Daily Cartoon

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

<title>Daily Cartoon: Thursday, June 6, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Daily Cartoon: Thursday, June 6, 2024

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Crime & Courts

Courts

A Jackson man is accused of twice blasting another driver in the face with bear spray during a road rage showdown, leaving the victim temporarily blind and gasping for air.

Police say the second burst is what turned an angry traffic dispute into a felony.

Leonardo Enrique Dominguez was arrested Sunday and charged with aggravated battery after investigators allege he intentionally caused serious bodily injury, as stated in a probable cause affidavit filed Monday in Teton County Circuit Court.

Prosecutors have charged Dominguez with aggravated battery, claiming he intentionally caused serious bodily injury "under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Road Rage Call"}]

The confrontation unfolded shortly before noon Sunday near the Loaf 'N Jug gas station along West Broadway Avenue in Jackson.

Police responded to reports of a road rage assault involving bear spray and found a man kneeling beside his white Dodge Caravan.

The affidavit says the man was coughing violently, his eyes were burning and he was unable to answer officers' questions. Mucus and tears streamed down his face as emergency responders treated him before transporting him to the hospital.

Witnesses told police they had been driving behind the man when a gray Toyota Tacoma pulled alongside his stopped van.

They said someone inside the truck sprayed bear spray through the passenger-side window of the van, the affidavit says. As the man stood in the doorway of his van, they said he was sprayed a second time directly in the face before the truck sped away.

Officers later noted the interior of the man's van still reeked of bear spray, which made one of the corporal's "eyes burn" and caused them to cough, according to the affidavit.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Pulled Over "}]

At the hospital, the man who had been sprayed told investigators the road rage encounter began after another truck tried merging into his lane, nearly forcing him onto the sidewalk.

He said he pulled over simply to ask the other driver what he was doing. Instead of an explanation, he said he was immediately blasted with bear spray.

The man denied threatening the other driver and said he had never seen him before.

A request for further comment from the driver of the van was not returned by publication. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Self Defense Argument"}]

Investigators reviewed surveillance video and license plate camera data that led them to a gray vehicle registered to Dominguez.

Officers found the truck parked outside his apartment later that afternoon, the affidavit says.

Dominguez agreed to speak with police and acknowledged spraying the man twice, but insisted he acted in self-defense.

The affidavit says Dominguez claimed the man sped up to block him, brake-checked him, yelled profanities and aggressively approached his driver's window.

He said he displayed the bear spray first as a warning before using it, the affidavit says.

Dominguez admitted spraying the man once through the driver's window of the van and a second time after he returned to his own vehicle, saying he feared the confrontation was continuing.

He also told officers he didn't call police because he believed surveillance cameras had captured the encounter and assumed officers would eventually contact him.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Felony Charge "}]

When officers located Dominguez's vehicle, they reported seeing rags inside "as if the vehicle had been cleaned,” the affidavit says. 

They also observed tactical gear, flashlights, a knife and patches mounted throughout the truck's interior.

Dominguez told investigators his truck was equipped with a dash cam that may have recorded the incident.

The investigating officer wrote that bear spray is intended to stop bears — not people — and can cause severe eye injuries, swelling, airway constriction and potentially life-threatening respiratory complications when used at close range.

Police concluded there was probable cause to arrest Dominguez after considering witness statements, the alleged victim's account and Dominguez's own admission that he sprayed the man a second time.

Investigators say that second burst came after Bilen had already returned to his own vehicle, leading them to conclude the use of force was no longer justified and supported a charge of aggravated battery.

Dominguez made his initial appearance Monday afternoon before Teton County Circuit Court Judge Erin Weisman, who set his bond at $5,000 cash. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 31.

Jackson Loaf N Jug green sign 7 21 26

<title>Jackson Man Accused Of Blasting Driver With Bear Spray In Road Rage Showdown | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Jackson man is accused of blasting another driver twice with bear spray during a Sunday road rage showdown, leaving the victim struggling to breathe. He admitted using bear spray on the other driver, but told police it was self-defense.

Jackson Man Accused Of Blasting Driver With Bear Spray In Road Rage Showdown

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

Andrew Rossi

Outdoors

Public Lands

A tourist caught on video climbing on top of one of the iconic buildings in Grand Teton National Park not only broke the law, he disrespected “my family’s heritage,” said the grandson of Thomas Alva Moulton, who along with brother John Moulton, built the most famous homesteads on Mormon Row.

. A man climbed to the top of one of the historic structures adjacent to the pink house on the John Moulton Ranch.

“A tourist climbed onto the roof of one of the historic buildings just to take photos,” she said, but she didn’t say whether the man had been reported to park rangers.

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[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"My Family’s Heritage"}]

While the Moulton family no longer owns the historic structures, they still have a deep connection to their homesteads in the Teton Valley.

Steve Moulton is the grandson of T.A. Moulton, who built 

of the still-standing structures on Mormon Row and one of the most photographed barns in the world.

“My grandfather built the T.A. barn way back in the early 1900s,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “My dad helped build it and worked on it over the years. I have worked on it myself. I've been on the roof of the T.A. barn because we were putting a new roof on it.”

Moulton admitted that he climbed all over the T.A. Moulton Barn as a child, but that was when it was his family’s property.

The 1-acre parcel with the T.A. Moulton Barn was sold to the National Park Service in 2018, making it the last privately owned real estate on Mormon Row to be folded into Grand Teton National Park.

“I’m associated with the T.A. Moulton Barn, but that doesn't mean that I want to see anything going on down at the John Moulton Barn either,” Steve said. “It’s my family's heritage.”

omeone clambering over the historic building, especially since there’s been such an effort to ensure the remaining structures at Mormon Row remain standing.

“It's clear that there are people in this world who have no respect for public property,” he said. “To keep them in good condition, we have to take care of them, because yes, they are fragile.”

Grand Teton officials "are aware of the video" and warn that "climbing on historic structures can cause irreversible damage," said park spokesperson Emily Davis in a statement to Cowboy State Daily.

“At Mormon Row, visitors come to experience a remarkable historic landscape,” she added. “When someone disregards the rules and climbs on these structures, it detracts from that shared experience and puts an irreplaceable piece of our nation's history at risk.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Loved To Death"}]

Most people who visit Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks from around the world don’t have destructive intentions. They just want to take in the beauty of the landscape, like millions of others.

[{"type":"text","text":"That, however, can be part of the problem."}]

As visitation to national parks increases, one commonly heard concern is that they’re “

” The reason is that higher densities of tourists are, intentionally or unintentionally, causing more destruction and disturbance to the natural vistas that drew people there in the first place.

“We ask all visitors to help preserve historic buildings by viewing them from designated areas and not climbing on or entering the structures,” Davis said. “Historic buildings can be more fragile than they appear, and even what might seem like minor actions can contribute to the buildings' deterioration over time.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Steve shares some of that concern. "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"As Mormon Row has become more popular, the impact on the area is evident."}]

“What bothers me is there's so much foot traffic around the T.A. Barn,” he said. “The pictures used to have green grass in front of the barn. Now, it's just dirt because there is so much traffic.”

 at Mormon Row is underway. Jenkins has said it was part of several “micro-geographic” efforts to improve popular spots in the park for a better overall visitor experience.

“We want to be able to host more visitation at Mormon Row, so we're looking at things we can be doing to help manage that visitation,” he told Cowboy State Daily in May.

The list of desired site improvements includes a larger, centralized parking lot, new interpretive and wayfinding signs, distinct walking paths, and furnishings like benches and trash cans, new restrooms, and a 0.75-mile trail extension connecting Mormon Trail Road to Antelope Flats Road.

“Construction started at Mormon Row earlier this month,” Davis said. “Site improvements there are part of a multi-phase project to improve accessibility and the visitor experience while protecting the site's historic character.”

These improvements will go hand-in-hand with an ecological restoration of Mormon Row. 

Native vegetation will be planted and damaged areas restored, and the new parking lot will be built further away from the historic homesteads to ensure the landscape and views remain as pristine as possible.

they’d help to mitigate the damage of visitor traffic. However, that doesn’t eliminate the damage caused by reckless tourists who are determined to do their own thing to the detriment of the park and its visitors.

“We want (Mormon Row) to last many more decades, so we have to be really careful with anything that goes on around them, as far as touching, climbing, or taking stuff off them for souvenirs,” he said.

Many people value the serenity of Mormon Row and the Moulton barns as much as the Moulton family itself. Steve hopes that will lead to better decisions and increased awareness.

“I want visitors to understand their historical importance,” he said. “I want them to have the same feelings as my family does about preserving the integrity of those structures, so we have to take great care to not do anything that will be destructive to them.”

Climing on Moulton building 1 7 21 26

<title>Grand Teton Tourist Caught Illegally Climbing On Famous Mormon Row Building | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A tourist caught on video climbing one of the famous Mormon Row buildings in Grand Teton Park broke the law and disrespected “my family’s heritage,” said the grandson of T.A. Moulton who, along with his brother, built the most park's famous homesteads.

Grand Teton Tourist Caught Illegally Climbing On Famous Mormon Row Building

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's managing editor, Greg Johnson.

Greg Johnson

Attorneys for a former Cheyenne woman accused of murdering 

 38 years ago say there’s not enough evidence for a trial and want a district court judge to order a new preliminary hearing.

In the meantime, 57-year-old Eva Martinez is out of jail after her bond was reduced from $100,000 to $25,000 during an arraignment hearing last week in Laramie County District Court.

There’s no record in the public-facing court file of whether Martinez entered a plea to the single charge of first-degree murder she faces.

However, her public defenders claim prosecutors didn’t offer enough evidence to bind her over to trial — an argument they make in a motion to vacate her previous preliminary hearing and order a new one.

During Martinez’s June 18 preliminary hearing, the circuit court judge cited the wrong legal terminology to support moving her case forward to trial and “relied on factual findings unsupported by the evidence provided at the preliminary hearing,” wrote public defenders Stacy Kirven and David Korman in their motion.

Preliminary hearings aren’t trials and there is no “beyond a reasonable doubt” threshold, argues Sweetwater County Attorney Daniel Erramouspe, who’s acting as a special prosecutor in the case for the Laramie County Attorney’s Office.

“‘Reasonable belief’ is the standard” for a preliminary hearing, Erramouspe wrote in his Monday response to the motion for a new hearing. “‘Beyond a reasonable doubt’ is not. The preliminary hearing is ‘not designed to be a dress rehearsal for the trial.’”

The thrust of the claims on Martinez’s behalf centers around Circuit Court Judge Antoinette Williams citing the current laws instead of what the law was in 1988 when the baby died, referencing a “second autopsy” when there wasn’t one, and the definitions of terms relating to a first-degree murder charge.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Some Background"}]

While the grisly discovery of the boy’s body happened more than 38 years ago, it wasn’t until 2021 that advanced DNA testing allowed investigators to 

 and identify Martinez as the boy’s probable mother, according to an affidavit of probable cause written by Detective Sgt. Ryan Martinez of the LCSO (no relation).

When first interviewed by detectives decades later on Dec. 22, 2025, Martinez “repeatedly denied knowing anything about Baby John Doe or having any children or pregnancies around that time frame,” the affidavit says.

It was during that interview that a sample of her DNA was taken.

When she was interviewed again months later after results showed the strong probability of her being Baby John Doe’s mother, she maintained her first story, according to the affidavit.

“She denied having any knowledge of Baby John Doe, having knowledge of anyone else who was responsible for Baby John Doe’s death, or why Baby John Doe’s body was placed in the culvert at Happy Jack Road and McKinney Drive,” the affidavit continues.

She claimed she wasn’t in Cheyenne around that timeframe, but investigators could not verify that information.

Martinez graduated from Cheyenne Central High School in 1987, and at some point afterward moved to Las Vegas, where she worked for about the next 20 years before returning to Cheyenne, the affidavit says.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Finding The Body"}]

Martinez would have been 18 on Feb. 28, 1988, when Laramie County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a call at Happy Jack Road and McKinney Drive just southwest of the boundary for F.E. Warren Air Force Base.

What they found was anything but routine, the affidavit says.

People who had been walking in the area discovered the dead baby near a culvert.

“Their juvenile son had initially noticed a dog chewing on something in the area, and they later realized it was a deceased baby,” the affidavit says. “It was determined that the deceased baby had initially been inside the culvert prior to the dog moving it.”

The baby was “abandoned, unclothed, deceased … discovered near the roadway,” according to an LCSO report announcing Martinez’s arrest last month.

“An autopsy concluded that the baby was a fully developed, full-term, 6.5-pound baby,” according to the report. “The autopsy found no evidence of significant injury, congenital anomaly, or disease.”

It also was determined that the baby was born alive and remained alive for “an amount of time due to air being in the baby’s lungs and stomach,” the report says.

However, at the time the cause and manner of the boy’s death were undetermined.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"That Testimony"}]

That autopsy is one of the reasons Martinez needs a new preliminary hearing, her lawyers argue in their motion.

That the prosecution failed to present any evidence that she killed Baby John Doe is another.

At the first hearing, testimony referred to a “second autopsy” performed on the boy, and Judge Williams also initially mentioned it in giving her order to bind Martinez over to trial.

There never was a “second autopsy” and mentioning that as a reason to advance the case is improper, the public defenders argue.

During the first preliminary hearing, the detective “acknowledged that there is no evidence to support numerous critical facts regarding the alleged offense,” the defense motion says. The detective further “conceded that there was no way to determine if Baby John Doe died in Wyoming.”

Another inconsistency is testimony that the infant’s cause of death in 1988 was listed as “undetermined,” but it wasn’t until March 2026 when his death certificate was amended to show homicide.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Not Enough"}]

Those arguments aren’t enough for a judge to throw out the first preliminary hearing and order another, 

That’s because a preliminary hearing isn’t a trial, and the issues raised by the defense’s motion should be dealt with during Martinez’s trial.

“Those are trial questions and are not grounds to vacate a bind-over,” he wrote. “Defendant’s contrary position would require the lower court to resolve precisely the kind of ‘difficult legal questions’ that the Wyoming Supreme Court has held are inappropriate at a preliminary hearing and are reserved for the district court.”

He also says the dispute over a nonexistent “second autopsy” doesn’t hold water, because the original autopsy was given an updated review, Erramouspe wrote.

Whether the review “is described as a ‘second autopsy,’ an ‘updated autopsy’ or a review and amendment of the original autopsy is immaterial to probable cause,” he argues.

Moreover, Martinez isn’t entitled to a new preliminary hearing because she doesn’t like that a judge found probable cause, Erramouspe wrote. Whether there’s enough evidence is ultimately a question for a jury.

“Defendant’s requested remedy of a new preliminary hearing before a different circuit judge is especially unwarranted,” according to Erramouspe’s response. “Wyoming law does not entitle a defendant to relitigate probable cause before a new magistrate whenever she disagrees with how the first described the evidence.”

While Martinez was granted a lower bond — and posted it — there are some conditions attached to her being released from jail, according to court records.

Her bond had to have been posted by a bondsman, not personally, and she has to wear an ankle monitor.

If convicted of first-degree murder, Martinez could face life in prison or death.

Eva Martinez and new sign 6 10 26

<title>Cheyenne Woman Accused Of Murdering Newborn 38 Years Ago Wants New Hearing | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Attorneys for a former Cheyenne woman accused of murdering her newborn boy 38 years ago say there’s not enough evidence for a trial and want a judge to order a new preliminary hearing. She's also out of jail on a lower bond granted last week.

Cheyenne Woman Accused Of Murdering Newborn 38 Years Ago Wants New Hearing

Jory Thomas, 14, was absent-mindedly flipping loops with a rope while visiting his grandparents' campground on the Yellowstone River over the Fourth of July weekend when he heard someone start screaming for help.

Within seconds, the Montana ranch kid emptied his pockets, splashed across a side channel and waded chest-deep into the river.

[{"type":"text","text":"Then he did something he'd spent the past year practicing on calves."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"This time, he roped a drowning man."}]

The July 5 rescue unfolded so quickly that by the time the first Sweet Grass County Sheriff’s Office deputy arrived three minutes after Jory's father called 911, everyone was already safely on shore.

"My opinion, Jory saved the individual's life, 100%," Sweet Grass County Sheriff Alan Ronneberg told Cowboy State Daily. "Had Jory not acted, I believe the chances of this individual not making it to shore were very slim.”'

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Boat Hits A Bridge"}]

The Thomas family lives on a ranch about a dozen miles outside Big Timber, directly across from a campground where Jory's grandparents had been staying for the week.

Jory wandered over to visit with his parents and grandparents that afternoon, a rope already in his hand as he casually practiced throwing loops.

"All of a sudden he heard some yells for help," Jory's father, Jase Thomas, told Cowboy State Daily.

A boat had struck a bridge pillar, throwing its occupants into the Yellowstone River.

Three people fell in, but only two managed to get out, leaving one person alone in the swift current, desperately clinging to a cooler.

[{"type":"text","text":"Jory didn't hesitate."}]

Somehow, said his father, he convinced the drowning man to let go of the cooler. Then he threw the rope, catching the man around the neck and one arm. 

Jory and another bystander then pulled the man safely to shore before emergency responders arrived. 

In the moment, Jory didn’t think about any potential danger to himself, he just acted on instinct, the teen told KTVQ television in Billings, Montana, which first 

"This current was pretty fast then, and he was moving pretty quickly," he told the outlet. "Only thing I could focus on was helping him get out of the water because I didn't want to see anyone go in front of me.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Let Me Have My Son Back'"}]

Jory's father has spent three decades on the Big Timber Volunteer Fire Department and immediately called 911.

Dispatch records show the call came in at 5:39 p.m. A deputy arrived just three minutes later and reported everyone was already out of the water. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Watching the rescue unfold wasn't easy for the elder Thomas. "}]

He knows that stretch of river, and that it becomes more dangerous just downstream, where swift current, deep holes and logjams create deadly hazards.

"My biggest concern was to let me have my son back," he said before taking a long pause, reflecting on the potential for Jory to also get caught up in the current.

"He understands water, but I don't think he understands what could happen,” Jase said. "I mean, he does, but he had one thing in mind, which is great, and he got it done." 

Jase believes the man his son rescued likely wouldn't have survived much longer.

[{"type":"text","text":"Sheriff Ronneberg agrees."}]

"I'm not sure how close the individual was to being 'lost,' but in my experience such things happen faster than you might guess they can," he said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'He Loves Roping' "}]

Although the rescue looked almost unbelievable, it wasn't blind luck. Jory has spent the past year immersing himself in roping.

He practices on roping dummies in his spare time and started roping calves from horseback during local brandings, his father said.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"He's always had a rope,\" Jase said. \"He loves roping.\" "}]

Outside of ranch work, he's an avid hunter and is spending this week showing a steer and a pig at the county fair. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'That's Just Who He Is'"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"To his family, the rescue wasn't entirely surprising."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Jase said his son has always been the first person to help someone else."}]

"We'll be in town at the grocery store, and you'll see an elderly person," he said. "They can't pack the groceries, and he never says a word. He goes over and gets their groceries and packs them out. That's just who he is." 

Ronneberg said the rescue is a reminder that courage often appears in ordinary moments.

"Jory saw another in trouble and acted, not for himself but for another," Ronneberg said. "He didn't pull out a phone, but a lariat. He didn't watch what was happening but intervened."

"Jory is a lesson for all of us in this day and age and showed us what is courageous and right.”

Montana lasso teen 7 21 26

<title>14-Year-Old Ranch Kid Ropes Drowning Man On Yellowstone River, Saves Life | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A 14-year-old ranch kid from Big Timber, Montana, had a rope in his hand when cries for help erupted from the Yellowstone River. He sprinted into the water, threw one loop and caught a struggling man around the arm and neck, pulling him safely to shore.

14-Year-Old Ranch Kid Ropes Drowning Man On Yellowstone River, Saves Life

Two tourists were seen getting dangerously and illegally close to Grand Prismatic Spring on Sunday in Yellowstone National Park, enraging hundreds of spectators and millions of internet onlookers.

Tanya Saueressig of Livingston, Montana, was visiting Yellowstone with a friend when she witnessed the incident. She was standing on the Grand Prismatic boardwalk around 7 p.m. during what was otherwise a pleasant evening.

“It was a really nice crowd,” she told Cowboy State Daily. “People on the boardwalk were being lovely, giving each other space, and being quiet. It was a really nice experience.”

Saueressig was getting her final look of the evening when she saw something moving across the expansive microbial mats toward Grand Prismatic.

“I stopped in my tracks and was like, ‘Is that people? That can't be people. Nobody's that dumb,’” she said. 

[{"type":"text","text":"After all, temperatures in the spring run from 145 - 188 degrees. Deadly."}]

But, it was people. Two women, who appeared to be approaching the massive hot spring from the Fairy Falls Trail, which runs along the western edge of Grand Prismatic.

Saueressig's lovely evening quickly soured, as she was immediately overwhelmed by a wave of different emotions.

“I started getting scared because I thought they were going to fall in and get really, really hurt,” she said. “I worried people at the overlook were going to watch someone die that day. They were out there where nobody could help them.”

Concern quickly turned to anger. As she watched the women nonchalantly walk along the edge of Grand Prismatic, within 50 feet of its scalding-hot water, she got “so furious that I literally had tears in my eyes.”

“You could tell they were just strolling along, taking their selfies, without a care in the world,” she said. “They were totally oblivious to what was right under their feet. You're causing so much damage with every step you take, and you don't care.”

Someone else filmed the dark-haired duo 

. That video has been viewed millions of times in less than 24 hours. 

There’s no word on whether the individuals in the videos were identified or reported to Yellowstone's law enforcement rangers.

“I was so angry,” Saueressig said. “It was so mind-boggling to me that they would be out there in the first place.”

Walking on the fragile microbial mats around Grand Prismatic Spring and Yellowstone's many thermal features is a crime, punishable by fines, incarceration, and a multi-year ban from Yellowstone.

 in the park. That hasn’t stopped others from 

Greg Jackson, a former deputy chief for the National Park Service’s Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services in Washington, D.C., called this type of tourist “the 0.1%.”

Two tourists got dangerously and illegally close to Grand Prismatic Spring on Sunday in Yellowstone. Montana resident Tanya Saueressig, who filmed them taking selfies right next to the scalding water, said she "was so furious" she had tears in her eyes.

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