permanent high-pressure system over central Canada that migrates back and forth,” he said. “El Niño patterns can lock in between December and February, which is a concern, but it's not in the Pacific, which was our problem last year.”

The Farmer’s Almanac has released its winter forecast, and Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day calls it "voodoo magic." However, he does believe a very strong El Niño is on the way but he's "not going to follow the herd into slaughter this time."

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