A Shoshoni, Wyoming, woman has pleaded guilty to shooting her boyfriend, in an episode where she was also accused of shooting at his Harley-Davidson and a truck belonging to his “female friend.”
Jordan Christine Weliever, who turns 31 this year, confessed in Fremont County District Court on Tuesday to committing aggravated assault against Tom Caproni in April.
She did so after establishing an Oct. 8 plea agreement that she and her attorney Ryan Semerad both signed, as did case prosecutor Fremont County Assistant Attorney Ember Oakley.
The agreement says prosecutor and defense both agree to a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. Weliever still can argue for any sentence she wants.
It’s a slight reprieve from the charge’s maximum penalty of 10 years. In exchange for the guilty plea, Oakley agreed to drop the other charges: aggravated assault, property destruction for shooting his Harley-Davidson and a truck, and reckless endangering.
But Weliever will have to pay restitution on all the charges, even those dropped, says the agreement. And the judge may apply any other fines at his discretion.
Weliever’s sentencing will happen at a later date.
Semerad declined Friday to comment.
‘It Was Me’
Weliever called Fremont County dispatch about 8:29 a.m. April 4, to report that her boyfriend, Thomas Caproni, had been shot in the foot, says a case affidavit by Fremont County Sheriff’s Detective Anthony Armstrong.
“It was me,” said Weliever, according to the document. “I shot him.”
A sheriff’s lieutenant responded to Caproni’s last known home on Saltbrush Road just west of Riverton. A blood trail led from the dirt driveway up the ramp to the porch and the door, the affidavit says.
The lieutenant made “several attempts” to contact Caproni. The man eventually answered the door and “did in fact have an obvious gunshot wound to his right foot, which was actively bleeding,” says the document.
Caproni said it happened at Weliever’s home on Missouri Valley Road in Shoshoni. They’d been drinking alcohol together. He wanted to leave, and went outside with no clothes on, wrapped in a blanket because he knew Weliever’s daughter was in the home, the document says.
Weliever came out and threw his clothes at him. While he was putting his pants on, she shot him in the foot, dropping him to the ground, says the affidavit.
She kept firing a semiautomatic handgun at him from about 15-20 feet away, the document continues, hitting his Harley-Davidson motorcycle with bullets. Caproni told investigators she emptied the magazine and put a new one in during the shooting.
Going Home
Weliever then drove Caproni to his home outside Riverton, in her truck. He started walking up the ramp and inside his home, but then he heard more gunshots from his driveway; and he fled inside and locked the door, the document says.
The affidavit says Weliever walked up the ramp to Caproni’s door and tried the lock on the doorknob, then walked away and left.
When detectives went to the home, they noticed four trucks sitting in the driveway. One belonged to a female friend of Caproni’s, Armstrong wrote in the affidavit.
The female’s truck was damaged with bullet holes, broken windows, interior damage and a bullet strike to the driver’s side headrest, the detective added.
Blood And Shell Casings
In Weliever’s home, investigators found blood, shell casings and bullet holes in the Harley. They arrested Weliever and took her to the sheriff’s office.
Armstrong and Fremont County Sheriff’s Detective Sara Lowe found blood on the front passenger door frame of Weliever’s truck, which looked like it had dripped down while the door was open, the document says.
They also found bullet impacts on a child’s soccer rebound net and on the concrete patio, reportedly.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
