A 73-year-old man accused of gunning down his caretakers in Carbon County is mentally competent to face his trial, a judge ruled this week.
Melvin Bagley could face life in prison if convicted of shooting his nephew, Marvin Bagley, in the eyebrow and Marvin’s wife Stephanie in the chest and shoulder during a wild truck chase Sept. 3, 2023.
Carbon County District Court Judge Dawnessa Snyder paused Melvin’s prosecution in October to weigh whether he is mentally fit to participate in a trial.
She ruled Wednesday that he is.
“That’s good,” said Stephanie Bagley in a Friday interview with Cowboy State Daily, just as she returned from tending her two horses and 11 cows in the blasting snow. “Because I think he was trying to play the crazy card, and that didn’t work out for him. Yeah, he’s not right in the head – but not like that.”
Despite her and Marvin’s injuries, they’ve had no choice but to keep up with their animals day after day, she said, adding, “My animals are my kids.”
Stephanie said both she and Marvin, who are in their early 60s, are on the mend, though they still struggle against their injuries.
Melvin Bagley shot his nephew Marvin twice in the eyebrow, court documents allege.
Stephanie said that concerned Cowboy State Daily readers, community members and the Bagleys’ Baptist church in Bairoil have donated to them and helped them through.
“We’d have not made it without them, and God, and everybody else,” she said. The church especially has given “more help than we would expect. As soon as I’m in a position, I will be paying it forward.”
‘He’s Got Us’
Apparently believing the Bagleys had taken money from him, Melvin drove his Ford F-150 pickup up to Stephanie and Marvin Bagley’s ranchland in rural Carbon County on Sept. 3, according to Melvin’s case affidavit.
The affidavit indicates Melvin has dementia. Other court documents say Melvin was experiencing delusions about his finances.
Marvin and Stephanie had loaded a tractor onto a trailer affixed to their own pickup and were trundling back toward Highway 287.
Melvin pulled up with his driver’s window facing Marvin’s driver’s window, and accused the pair of stealing money from him.
The couple said they weren’t stealing his money. They had recently had Bagley living with them out of concern over his dementia, but in June had moved him to Rawlins at his own request, the affidavit says.
Melvin allegedly pulled a black handgun and started shooting. He hit Marvin twice in the right eyebrow – both bullets exited near his ear – and once through the hand, court documents say.
Two more bullets hit Stephanie in the shoulder and chest. She wouldn’t notice these until later, because she was still processing the shock of watching bullets tear through her husband’s head, she told Cowboy State Daily.
Marvin threw the truck in gear and raced toward the highway. He grabbed a .22 revolver he keeps in his truck and fired back at Melvin.
As the couple approached the shut ranch gate, Marvin hoped they could mow it down.
“If this post don’t break, he’s got us,” Marvin called out to his wife.
The post broke and they burst out onto the highway with Melvin still chasing them, Marvin told Cowboy State Daily.
Down the road, Wyoming Highway Patrol Trooper Timothy Howell caught onto the chase when Marvin waved a bloody hand at the trooper outside his truck window.
The Next Thing
Stephanie said the Bagleys are just “waiting on the next thing” in Melvin’s case.
That next thing will likely be Melvin giving his plea at an arraignment.
“I just want it to hurry up and get over with and him get to prison where he belongs,” Stephanie said
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
