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[{"type":"text","text":"Perhaps the most terrifying attack of all time...."}]

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

<title>Daily Smile: Friday, August 23, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Perhaps the most terrifying attack of all time....

Daily Smile: Friday, August 23, 2024

 Perhaps the most terrifying attack of all time....

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Wildlife

Wyoming Game and Fish Department agents killed a black bear that tried to enter two women’s tents in the Bighorn Mountains and then subsequently entered other camps in early July. 

One of the women who was initially attacked told Cowboy State Daily on Friday that she was saddened but relieved to hear that the bear had been killed.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Same Bear"}]

Game and Fish personnel responded to a report of a black bear in a camp on Forest Road 15 in the Bighorns late on July 23. 

“The reporting party said the bear had frequented the area for multiple nights, accessing food and showing a notable lack of fear of humans in the area,” according to Game and Fish. “When the bear returned to the camp that night, it was killed by department personnel, and a tissue sample was sent to the Wyoming Game and Fish Wildlife Forensic Laboratory in Laramie.” 

On Wednesday, lab results confirmed it was the same bear that had “attempted to enter two tents while they were occupied” late July 5 at another camp off Forest System Road 178 near Fool Creek, according to Game and Fish.

The distance between the two camp sites is approximately 4.5 air miles.

‘I’m Sure Glad They Put An End To It’

Shonna Kaye Dehl of Lovell and Maggie Bassett of Powell previously told Cowboy State Daily the bear drove them out of their camp and then returned and 

In a text message to Cowboy State Daily on Friday, Bassett reacted to the bear being killed. 

“I’m sorry it had to be killed, but I’m sure glad they put an end to it before someone got hurt,” she wrote. “Unfortunately, even with the bear being gone, I can’t imagine ever sleeping in a tent again, which is one of the only ‘fun’ things I do. This whole thing just sucks.”a   m

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Food Conditioned’"}]

Dehl and Bassett described the bear as a large adult, probably a male. Game and Fish did not provide any information about the age, size and sex of the bear it killed. 

After the first attack, Game and Fish tried to trap the bear near Fool Creek. The traps were removed on July 8. 

A person or people removed warning signs around the trap area and also might have “interfered with the opportunity to capture the bear” by getting too close to the traps, according to Game and Fish. 

“The reported behavior of the bear during the two conflicts suggests it was food-conditioned and had likely received human-provided food rewards in the past. Food-conditioned bears can become destructive and dangerous in their attempts to obtain human food,” Game and Fish said.

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<title>Fish And Game Kills Black Bear That Drove Women From Bighorns Camp, Shredded Tent | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Wyoming Game and Fish wardens have killed a black bear that drove two women from their camp and shredded their tent in the Bighorn Mountains early last month. The bear likely was food-conditioned and continued to enter other camps through July.

Fish And Game Kills Black Bear That Drove Women From Bighorns Camp, Shredded Tent

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Courts

A 37-year-old Powell man faces up to 10 years in prison after allegedly attacking a woman he lived with, punching her in the head multiple times and leaving her bruised and with a chipped front tooth because he didn't believe how many steps she walked during the day.

Catlin Stephen Wolfard is charged with the felony aggravated assault and battery along with domestic battery, a misdemeanor. 

Wolfard had his first court appearance Friday morning in Park County Circuit Court, where his bond was set at $10,000. 

It started when the woman returned to the home she shared with Wolfard on Monday evening, cleaned the house and started making dinner, 

per an affidavit written by Powell Police Lt. Dustin DelBiaggio.

[{"type":"text","text":"Around 8:30 p.m., the two sat down at the kitchen table."}]

During dinner, she began talking about the number of steps her phone had recorded while she was at work. Wolfard didn't believe the number was accurate, she told investigators, and what began as a mundane disagreement turned into a heated argument.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"Whiskey got involved,\" she later told police."}]

Wolfard began drinking Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey, while she had about two shots. She described herself as about a three on a 10-point scale to drunk, but described Wolfard as "extremely angry."

The two separated for a while, and things appeared to settle down, but she said it didn't last. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"White Claw Cans Fly"}]

Around 1 a.m. Tuesday, the two were back in the kitchen when another argument erupted.

The woman said Wolfard began pulling full cans of White Claw from the refrigerator and throwing them at her, though none connected. 

She told investigators she became worried the argument was about to turn physical after Wolfard walked over and closed the kitchen window, commenting that the neighbors might hear them. 

She bent forward at the waist and put her hands over her head to protect herself as Wolfard approached, she told investigators. He then allegedly punched her two or three times with a closed fist in the back of her head.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"Don't beat me,\" she said."}]

"Stop saying I beat you, now you're going to see how it feels to be beat," Wolfard allegedly responded.

[{"type":"text","text":"The woman retreated into the master bedroom, but Wolfard followed."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Pushed Into Furniture"}]

When she tried to leave, she said Wolfard repeatedly pushed her backward into the room, using his open hands against her upper chest.

[{"type":"text","text":"She eventually got around him and made it into the living room."}]

There, she alleged, Wolfard began pushing her around for several minutes, causing her to strike furniture.

The living room contained wood-framed chairs, a couch with little padding and an air mattress on the floor, the affidavit says.

She told investigators she managed to get back to the bedroom and lie down, separating herself from Wolfard.

But at about 3 a.m., Wolfard came into the bedroom and told her he was going to sleep there, and she could sleep in the living room.

She claims she left her cellphone in the bed, and when she asked Wolfard to give it back, he refused. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Chipped Tooth"}]

Wolfard then allegedly punched the woman twice in the face with a closed fist.

She described one as a glancing blow as she turned away. The other, she said, landed directly on her mouth and chipped the bottom of her left front tooth.

She went into the living room and fell asleep while Wolfard remained in the bedroom.

When she woke later that morning, she grabbed her phone while Wolfard was still sleeping and called the police. 

She said abuse was "normal," but Wolfard had never punched her before that night. 

Police later noticed bruises on the woman's body that appeared to be in various stages of healing.

Some bruising on her chest, she said, came from a separate domestic incident with Wolfard about a week earlier.

Investigators also wrote that the woman discovered a hard mass developing inside her right breast that she attributed to the recent altercation.

Powell Hospital EMS was called, and she agreed to go to the Powell Valley Healthcare emergency room for her injuries and a forensic examination.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"What Wolfard Said"}]

Wolfard left the residence after waking up around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday and was arrested a short time later, according to the affidavit.

He told officers she bruised easily and fell frequently. He also said bruising on her left arm came from the two playing "tug of war" on paddleboards at Deaver Reservoir the previous weekend.

[{"type":"text","text":"The woman disputed both explanations."}]

 wrote that investigators believed Wolfard had attempted to cause the woman serious bodily injury by pushing her into furniture, punching her and breaking her tooth, and repeatedly striking the back of her head.

[{"type":"text","text":"According to the Park County Sheriffs Office, Wolfard remains in custody."}]

Catlin Stephen Wolfard new 8 7 26

<title>Powell Man Accused Of Beating Woman When He Didn’t Believe How Many Steps She Walked | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A 37-year-old Powell man could get 10 years in prison for allegedly attacking a woman when he got angry over not believing how many steps she walked that day. "Now you're going to see how it feels to be beat," the woman told police he said to her.

Powell Man Accused Of Beating Woman When He Didn’t Believe How Many Steps She Walked

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

Clair McFarland

Crime & Courts

Wyoming, 14 other states, a handful of gun advocacy groups, and individuals beat the Trump administration in court this week when a Texas-based federal judge called significant portions of the 1934 National Firearms Act unconstitutional.

U.S. District Court Judge James Wesley Hendrix ruled Wednesday that major portions of the act are unconstitutional and can’t be enforced on Wyoming’s government and a number of other plaintiffs. 

Those provisions restrict suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and firearms classified as “any other weapons.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Gov. Mark Gordon called the ruling a win."}]

“This is a great win for gun owners across the country, including here in Wyoming where our gun rights are an important part of our heritage,” said Gordon in a Friday email statement. “It is absolutely essential that the 2nd Amendment be respected and protected. I am delighted to see a judge recognize overreach when it is this clear.”

Gordon congratulated Wyoming Attorney General Keith Kautz and Kautz’s team “for their solid work and wish them the best as this case continues moving forward.”

Hendrix stayed his order until at least Aug. 12, in case the federal government wants to appeal. It hadn’t appealed as of Friday morning.

The judge also did not overturn the NFA’s restrictions on machine guns and destructive devices.

Mark Jones, Wyoming resident and national director of Gun Owners of America, told Cowboy State Daily the ruling represents a big win — but not an invitation to go make short-barreled rifles, at least until the dust settles.

“We’re advising people to be very careful about looking at a headline and running out and engaging in practices related to this until we get more information and there’s some decision on this appeal,” said Jones. 

He also said that though Wyoming is a plaintiff, he doesn’t believe the injunction extends to every Wyoming citizen.

But, added Jones, “I still think it’s the biggest win against the NFA in the NFA’s history, and we'll see what happens.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Trump Stance ‘Frustrating’"}]

Gun Owners of America is one of the plaintiffs.

Hendrix’s order bars the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) from enforcing the enjoined parts of the National Firearms Act against plaintiffs and the plaintiffs’ “agencies, political subdivisions, members, and customers — both current and future.”

Jones said that leaves protections for Wyoming residents in doubt because “residents” aren’t listed under the people the order protects. But, he said, a Wyomingite who is a member of the Gun Owners of America will be protected if the order is upheld.

It’s been frustrating that the Trump administration has been defending the National Firearms Act, said Jones.

“Very frustrating,” he said. “Because the president ran, obviously, as a strong 2nd Amendment supporter.”

Jones said GOA has been “openly concerned about that: why his administration is defending the National Firearms Act.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Gun Control Act Remains"}]

David Kopel, a senior fellow at the University of Wyoming College of Law Firearms Research Center, emphasized that though the NFA will be diminished if the injunction is upheld or remains in place, the Gun Control Act of 1968 is still law.

“Even if the National Firearms Act of 1934 had never been passed, if you wanted to go into a store and buy a short-barreled rifle or short-barreled shotgun or even a suppressor, you’d have to go through the same process as to buy any other gun,” said Kopel. 

[{"type":"text","text":"That includes background checks and federal paperwork."}]

But this ruling removes a noteworthy layer of federal paperwork, requirements and delays, added Jones.

Congress passed the NFA in 1934 to tax and regulate Prohibition-era “gangster weapons,” including short-barreled shotguns and rifles, silencers, and “any other weapons” – a term the government has treated flexibly over the years.

[{"type":"text","text":"The law also covers machineguns and destructive devices."}]

It imposes taxes, but also recordkeeping and registration requirements geared toward enforcing the tax.

A person who violates the law by owning or transferring one of the covered firearms without fulfilling the requirements can face up to 10 years in federal prison and $10,000 in fines, plus the loss of gun rights for life.

The U.S. Supreme Court in 1937 upheld the act because the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to tax.

The Trump-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 lifted the taxes from the short-barreled rifles and shotguns, silencers and “any other weapons.”

Hendrix ruled Wednesday that removing the taxes also removes constitutional justifications for law’s other paperwork, registration and recordkeeping requirements, which were ostensibly in place to enforce the tax.

He also wrote that in 1934 the commerce clause — the portion of the Constitution giving Congress authority over interstate commerce — would not have been seen as justifying the NFA in 1934.

But the Gun Control Act of 1968, regulating gun commerce, remains in place. It’s based on the commerce clause.

[{"type":"text","text":"Wyoming’s Defiant Little Law"}]

Wyoming law says a personal firearm, accessory or ammunition manufactured in the state, that stays in the borders of the state is not subject to federal law, taxation or regulation, “under the authority of the United States congress to regulate interstate commerce.”

Kopel had opined, however, that a person who makes a short-barreled rifle in Wyoming still cannot sell it to his next-door neighbor, because intrastate commerce affects interstate commerce.

[{"type":"text","text":"Jones said Kopel is probably right."}]

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<title>Wyoming Scores 'Win' In Landmark Gun Rights Case Against Trump Administration | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A federal judge overturned parts of the National Firearms Act this week after Wyoming and other plaintiffs sued the Trump administration, which had defended the act. Gov. Mark Gordon on Friday called it a "great win for gun owners across the country."

Wyoming Scores 'Win' In Landmark Gun Rights Case Against Trump Administration

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

Greg Johnson

A Douglas man facing 72 charges relating to child sex abuse and pornography will spend at least the next month in a San Francisco jail after he was arrested there on a fugitive warrant just hours after skipping out on a Wyoming court hearing.

John Charles Smallbone, 38, indicated Thursday that he intends to fight extradition to Wyoming to continue facing his charges in Converse County District Court.

During his first hearing in San Francisco Superior Court since his July 28 arrest by San Francisco police officers on a Wyoming felony fugitive warrant, Smallbone declined to waive extradition back to Douglas.

That’s despite signing a document June 24 when he was released from the Converse County Detention Center after someone posted a $250,000 cash bond to get him out of jail in the first place.

Signing a waiver of extradition was a condition of Smallbone being released on bond, court documents indicate. That waiver means he voluntarily gives up his right to fight extradition and agrees to be transported back to Douglas if he’s caught elsewhere.

“I hereby willingly agree and consent to place myself in the custody of any authorized Wyoming law enforcement officer and to freely return, without contest, to Converse County, Wyoming, from any jurisdiction where I may be found … to answer the charge(s) against me,” reads the waiver, which has Smallbone’s signature on it.

While Smallbone signed a waiver, that doesn’t necessarily mean he can’t fight being sent back to Wyoming anyway, said Steven Titus, a Gillette-based defense attorney.

It all depends on the other state a fugitive is being held. Some states and courts honor those waivers, while others don’t.

In Colorado last month, a Fort Collins magistrate didn’t when she allowed Smallbone out of jail on his own recognizance when picked up on another fugitive warrant.

That set the stage for him to miss his July 28 arraignment and arrest in San Francisco four hours after that hearing ended.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘That Was Crazy’"}]

, where he follows developments of Wyoming cases involving alleged child abuse and exploitation crimes.

He’s followed Smallbone’s case since his arrest, and said it’s so far been unlike any case he’s followed.

“You can call him the gift that keeps on giving,” he said. “It just keeps going.”

That includes after posting a $250,000 cash bond June 24 to get out of the Converse County Detention Center and being caught last month on a fugitive warrant in Colorado. Gallaway said he was watching a livestream of that hearing and was shocked he was allowed to go free.

“That was crazy,” he said, adding that he hopes the San Francisco court “does the right thing.”

Unable to attend in person and without a video or audio option available, Gallaway found a volunteer in San Francisco to attend Smallbone’s hearing on Thursday.

The San Francisco Superior Court said Thursday that Smallbone admitted that he’s the person named in the Wyoming fugitive warrant, and he declined to wave extradition back to the Cowboy State.

A hearing on the extradition was set for Sept. 3, and Smallbone will remain in the San Francisco jail without bond until then, the court said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Feared For His Life"}]

 on 72 child sex and pornography charges in a Wyoming district court on July 28, Smallbone was arrested on a fugitive warrant in San Francisco.

The 38-year-old Douglas man told Judge F. Scott Peasley through his public defender that he feared for his life if he were to show up for his plea hearing.

In the meantime, it seems he was on his way to San Francisco, and was arrested by police officers there about four hours after his 3:30 p.m. hearing ended in a Douglas courtroom, according to the Converse County Sheriff’s Office.

That Smallbone had been caught twice in less than a week fleeing Wyoming and the dozens of felony charges he faces here, Converse County Sheriff Clint Becker said he hopes there isn’t a repeat of what happened in Colorado.

“That was my comment when I got called to let us know he was in custody,” the sheriff told Cowboy State Daily at the time. “Hopefully …”

After Smallbone was released in Colorado, officials in that state and Wyoming who worked to track him expressed frustration with that situation.

Kylie Masserman, a spokesperson with the Larimer County District Attorney’s Office in Colorado, told Cowboy State Daily via an emailed statement that the court had the proper documentation to hold Smallbone.

“The District Attorney’s Office strongly believes that this bond setting is dangerous and has put the communities in both Colorado and Wyoming at risk,” she said. “Giving a free pass to dangerous out-of-state offenders fleeing to Colorado sets a terrible precedent and risks further harm to the victims in the Wyoming case.”

Now that he’s been caught again, Becker said he’s confident Smallbone will be returned to Wyoming to face his charges.

And there will be more of those to face, Converse County Deputy Attorney Nate Shumway said during the July 28 hearing.

He told the judge that his office has filed amended charges against Smallbone that include the 72 he already had been hit with, plus more that he’s since picked up.

Those amended charges have so far not shown up in Smallbone’s public-facing court file.

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

The list of charges against Smallbone is long, including:

• 1 count of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor.

• 36 counts of possessing child pornography.

• 16 counts of using a video camera to record intimate areas of another person without consent.

• 18 counts of knowingly manufacturing, generating, or creating child pornography.

• 1 count of possessing more than 3 ounces of marijuana (1.3 pounds).

He landed on the radar of the Converse County Sheriff’s Office after the mother of an underage girl reported concerning interactions her daughter had with Smallbone on May 9.

The girl was in a vehicle with Smallbone and others when he allegedly typed “if you suck me, I’ll lick you” on his phone and showed it to the girl, according to an affidavit of probable cause written by Peech.

“He also mouthed the words, ‘I want to see you naked,’” the affidavit says.

Smallbone later denied mouthing anything or showing the girl any messages.

That, along with other alleged disturbing interactions with the girl at Smallbone’s home that evening, started an investigation that revealed a trove of photos, videos and other child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on his electronic devices, the affidavit says.

The investigation also showed Smallbone had been convicted in 2002 of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust in Douglas County, Colorado.

He also had registered as a sex offender in Wyoming in 2014, but it was “later determined not to be required to register in Wyoming due to him being a juvenile at the time of his adjudication in Colorado,” according to the affidavit.

That was in reference to a 2001 case when Smallbone was 12 and was accused of sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl, the affidavit says.

While in treatment for that incident, he disclosed he also had sexual contact with at least seven other children, and five were younger than him at the time of the sexual contact.

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<title>Wyoming Man Facing 72 Child Sex-Related Charges To Stay In San Francisco Jail | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Douglas man facing 72 charges relating to child sex abuse and pornography will spend at least the next month in a San Francisco jail after a court hearing there Thursday. John Smallbone indicated he intends to fight being sent back to Wyoming.

Wyoming Man Facing 72 Child Sex-Related Charges To Stay In San Francisco Jail

A Yellowstone bull bison with a gigantic abscess on its right rear quarter probably isn’t suffering much pain and will likely survive, one of the county’s top bison ranchers says.

But the recovery process is going to be good, said Ken Klemm, past president and a lifelong member of the National Bison Association.

After seeing a photo of the bison, taken early Wednesday in Yellowstone National Park’s Lamar Valley, Klemm said a gushing rupture of the abscess is imminent.

“It looks like a 5-gallon bucketful of stuff will come out of that one,” Klemm, who has managed some of the world’s largest bison ranches, told Cowboy State Daily.

The abscess probably formed around a wound, he said.

The bison rut, or mating season, is on in Yellowstone. The bull might have suffered a puncture during a fight with another bull, Klemm said.

Lauri Foster lives just outside of New York City and loves coming to Wyoming to visit Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.

Early Wednesday, she was on a wildlife-viewing drive through the Lamar Valley when she spotted the bull sporting a huge, bulbous mass near its backside.

Foster works with horses and is familiar with injuries to large animals, so she knew what she saw on the bison must be something serious.

“I thought it had to be a hematoma or an abscess,” she told Cowboy State Daily.

Foster couldn’t see any visible cuts or sores that might indicate exactly where it was wounded, she said.

To keep safe, Foster stayed in her vehicle to photograph that bull and other bison.

The bulls were raising a ruckus as they competed for mating rights.

“They were headbutting each other and chasing each other down,” Foster said.

The bull with the abscess was taking a break, though she surmised he had probably been recently wounded in a fight.

She added that despite how hideous that abscess looked, the bull didn’t seem sick or weak.

“He was walking along normally,” she said.

The rut has made bull bison extra agitated lately. In the most dramatic incident, a bison flipped and seriously injured Washington state resident Carl Isom-McDaniel, 65, in July.

Foster said at one point the bull walked up the middle of the road and stopped directly in front of her vehicle, giving her the stink-eye.

“I was thinking, ‘this is a little intimidating,’” she said.

Bull elk are known for getting into epic battles once their rut starts, usually in September.

Bison take it to another level, Klemm said.

A massive abscess on a Yellowstone bull bison’s right rear quarter likely is the result of an infected wound from a rut battle. When it ruptures, “a 5-gallon bucketful of stuff” will gush out, a top bison rancher says, adding the bison should be fine.

Daily Smile: Friday, August 23, 2024

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