Crime and Courts Reporter

Clair McFarland

Clair McFarland is a general assignment reporter for Cowboy State Daily and is based in Riverton, Wyoming. She specializes in crime and court reporting and social issues coverage. Clair also writes a twice-monthly column on motherhood and country living.

Previously, Clair wrote for The Ranger, the Lander Journal and the Wind River News. She is an award-winning journalist, columnist and poet, who joined Cowboy State Daily on Valentine's Day, 2022.

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Latest from Clair McFarland

Brayden Lovan was an airman at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne when he died on duty Sunday, July 20, 2025.

Airman Who Died In Air Force Gunshot Incident Identified As Kentucky 21-Year-Old

The airman who died in an on-duty incident Sunday at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne has been identified as a 21-year-old from Kentucky. In a Thursday statement, the U.S. Air Force also confirms his death involved a gunshot and a Sig M18 pistol.

Clair McFarlandJuly 24, 2025

State lawmakers wrestle with allowing nuclear fuel disposal sites after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling limited Texas’ ability to challenge plans for a standalone nuclear waste facility. Wyoming leaders say they want tight control over what comes into the state.

Wyoming Legislators Debate Whether To Let Nuclear Waste Sites Multiply

Wyoming lawmakers are wrestling with whether to green light potentially numerous nuclear waste sites throughout the state. Some say it’s good for the economy, while others say it’s not worth the risk.

Clair McFarlandJuly 24, 2025

Tech. Sgt. Brady Craddock, Air Force Gunsmith Shop noncommissioned officer in charge, fires an M18 handgun in this file photo.

Air Force Division Grounds M18 Handguns After Airman Dies On Wyoming Base

A day after the death of an F.E. Warren Air Force Base airman on Sunday, the Air Force suspended the use of the M18 modular handgun. A Wyoming gunsmith said M18 has a history of reported unintentional firings.

Clair McFarlandJuly 23, 2025

5-Year-Old Shot In Belly By 9-Year-Old Brother At Cody Gas Station Recovering

The child shot Tuesday outside a Cody gas station was 5, and the shooter was his 9-year-old brother, police announced Wednesday morning. The family also reports “a positive prognosis for the injured juvenile.”

Clair McFarlandJuly 23, 2025

The mayor of Cody, Wyoming, spent the weekend in the Park County Detention Center. Lee Ann Reiter was arrested early Saturday morning on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and pleaded not guilty to the charge Monday.

Removal Of Arrested Mayor From Jail Roster Was Error, Sheriff's Office Says

A Park County Sheriff’s Office detention deputy removed the Cody town mayor from a list of jail inmates, shielding her arrest from the public, for reasons unknown last weekend. That was a mistake and has been addressed, the sheriff’s office says.

Clair McFarlandJuly 22, 2025

Child Shot Tuesday In Cody After “Negligent Discharge,” Cody Police Say

Cody police said a child is being treated at Cody Regional Health after being shot at a gas station early Tuesday afternoon. Authorities are calling it a “negligent discharge" of the gun.

Clair McFarlandJuly 22, 2025

Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray (file photo)

Judge Throws Out Challenge To New Wyoming Voter Registration Law, Gray Cheers

A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a voting-advocacy group’s lawsuit challenging Wyoming’s new law that requires proof of citizenship and Wyoming residency before someone can register to vote. Secretary of State Chuck Gray celebrated the ruling.

Clair McFarlandJuly 22, 2025

Gillette Woman Now Charged With Homicide After Boyfriend Dies In Car Strike

Criminal charges against a Gillette woman were upgraded to vehicular homicide after her boyfriend died last week from injuries he suffered when run over by an SUV on July 5. Dana Johnson could now face up to 32 years in prison.

Clair McFarlandJuly 22, 2025

Colorado ICE Facility Sends Dozens Of Detainees To Wyoming Jails

Out-of-state immigration detainees are entering Wyoming in high volumes, including a batch of 44 transported Friday to Casper. That’s to alleviate the over-capacity ICE facility in Aurora, Colorado, the agency said Monday.

Clair McFarlandJuly 22, 2025

University Of Wyoming President Ed Seidel Says He’ll Step Down

University of Wyoming President Ed Seidel has announced that he will step down when his contract expires on June 30 next year. The decision follows a controversy involving the distribution of money and demotion of a professor, who is now suing UW.

Clair McFarlandJuly 21, 2025

Cody Woman Accused In Murder-For-Hire Claims Entrapment By Undercover Agent

A Cody woman accused of soliciting a man she thought was a hitman to kill her daughter’s boyfriend in late 2023 says in a Thursday court filing she plans to tell a jury that the “hitman” — an undercover law enforcement agent — entrapped her.

Clair McFarlandJuly 18, 2025

Douglas Smith, 68, was arrested June 25, 2024, in California on suspicion of first-degree murder for the killing of two men during a 2015 robbery of The Coin Shop in Cheyenne. He was found guilty on two counts of first-degree murder July 18, 2025.

Guilty: Jury Says Douglas Smith Gunned Down 2 Men In Cheyenne Coin Shop In 2015

A 69-year-old California man is guilty of two counts of first-degree murder for killing two men in a Cheyenne coin shop 10 years ago, a jury decided Friday afternoon. Douglas Smith now faces two mandatory life sentences.

Clair McFarlandJuly 18, 2025

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In a scathing court filing Wednesday, Campbell County denies wrongdoing in the 2023 firing of the former library director Terri Lesley, who is suing. The county says her claims are full of bogus “self-praise” and paint an inaccurate “self-heroic tale.”

Sued By Ousted Library Director, Campbell County Says She's No LGBTQ Hero

In a scathing court filing Wednesday, Campbell County denies wrongdoing in the 2023 firing of the local library director, who is suing. The county says her claims are full of bogus “self-praise” and that she's no LGBTQ hero.

Clair McFarlandJuly 18, 2025

Austin King, left, with his father, Brian King-Henke

Massive Recovery Mission Planned For Yellowstone Hiker Who Vanished 10 Months Ago

A team of private-sector outdoorsmen and another of Yellowstone National Park personnel and volunteers are preparing missions next month to recover Austin King. He’s the 22-year-old hiker who vanished after summiting Eagle Peak last September.

Clair McFarlandJuly 18, 2025

Accused Serial Killer Suspected Of Murdering 2 Women In Wyoming Dies In Tennessee

Clark Perry Baldwin, a convicted murderer and suspected serial killer linked to the deaths of two women in Wyoming, died Friday in Tennessee. His death leaves a Wyoming prosecutor frustrated he won’t stand trial here for the decades-old murders.

Clair McFarlandJuly 18, 2025

More than $9 billion in federal clawbacks — including $1.1 billion in cuts for PBS and NPR — has to hit President Donald Trump’s desk by Friday. It’s part of a rule that requires Congress to act withing 45 days of the president asking for clawbacks.

Friday Or Bust: House Under Legal Deadline For PBS, NPR Cuts

The U.S. House of Representatives has a legal deadline of Friday at 11:59 p.m. to vote on the proposed $1.1 billion in cuts to public television and radio. Wyoming's congressional delegation is firmly in favor of the cuts.

Sean Barry & Clair McFarlandJuly 18, 2025

Wyoming leaders announced Thursday they’re challenging a judge’s order that blocks the state’s new school-choice program. They’re taking their appeal to the Wyoming Supreme Court, a move Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder applauds.

Degenfelder Fighting Judge's Block On School Choice Program

Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder announced Thursday the State of Wyoming is challenging a judge’s order that blocks the state’s new school-choice program. “I am grateful for the Attorney General’s swift action,” Degenfelder said.

Clair McFarlandJuly 17, 2025

Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak talks about the new mental health pods at the Laramie County Detention Center, describing how a significant number of inmates have serious mental problems but the jail didn't have an adequate place to hold them.

Laramie County Jail To Open Wyoming’s First In-House Mental Health Sections

Nearly half of the inmates in the Laramie County jail have some sort of mental illness, and about 11% are “extremely” ill. That’s why the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office created Wyoming’s first in-house jail pods specifically for mentally ill inmates.

Clair McFarlandJuly 17, 2025

‘I-90’ Jane Doe, Suspected Victim Of Serial Killer, Identified After 33 Years

A young, petite, pregnant woman found dead with beating and strangulation injuries 33 years ago in a borrow ditch 15 miles north of Sheridan has been identified as Cindi Arleen Estrada. She’s one of two alleged Wyoming victims of an accused serial killer.

Clair McFarlandJuly 17, 2025

With “aye” votes from Wyoming’s two U.S. senators, a recissions bill scheduled to claw back around $1.1 billion from publicly funded media, which stands to impact outlets like NPR and PBS, cleared a committee Tuesday with a Friday deadline to get to Trump.

Wyoming Senators Say Their Votes To Defund Public Media Due To Left-Wing Bias

In statements and interviews with Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday, Sens. Lummis and Barrasso said their votes for massive cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting are warranted because of what they call a left-wing bias of its public media outlets.

Clair McFarlandJuly 16, 2025

Man Killed In Officer-Involved Shooting ID'd As 37-Year-Old Worland Resident

The man killed in an officer-involved shooting Monday in Worland was 37-year-old Derek Fyffe, the coroner confirmed Wednesday. He reportedly shot at officers as they approached him near a bridge, who returned fire.

Clair McFarlandJuly 16, 2025

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