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Jen kocher

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Crime & Courts

Courts

The family of a woman killed by a distracted driver in downtown Sheridan a year ago said they feel slighted by what they call a lenient sentence handed down to the driver.

David Vincent Johnson, 34, was sentenced to 60 days in jail and two years of supervised probation and fines in Sheridan County Circuit Court on Friday after a nearly four-hour sentencing hearing.

The sentencing happened a year and a day after Johnson 

, who had been legally crossing in the crosswalk when Johnson hit her with his pickup.

Fitzsimmons had been visiting her daughter Kate Gladdin and husband Nate, from Australia, when she was struck.

She died of blunt force trauma to her head after being thrown more than 7 feet by the vehicle.

Johnson, who was not impaired at the time of the accident, was charged with vehicular manslaughter, which is punishable by up to a year in jail, a fine of up to $2,000, or both.

In Wyoming, vehicular manslaughter can be either a misdemeanor or felony, which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.

To be considered a felony, the driver has to be driving recklessly or be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"High Bar"}]

Since Johnson was sober, as Gladdin explained in an earlier interview, meeting the standard of “reckless” is a high bar.

Johnson’s sentence was in accordance with the plea deal he agreed to, as did Gladdin and her father, Vince, to avoid the pain of a trial and to protect her mother’s dignity, Gladdin said.

However, Gladdin said she hoped that Sheridan County Circuit Court Judge Sheryl Bunting would have punished Johnson to the full extent of the law, as is her discretion given his past criminal history related to his driving.

At the time of the accident, Johnson was on probation for domestic battery and evading police in 2024, according to court records.

He pleaded no contest to the charges and was sentenced to 90 days in jail with 88 days suspended and a year probation with six months supervised, as well as under $1,000 in fines.

Johnson also had a DUI in December 2023 in which he crashed his vehicle, and a handful of other driving violations that warranted his designation as a high-risk driver by the state of Wyoming, requiring him to carry SR-22 insurance.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Only Deeper Grief’"}]

Gladdin and Vince felt their impact statements during the hearing largely fell on deaf ears, and they expressed their thoughts in a statement to Cowboy State Daily.

Vince, in particular, feels his words were taken out of context by Bunting’s comments in her closing statement.

"In the closing remarks at the end of the sentencing, I was quoted as saying there is no penalty that will compensate our family for our loss,” he said. “That is true. But the request that came after it was left out.

“My statement asked the court to 'impose the maximum penalty possible against this perpetrator, both for his deep and extensive record, that he abused his grant of parole when he killed my wife, and to make an example to other drivers that they must respect, be cautious and aware of pedestrians.’

He concluded that, “Life is too precious to be cavalier about the safety of others.”

Taking him out of context implies that the sentence did not matter to the family. It did, he clarified.

Gladdin said that the 60-day sentence does not bring them comfort, only “deeper grief.”

“She lived by the rules and was killed by a man with a long history of breaking them, right up to the moment he killed her,” she said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Hopes To Close Gaps In Law"}]

Gladdin and her family are using their experience as an opportunity to change what they consider to be gaps in Wyoming laws when it comes to charging vehicular manslaughter as a misdemeanor.

The Legislature’s Joint Judiciary Committee voted unanimously in May to ask the Legislative Service Office draft perfunctory legislation based on the points raised to discuss at their next committee meeting in Casper on Aug. 10-11.

This includes amending distracted driving to include texting or phone use that results in deaths, driving on a suspended or revoked license, fleeing law enforcement that leads to a fatality and to consider repeat traffic offenses such as prior reckless driving convictions for those who kill a person while behind the wheel.

Gladdin said she feels like strengthening the laws will hopefully prevent other families from experiencing similar tragedies.

“We are left to wonder how this can be what the court called a teaching and learning moment for everybody, when the perpetrator once again avoids any real accountability for his crimes,” she wrote in her statement. “This time for killing a beloved wife and mother- and shattering our family forever.

Johnson’s attorney, Anna Malmberg with the Sheridan County Public Defender’s Office, did not respond to a request for comment by the time this story was published.

Run down Fitzsimons and intersection 5 16 26

Cowboy State Daily is Wyoming’s largest newspaper with Wyoming’s most experienced journalists. 

<title>Family Says 60-Day Sentence For Driver Who Killed Woman Brings Them ‘Deeper Grief’ | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The family of a woman killed by a distracted driver in downtown Sheridan a year ago said they feel slighted by the 60-day sentence he got Friday. It brings “deeper grief,” not closure, said the woman’s daughter.

Family Says 60-Day Sentence For Driver Who Killed Woman Brings Them ‘Deeper Grief’

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's managing editor, Greg Johnson.

Greg Johnson

CHEYENNE — A 27-year-old man accused of shooting another man and leaving him bleeding in a Cheyenne street after a blowup over a former girlfriend pleaded not guilty Monday to a charge of attempted second-degree murder.

Adrian Maggos sat quietly with 11 other Laramie County Detention Center inmates waiting to make pleas in their cases, seemingly listening attentively to District Court Judge Nathaniel Hibben run through their cases.

He was clean-shaven with short, dark hair and was wearing the typical bright orange jail jumpsuit and orange Crocs. His legs were shackled together with a thin chain, which rattled softly as he shuffled to the front of the courtroom to give his plea.

He didn’t say much, answering Judge Hibben’s questions with either a short “yes sir” or “no sir.”

When asked how he pleaded to the charge for allegedly shooting the other man in the early morning hours of April 30 and eluding the Cheyenne Police Department during an 

 before finally turning himself in, Maggos quietly answered, “Not guilty, your honor.”

The judge then set an Oct. 6 trial date for Maggos, while his attorney informed Hibben that a motion to reduce his $250,000 cash-only bond would be filed in writing.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘The Guy I Shot’"}]

While Maggos didn’t say much during his Monday arraignment, he reportedly made some potentially incriminating 

 after he was taken into custody, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in his case.

“How’s (the victim) doing?” Maggos asked an officer taking him to the detention center, the affidavit says.

“Who’s (the victim)?” the officer replied because he had “minimal knowledge of the case.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"“The guy I shot,” said Maggos, 27."}]

That was the culmination of a convoluted series of events that ended on a central Cheyenne street a little before 4:15 a.m. April 30 with a man shot and bleeding while some witnesses gave medical attention and others fled the scene, Cheyenne Police Detective Jim Eddy wrote in the affidavit.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Point-Blank Range’"}]

The victim suffered “life-threatening injuries due to a sustained gunshot wound that appeared to have been at or nearly at point-blank range,” Eddy wrote, relating information from staff at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, where the man was taken.

“The projectile (bullet) most likely entered (his) body between his sternum and left areola, striking (his) diaphragm, stomach, colon, and lower rib,” the affidavit continues. “The projectile exited (the man’s) left flank.”

Maggos reportedly fled the scene after the shooting, the affidavit says, but more than eight hours later at about 12:51 p.m., he returned to the house in the 100 block of East Third Avenue, which is the home of a relative where he also lived.

Shortly after returning, “Maggos telephoned law enforcement and advised he was surrendering,” Eddy wrote. “Officers contacted Maggos, arrested him and transported him to the CPD.”

It was on the way to the police station that Maggos asked about the shooting victim, the affidavit says.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Adrian Shot Me"}]

When they arrived, Cheyenne police reported finding a man in the street in front of the house “bleeding profusely and appeared to have been shot,” the affidavit says.

The victim, who was still conscious and able to talk, told an officer who shot him.

“(He said) that Adrian Maggos shot him prior to being transported to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center via ambulance,” the affidavit says.

At the East Third Avenue scene, police interviewed four other people who were there or witnesses in some fashion at the time of the shooting, Eddy wrote.

There were two men and two women, with both women reportedly having a romantic tie to Maggos, according to the affidavit. One was an ex-girlfriend who had broken up with Maggos four days prior.

She showed up to the house in the early morning hours Thursday — driven by the victim — and argued with Maggos over an alleged sexual encounter with the other woman, the affidavit says.

While Maggos and his ex argued in the street, the victim got out of his car to defend the former girlfriend, and the confrontation turned physical, Eddy wrote.

At some point in text messages between them, the ex told Maggos that “she was coming to his residence to confront him,” the affidavit says. She “threatened that she would break the residence’s windows if he did not exit the house to talk with her.”

The victim drove her to Maggos’ house because they had been “hanging out” together and she needed a ride, Eddy wrote. When they got to the house, Maggos was outside and alone.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"They Fought"}]

“(The ex) exited the car and an argument ensued with Maggos on the west side of the home,” the affidavit says. “This argument escalated to the point Maggos ordered (her) to leave and threatened to hit her.”

That’s what prompted the other man to get out of the car and confront Maggos.

“(He) and Maggos argued, escalating in Maggos pushing (the man) to the ground,” the affidavit says. “While in proximity, (the ex girlfriend) verbally intervened, allowing (the other man) to return to his feet.”

But the two men began fighting again, pushing each other until Maggos was standing “physically over him when she heard a gunshot that caused her ears to ‘ring,’” the affidavit says.

The woman then started running, “and looked back toward the two men when she heard (the victim) say, ‘I’m sorry’ to Maggos,” Eddy wrote. “(She) then heard, but did not see, a second gunshot.

“Fearing for her life, (the ex) ran to a residence across the street and hid in a window well, eventually falling asleep.”

If convicted of attempted second-degree murder, Maggos could get between 20 years and life in prison.

Adrian Maggos 5 1 26

<title>Cheyenne Man Accused In Shooting Over Ex Pleads Not Guilty To Attempted Murder | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A 27-year-old man accused of shooting another man and leaving him bleeding in a Cheyenne street after a blowup over a former girlfriend pleaded not guilty Monday to attempted second-degree murder. He allegedly asked police how “the guy I shot” was doing.

Cheyenne Man Accused In Shooting Over Ex Pleads Not Guilty To Attempted Murder

Public Safety

Bill Dohse was somewhere north of Billings, Montana, when he got the call Sunday that the body had been found.

As he always does while enroute to a search and rescue mission, Dohse pulled his pickup over on the side of the highway and stepped into the makeshift command center attached to his back bumper to start fielding phone calls.

While he wasn’t at the site of the search yet, his team was already busy coordinating where those on the ground should search for Brown’s body, leading to Sunday's sad conclusion.

He had been on his way to Oroville, Washington, to join the search for 42-year-old Matt Brown, former reality television star of Discovery Chanel’s “Alaskan Bush People.”

Brown had been missing since May 27, when he had reportedly taken his own life on the edge of the Okanogan River before being swiftly swept downstream in remote north-central Washington state near the Canadian border.

Dohse got word from search and rescue volunteer Chay Moore, who was on site at the river, when they discovered Brown’s body in the swift rapids.

The emotional gravity of that moment would catch up to all of them later, Dohse said.

At that time, it was all business. They had to notify the Okanogan Sheriff’s Office and safely recover the body as they waited for authorities to arrive.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Family Grieves"}]

Brown’s brother Noah was also on site when Matt Brown’s body was pulled from the water, and he identified him for authorities.

Another brother, Bear, who was not at the scene, took to social media early Sunday to share the sad news with fans.

 posted Sunday that it appeared that Matt had taken his own life.

"I would have never suspected he would have hurt himself, honestly,” Bear said. “He struggled for a long time, as I've mentioned.

“And I was so worried he was going to end up, you know, like, OD'd or something like that.”

Matt Brown was the oldest of Billy and Ami Brown’s seven children and starred alongside his family in the reality television series, which followed their attempts to survive in the remote Alaskan wilderness, 

The show ran for 14 seasons over the course of eight years before ending in 2022.

[{"type":"text","text":"Matt Brown stepped down in 2019 amid struggles with addiction."}]

After leaving television, Matt Brown turned to YouTube, documenting his life, recovery, and personal reflections across more than 1,000 videos.

[{"type":"text","text":"He amassed more than 65,000 subscribers and nearly 8 million views."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"No Official Cause"}]

The Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office put out a statement on May 31 confirming that Brown had been found.

The office further stated that the cause and manner of death is under investigation by the Okanogan County Coroner.

According to earlier statements from the sheriff, a witness reported seeing a man seated in the river’s shallows on May 27.

The witness looked away, then heard a loud noise. When looking back, the man was floating face-down in the current. A firearm was later recovered near the spot.

The search for Brown went on for three days and included a boat, two Jet Skis and a drone, according to a statement from the sheriff’s office, but those efforts hampered due to severe weather that led to dangerous search conditions with high water levels, swift currents and low visibility.

His body was ultimately found by volunteers searches who had been dispatched by Dohse and his team.

He and Eric Butt are co-founders of Organized Search and Rescue (OSAR), a volunteer nonprofit that partners with search and rescue and K-9 teams from all over the country, the United Cajun Navy, Sparks SAR, Team Texas K-9, and Sentinel Overwatch, which all coordinated on the search for Brown.

Both Dohse and Butt also run their own nonprofits.

Dohse, a former Fremont County Deputy Sheriff and Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper, heads up Find-911, a Cody-based search and rescue group founded in 2015 that specializes in finding missing people and pets.

Along with K-9 teams, Dohse uses specialized drones with advanced imaging software called Sixth Sense that he developed with the help of Amazon and Denver-based Clouse 303.

He’s been involved in several searches in Wyoming, including the 

search for missing 22-year-old hiker Austin King

, who vanished after summitting Eagle Peak in Yellowstone National Park in September 2024.

helped lead local efforts to find 50-year-old David Kelsey

, who went missing in late January and was found dead more than a week later in nearby Beck Lake.

Butt is chief executive officer at California-based nonprofit 

, which provides advanced medical care and technical rescues for wildland fire fighters and federal agencies.

They formed the collaboration two years ago with the goal of building a national coalition to help deploy specialized search and rescue groups that can quickly deploy in situations such as this one to help law enforcement.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Perfect Scenario"}]

Searches like this one perfectly fit their mission because of the remote location with limited search and rescue assets and resources.

“It’s in our wheelhouse,” Butt said. “This was why I was eager to jump on this case.”

Butt had his plane ticket bought and was just hours from heading to the airport to fly to Washington when news came that Brown had been found.

Forget that it was his birthday and that he was in the middle of celebrating with his family.

This is what they are compelled to do, he said. They don’t mind dropping everything to assist in these searches.

Dohse, meanwhile, pulled over in Montana to aid in the operation as all the partners communicated over chat and phone during Brown’s recovery.

He spends a lot of time on the side of the road and stops when needed to mobilize his group’s resources.

In fact, two days earlier, he’d been on his way to Thermopolis to aid in the search for a missing woman who was later found safe when word that Brown had been swept down the river.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Inside Track"}]

Dohse knew friends of the Brown family from other rescue efforts, which is how he initially got involved.

They decided to jump on this case because they had confirmation and eye-witnesses who saw Brown go into the river and knew he could be found.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"He also knew who to call."}]

Dohse set up his portable incident command trailer and spent about six hours on the phone and computer mobilizing assets and downloading CalTopo maps of the river and region and coordinating with all their search and rescue members.

Butt said that Dohse was able to determine where on the river he thought Brown’s body might be based on currents and sand bars, which helped searchers find him.

This is the whole point of OSAR, Dohse said, which is to form working collaborations to find specialized and trusted assets who can get there quickly and with the skillsets needed for that particular situation.

“We want to bridge that gap between private and government entities,” Butt said. “We want to work real closely with law enforcement, so that they don’t feel like we’re going to come in and steal their thunder.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘It’s Super Sad’"}]

In this case, they got lucky because they had a skilled search and rescue professional, Moore, who lives about an hour and a half from the area and was able to get there quickly.

Dohse made it clear that this is very much a group effort and couldn’t be done without everyone stepping in to do their part.

Not all searches end in a recovery, Butt noted, so this is the rare case where it’s cause for celebration despite the reality of the end goal mission.

Dohse admitted that the emotional aspect of finding Brown is tough, particularly when it comes to communicating with his brothers and family who are understandably devastated by their loss.

“It’s super sad,” Dohse said, admitting he had tears in his eyes when communicating with the sheriff and Brown’s family.

Still, it’s the wins that keep them going and the knowledge that they were able to bring a loved one home.

Matt Brown find 911 6 1 26

<title>Cody-Based Search And Rescue Team Helps Find Body Of ‘Alaskan Bush People’ Star | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Cody-based search and rescue team helped coordinate the search for the body of “Alaskan Bush People” star Matt Brown. Brown’s body was found Sunday after he went missing four days earlier after allegedly shooting himself along a Washington state river.

Cody-Based Search And Rescue Team Helps Find Body Of ‘Alaskan Bush People’ Star

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

A Torrington family is in shock after finding their mutilated dogs partially submerged in the North Platte River outside of Torrington.

Angelica Garcia told Cowboy State Daily on Monday that two rottweilers owned by her parents had gotten loose from their home Friday and hours later were found dead by a woman and her son who were walking by a popular fishing spot on the river.

Garcia said the discovery of the two dogs named Django and Hera left her stunned.

"The top of Django's head was gone and Hera's neck and chest were gone," Garcia said.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"They were family dogs. I trusted them around my kids,\" she added."}]

Goshen County Sheriff Kory Fleenor confirmed Monday that his office has an open investigation into the incident. 

He declined to comment on whether investigators have determined a cause of death, whether any suspects or persons of interest have been identified, or what evidence investigators have gathered, citing the active nature of the case.

Garcia said her parents last saw the dogs late Friday morning after letting them outside near their Torrington home.

The two rottweilers, a brother and sister who were both nearly 6 years old, had occasionally gotten loose before and were familiar to many people in town, Garcia said.

When her father realized the dogs had not returned, he began searching for them. A short time later, the family learned the dogs had been found dead near the North Platte River.

[{"type":"text","text":"Questions Remain "}]

Garcia said her family believes the dogs were unlawfully killed and wants investigators to thoroughly examine what happened.

She said relatives have searched for information, spoken with people in the area where the dogs were found and tried to learn whether anyone witnessed the incident.

[{"type":"text","text":"So far, she said, they have found no eyewitnesses."}]

"We're drawing a blank as to what happened," Garcia said. "Or why it happened." She added that on top of being concerned the dogs were shot, she's concerned "it happened in the city." 

 that accuses authorities of not doing enough to investigate the deaths.

"Whoever did this brutally murdered these dogs, took their collars and drug them off and dumped their bodies in the river," the petition reads.

"There is a lead and law enforcement is refusing to look further and do their job," it reads.

The Torrington Police Department also responded after the dogs were found, according to Garcia. 

She said city police helped direct the case to the sheriff's office because the location where the dogs were discovered fell under county jurisdiction.

Torrington Police Chief Matt Johnson did not return a request for comment.

[{"type":"text","text":"A Gruesome Discovery"}]

Garcia began to choke up when she described the condition of the dogs and added the collars on the dogs were missing.

[{"type":"text","text":"The family believes the dogs were killed with a shotgun. "}]

One question repeatedly raised online is whether Wyoming law allows people to shoot dogs under certain circumstances.

 does permit dogs to be killed if they are running livestock and the livestock has been injured or is threatened with injury. The law also shields the person who kills the dog from liability if the danger or damage can be shown.

So far, however, authorities have not publicly indicated whether livestock played any role in the deaths of Django and Hera.

The dogs were known to "get out," said Garcia, "and they would kind of roam around, but nobody ever really made a big deal about it." 

"They would just call the dog catcher or local PD, and they would tend to joke about it, like they're just really nice dogs, and you know, even when they picked them up, the dog catcher was appalled at what happened, because she knew them, you know," she said.

Garcia added that she doesn't think the dogs were bothering livestock, "They would never go after cattle or anything like that." 

Rottweilers 6 1 26

<title>Torrington Family Says Rottweilers Were Mutilated And Dumped In The River  | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Torrington family is in shock after finding their mutilated dogs partially submerged in the North Platte River. Angelica Garcia said one dog's head was removed and the other was missing its neck and chest. "They were family dogs," she said.

Torrington Family Says Rottweilers Were Mutilated And Dumped In The River 

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's general assignment reporter, Clair McFarland.

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Politics

In the first significant poll of Wyoming’s primary election season, Secretary of State Chuck Gray leads a crowded GOP U.S. House race with 21% support.

Casper businessman Reid Rasner is second at 14%, Teton County philanthropist Steve Friess at 10%, former Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow at 8%, and state Senate President Bo Biteman at 7%, according to a poll memo Gray sent to Cowboy State Daily.

The poll also shows 33% of those surveyed are “hard undecided.”

Fabrizio, Lee & Associates, a survey and research firm that ran polls for President Donald Trump’s campaigns,

In the first significant poll of Wyoming’s primary election season, Secretary of State Chuck Gray leads a crowded GOP U.S. House race with 21% support. Casper businessman Reid Rasner is second at 14%, and Teton County's Steve Friess is third at 10%.

Carol Ann Margaret Haberlack, 86