An Ethete, Wyoming, man accused of murdering a woman while out on bond for beating another woman has pleaded not guilty and remains in jail.
Charged federally with first-degree murder on claims he beat and stabbed 37-year-old Inez Whiteman to death Feb.16, Kevin Mendibles, 37, faces a life sentence if convicted.
He pleaded not guilty Friday in Casper in the U.S. District Court for Wyoming.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Shickich ordered Mendibles to stay in jail, citing the man’s prior failures to appear for court as scheduled.
Federal authorities issued a warrant for Mendibles on May 16, the day he was indicted. A federal agent executed the warrant July 22.
After that, the Platte County Detention Center started holding Mendibles on behalf of federal police. Mendibles was still in the Platte County jail as of Wednesday, Sheriff David Russell confirmed to Cowboy State Daily. Russell said Mendibles transferred into his jail from a federal facility.
While the two-month lapse between the issuance of Mendibles’ warrant and the execution of it indicate he was loose during that time, the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the lapse.
Shickich also banned Mendibles from having contact with at least one other person in a Monday order. It’s unclear which people Shickich outlined, as that document is not public.
Different Woman, One Month Earlier
In an earlier and different incident, a Lander police officer arrested Mendibles on Jan. 13 for domestic abuse.
Lander Police Department Officer Casey Tadewald responded to a local apartment that day on a report of domestic violence between a man and a 35-year-old woman.
When Tadewald arrived at the apartment door, he heard a man yelling obscenities inside the apartment and a woman screaming “help me!” according to an affidavit filed Jan. 16 in Lander Circuit Court.
The woman screamed for help again, says the document.
Tadewald reportedly found the front door to be unlocked, so he rushed in to help, followed the voices down the hall, drew his taser and ordered those yelling to show themselves.
A man popped his head out of the bathroom, and Tadewald later wrote that he recognized the man as Mendibles from previous law-enforcement contacts.
“He showed me both hands at that time,” wrote Tadewald, noting the man’s hands were bloody.
Tadewald ordered Mendibles into the hallway and told him to face the wall, then the officer handcuffed and detained him. He turned to find a woman sitting on the toilet in the bathroom, bleeding from a ¾-inch laceration near her left eye with her face, hands and clothes bloodied, says the affidavit.
Tadewald put Mendibles into his police vehicle then went back to interview the woman, who reportedly said Mendibles had threatened to kill her and had hit her in the face.
The affidavit says emergency medical personnel came to check the woman’s condition, and Mendibles was taken to the Fremont County Detention Center without incident.
Guilty Of Earlier Beating
Mendibles pleaded guilty to one count of domestic battery in that case Feb. 16. He was released on an unsecured bond of $1,250 and ordered to avoid alcohol, and his victim.
He was scheduled to be sentenced March 19, but that case was later classified as “inactive."
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
