A man accused of conspiring with his friend to kill a 23-year-old Big Piney man with a compound bow in February agreed last week to plead guilty to a lesser charge than the one filed against him seven months earlier.
The prosecutor and defense attorney would both recommend a prison term of between 54 years and life in prison if Orion Schlesinger, 19, pleads guilty under the terms of a plea agreement.
Schlesinger was charged in February with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, which is punishable by life in prison or the death penalty, and with felony theft, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Sublette County Attorney Clayton Melinkovich originally contemplated the death penalty, but later announced he would not pursue it.
The charges stem from the night of Feb.1-2, when, court documents allege, Schlesinger and his friend Rowan Littauer walked 1.4 frigid miles in Big Piney, and into Dakota Farley’s home.
Littauer was 19 at the time and is now 20.
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,” says the case evidentiary affidavit.
At some point, Schlesinger “came to possess a purple and gray .22-caliber revolver” Farley had owned, the affidavit adds.
The document says Littauer 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.
Littauer is accused of first-degree murder and mutilation of a dead body. His case is ongoing in Sublette County District Court.
The Agreement
Melinkovich on Oct. 3 filed a notice to the Sublette County District Court, that Schlesinger has agreed to plead guilty rather than go to trial.
Schlesinger’s public defense attorney Rachel Weksler signed the agreement alongside Melinkovich and Schlesinger.
Melinkovich would ask the court to let him downgrade the first-degree murder conspiracy charge to second-degree murder conspiracy, which is punishable by between 20 years and life in prison.
Melinkovich would explain to the court the evidence that Schlesinger committed that crime, and Schlesinger “may supplement” that secondhand confession, the agreement says.
Weksler and Melinkovich together plan to recommend a prison term of between 54 years and life in prison, says the filing.
For the felony theft charge – based on allegations that Schlesinger stole Farley’s gun after the latter was killed – the parties would ask for an 8-10-year prison sentence, but one that would run simultaneously with the 54-year-minimum sentence Schlesinger would already be serving, says the filing.
Schlesinger would pay $600 to the state’s victim’s compensation program, and may pay other restitution in an amount to be argued at his sentencing hearing, says the filing.
If Schlesinger commits any new crimes while awaiting sentencing, the state could abandon its promises to him, the agreement adds.
Aftermath
Littauer later boasted to a friend via text message that the world now contained “one less pedophile,” according to the March court testimony of Sublette County Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Travis Lanning.
Melinkovich pushed back on the characterization, asking Lanning to discuss Sublette County Sheriff’s Office investigations into whether Farley had been inappropriate with any children.
Lanning said as far as he knew, Farley hadn’t targeted any children. Schlesinger’s girlfriend, a minor female identified by the initials “EK,” told investigators after the shooting that Farley had “creeped her out” but didn’t touch her.
Schlesinger and his girlfriend would spend time at Farley’s house, while the men played games, according to court testimony.
'Agreement'
Melinkovich conceded at that hearing that in Wyoming, a person isn’t automatically a murder co-conspirator just because he was at an alleged murder scene.
But he theorized that Schlesinger did more than join Littauer on the mile-plus walk to Farley’s home that frigid night. The prosecutor said Schlesinger was part of an “agreement” made beforehand, to kill Farley.
Melinkovich pointed to the testimony that it was Schlesinger’s girlfriend who was “creeped out” by Farley, and that Schlesinger had told her they were going to kill Farley.
After Schlesinger returned home from Farley’s home that night, he showed his girlfriend a pistol he’d stolen from there, Melinkovich said.
‘Forced Into A Situation’
Schlesinger in an undated letter filed in Pinedale Circuit Court Feb. 20 pleaded with the judge to release him in time for his child’s scheduled birth of March 17.
“If I could prove to you, the state and it’s (sic) people that I was forced into a situation by Rowan I will,” wrote Schlesinger. “I would not (have done) anything to take me away from my family without my own life being threatened. I pray the evidence is found to show I was forced. I pray that I may testify against the man who threatened my life so I may raise my son to be a good man.”
Lanning acknowledged in court in March that Schlesinger had said something during the course of the investigation, about Littauer threatening him.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
