The teen who did not pull the trigger of the compound bow that killed his autistic friend last February, but who conspired to that end and watched the killing, was sentenced Thursday to between 54 years and life in prison.
Orion Schlesinger, 19, was also ordered to pay $4,431.50 in restitution – one half of the funeral costs for his victim Dakota Farley, 23, and of the wages Dakota Farley’s father Ray lost by attending court proceedings. He also receives 337 days for credit, for time he’s spent in jail during his case.
Schlesinger’s co-defendant, 20-year-old Rowan Littauer, has pleaded guilty to killing Farley and is slated to be sentenced next month.
Court documents say the pair trekked more than a mile in the cold the night of Feb. 2, to Farley’s home in Big Piney. They entered Farley’s home, surprising him in his living room. Littauer shot an arrow through Farley’s arm, through his aorta and into his trachea, according to prior court testimony. He then riddled the man’s scalp with BBs; and Schlesinger stole a gun that Farley had, documents say.
This stemmed from what Sublette County District Court Judge Kate McKay on Thursday called a “perceived slight,” and what earlier documents and testimony characterize as Schlesinger’s then-girlfriend feeling “creeped” out by Farley.
The Sublette County sheriff’s office reported in court that there’d been no evidence that Farley had attacked the girl, who was a juvenile, or any other juveniles sexually.
The girl was pregnant with Schlesinger’s child at the time, Sublette County Attorney Clayton Melinkovich noted Thursday in court.
Farley and Schlesinger were friends; and Farley, who lived with autism, beamed with pride when he managed to make friends, his father Ray Wesley Farley said in court Thursday.
“It was something that he’d brag about. He’d bring them over to the house. He’d introduce them,” said Ray Farley. “It was something he took very dear and held very closely – when he could make friends.”
The father said he and his wife struggle with depression, and she’s had severe health fallout from it. He said his religious faith ails.
“I question myself, sometimes even getting out of bed in the morning, because I miss my son,” said Ray Farley, adding that Dakota, whom he cast as less cynical than himself, had taught him to be a better person.
The Agreement
McKay accepted the plea agreement by which both Melinkovich and public defense attorney Rachel Weksler had agreed upon the 54-to-life sentence.
Schlesinger pleaded guilty in October, after establishing that agreement.
Melinkovich emphasized that making the agreement kept a trial from happening.
“(It averts) the trauma of a trial, on parents who have lost their son in a brutal and senseless manner,” said Melinkovich. “It also avoids the refreshing of that trauma through an inevitable appeal and another rehash of that same trauma with a… (later) motion for sentence reduction.”
Though Schlesinger hasn’t had a trial to appeal, he may appeal the court’s handling of his sentencing hearing within 30 days if he wishes.
In McKay’s view, the sentence wasn’t shy on the punishment objective.
“Fifty-four-to-life is a steep sentence for someone who did not pull the trigger or release the catch,” said McKay. “But the facts of this case show it is almost certain this would not have happened without Mr. Schlesinger’s instigation, encouragement and participation.”
On the one hand, she said, the case is shocking, and the use of a bow somehow more startling than other cases involving a gun or knife.
On the other hand, said McKay, Schlesinger took full responsibility, delivered an untrammeled apology on Tuesday, and had a harrowing childhood.
“It was obviously a very hard path, all this life, that brought Mr. Schlesinger to this day,” said McKay. “He did not have the nurturing, the love, the stability, and the structure that is so critical to becoming a productive adult; a functioning adult, a safe adult. And it is very, very sad. So many people failed Mr. Schlesinger along the way.”
Not only did Schlesinger lack the “psychological or social guardrails” of people with more stable upbringings, but he’d spent the recent past two years using alcohol, painkillers and muscle relaxers, she said.
“It is hard to escape the conclusion that Mr. Schlesinger was living in a different world,” said the judge. “One where killing a friend over a perceived slight seems just and realistic.”
The Apology
Schlesinger vowed in his tearful apology to improve himself “in every way possible.”
“I’d like to apologize for the pain I’ve caused,” he said. “Dakota was a great person and a better friend. I accept the consequences of my actions.”
He said he also prays that his incarceration will one day bring peace to Farley’s family and friends.
Ray Farley had said he questions his faith’s teaching, that “we’re always taught to forgive and honor people.”
“This crime,” said Ray Farley, “that’s not something I’m personally able to do at the moment. I feel horrible to say that, but this is not something I can forgive, personally.”
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
