For the second of two young Big Piney men accused of murdering their friend with a bow and arrow, the prosecutor has withdrawn the possibility of the death penalty.
Now neither Rowan Littauer, 19, nor Orion Schlesinger, 18, will face the death penalty. Both could still face life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder and conspiring to commit first-degree murder, respectively, in the Feb. 2 death of 23-year-old Big Piney man Dakota Farley.
Littauer pleaded “not guilty by reason of mental illness” Monday in Sublette County District Court, as well as “not guilty” to one count of first-degree murder and another of mutilating a dead body.
In Wyoming, people can layer both of those pleas together.
He faces life in prison if convicted.
First-degree murder can carry the potential of the death penalty, if the prosecutor pursues it, but the process is rigorous. A unanimous jury must decide — after convicting a defendant — if his actions deserve death.
A local jury probably wouldn’t vote to execute Littauer, Sublette County Attorney Clayton Melinkovich told District Court Judge Kate McKay during Littauer’s Monday arraignment hearing.
“The allegations in this case are beyond heinous,” began Melinkovich.
If the accounts of the killing, the claims that Littauer and his co-defendant were friends with Farley, and the potential danger Littauer poses to the community were the only factors, the prosecutor would still pursue the death penalty, he said.
“Given Mr. Littauer’s age and criminal history, the state does not see that as a likely outcome,” said Melinkovich, referencing the prospect of a jury’s unanimous vote for death. “The state does not see how pursuing (that unlikely outcome) throughout the course of this matter is beneficial to this community or to the overall criminal justice system in Wyoming.”
For the second time since Schlesinger’s March 20 arraignment, Melinkovich also referenced an ongoing statewide public defender shortage. He said he didn’t believe it would be right to put more strain on that already-ailing system.
Like Littauer, Schlesinger gave both mental illness and not-guilty pleas to the charges against him.
The Journey
The men are accused of marching more than a mile in freezing temperatures the night of Feb. 1-2, from Littauer’s Big Piney, Wyoming, home to the home of 23-year-old Dakota Farley.
They barged into Farley’s home, where Littauer shot him with two arrows from a compound bow, the case affidavit claims.
The document alleges that Littauer then riddled Farley’s scalp with BBs from a BB gun and left the man dead on his floor for days before confessing to killing him in a boastful text to a young woman.
Schlesinger is accused alongside Littauer of conspiring to commit first-degree murder on claims that Schlesinger plotted the murder with Littauer.
Schlesinger faces one felony theft charge as well, on evidence that he stole Farley’s gun.
Going To The Hospital
Littauer’s public defense attorney Elisabeth Trefonas asked McKay to order a “304” evaluation for Littauer, which is a mental health examination to determine whether Littauer was so mentally incompetent the night of Farley’s death, that he couldn’t rationalize his conduct or conform it to the law.
If Littauer can prove that point to a jury at trial, he’ll be acquitted. The same goes for Schlesinger.
At Trefonas’ request, McKay said she’d also ask the Wyoming State Hospital to evaluate Littauer there, instead of at the local jail. That makes it unlikely that Littauer’s trial, scheduled for July 21, will happen then, the judge said.
But the attorneys can address that, she added.
Days Later
An evidentiary affidavit in the case compiled by Sublette County Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Travis Lanning says investigators learned of Farley’s death Feb. 5, potentially three days after it happened, when someone reported receiving a text from Littauer in which he said he'd “shot Dakota with a bow and two arrows.”
Sublette County Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Tollison met with Littauer, who admitted he’d “shot a man with a bow and two arrows … in the arm and the head,” and that Schlesinger was with him at the time, the document says.
Littauer also showed deputies on a map application on his cellphone where Farley’s home was, which was also the death scene, Lanning wrote.
Lanning and other deputies and detectives converged on the home and found Farley lying face-down in the living room, the right side of his face pressed against the carpet with dried blood beneath it, says the document.
Lanning noticed eight wounds on Farley’s scalp that looked like BB punctures, but weren’t bloodied, indicating they happened post-mortem, the detective wrote.
Compound Bow
Citing interviews with people familiar with the suspects, the affidavit says the pair were friends and made a plan the evening of Feb. 1 to go to Farley’s home and kill him.
Schlesinger went to Littauer’s home, where Littauer gathered a compound bow, broadhead-tipped arrows and a BB gun, the affidavit says.
They then walked the 1.4 miles to Farley’s home, it adds.
They entered the home, found Farley standing in his living room, and Littauer shot his compound bow and broadhead-tipped arrows through Farley’s right arm and chest, “resulting in his nearly-instantaneous death,” Lanning wrote.
At some point, Schlesinger “came to possess a purple and grey .22-caliber revolver” Farley had owned, the affidavit says.
Lanning wrote that Littauer was the one who shot eight BBs into Farley’s scalp.
When investigators searched Littauer’s home, they found a compound bow, black arrows, broadhead arrow tips and a BB gun pistol, says the affidavit.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
