As Paul Brockman, 84, found out the news he’d been waiting nearly a decade to hear, tears streamed down his face.
The Cheyenne Police Department had finally arrested a suspect for the 2015 killing of his brother during a robbery. Although the news came as an immense sense of relief for Paul, he said he was still stricken with emotion.
“I cried and cried and cried,” he said about the June 25 arrest of Douglas Mark Smith, 68.
Paul’s brother Dwight Brockman, 67, was murdered in a brazen mid-day robbery at The Coin Shop in downtown Cheyenne on July 29, 2015, that also killed George “Doc” Manley, 76.
Paul Brockman grew up in Cheyenne, but now lives in southwest Missouri with his wife. He learned about the arrest over Facebook from the wife of Dwight’s son and his nephew, David Brockman.
Watching the press conference announcing Smith’s arrest online, Brockman couldn’t believe his eyes.
“I didn’t really know if they’d ever catch the guy,” Brockman told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday. “I was so thankful.”
Soon after, Paul spoke with his nephew, who took over The Coin Shop after his father was killed and attended Smith’s initial court hearing Friday.
A Family Tradition
Paul said Dwight was his only brother and the youngest of the Brockman children, about nine years younger than him.
The two grew up together in Cheyenne in the 1950s and 1960s and shared an affinity for collecting coins that was fueled by their father’s interest in the hobby.
Their father opened the family’s first coin shop across the street from the post office in downtown Cheyenne, leading Dwight to follow in his footsteps later and take over the family business.
“He (Dwight) knew a lot about coins,” Paul said, adding he “far surpassed anything I knew.”
Paul moved away from Wyoming and went on to have a successful career working in the aerospace industry. But he always stayed in touch with Dwight and would visit The Coin Shop whenever he was back in town.
He said Dwight was a sharp businessman and a popular figure in the local coin collecting community, known for his outgoing personality and friendly demeanor.
“He was a friend to everybody. Everybody loved Dwight,” Paul said. “He could talk to anybody about anything.”
When Paul found out the news of Dwight’s murder in 2015, he was shocked and dumbfounded.
“I couldn’t believe it, I thought, ‘You’re kidding me,’” Paul said. “I just could not believe it.”
A testament to Dwight’s popularity was that there were about 500 people at his funeral at the local Eagle’s Lodge, Paul said.
Paul said David is just like his father and doing a great job carrying on the family business.
He also said Smith was a well-known regular customer in the shop who both Dwight and his son knew.
What Paul found noteworthy about the arrest was that it was Smith who made the original 911 call to authorities alerting them of the murder. If it was Smith who committed the murder, what may never be known is whether he planned to call 911 all along or did so in a moment of panic after the murders were committed.
Dwight Brockman, left, was killed during a 2015 robbery in Cheyenne. His brother Paul, right, says the arrest of a suspect nine years later brings a sense of closure. (Courtesy Paul Brockman) 
Dwight Brockman, left, in an old undated photo with family, including his older brother Paul, right. (Courtesy Paul Brockman) 
Cheyenne police announced Tuesday, June 25, 2024, they've made an arrest in the 2015 double murder at The Coin Shop in downtown Cheyenne, a crime that rocked the community. (Jimmy Orr, Cowboy State Daily)
Closure
No amount of justice will ever bring Dwight Brockman back to this world. Dealing with a loved one’s murder involves a roller coaster of emotions that can range from anger and fury to grief and acceptance.
“You kind of make peace with it, and then it’s great to hear the news that they caught the person,” Paul said.
What Smith’s arrest means for Paul Brockman is a sense of closure.
“Just a sense of satisfaction that someone is going to pay for this crime,” he said.
Brockman said his brother’s murder changed him as a human being.
“I became more sensitive to people’s feelings and try to support people more, be in tune with them more,” he said. “When you lose somebody it has a big impact on you.”
At 84, Brockman is no spring chicken himself, although he is in phenomenal shape for his age. He said he had wondered if police would ever find his little brother’s killer before he died and that he never really stopped thinking about it all those years.
“Prayer helps a lot and never giving up and having faith something will be solved,” he said.
Smith’s next court hearing is Friday, but the case has the potential to drag out for many months or even years if it makes it to trial.
Brockman said the arrest has also taught him the value of never giving up on a problem and feels immense gratitude to members of the Cheyenne Police Department who kept the case alive and never let it go cold. When he called authorities to get an update on the murder about two or three years after it happened, Paul said he received a quick reply and a commitment that the investigation was still ongoing.
“They never gave up,” Brockman said.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
