From staff and wire reports | Posted: Tuesday, May 1, 2007 12:00 am
Man faces murder charge
RAWLINS - A 21-year-old Encampment faces a murder charge in the shotgun death of another man last week.
Forrest M. Bromley of Encampment was charged Friday with second-degree murder in the shooting death last Wednesday of Jason Voss.
Circuit Judge Jane Eakin on Friday ordered Bromley held at the Carbon County Jail and set bail at $500,000 cash.
In an affidavit filed with the court, Carbon County sheriff's deputy Louis Braun wrote that Bromley originally reported that Voss had fallen with the gun and shot himself while the two were out with another man on a shooting trip.
However, Braun wrote that the other man who had been present later told him that Bromley had aimed the shotgun at Voss "with a crazed look on his face" before shooting Voss at close range.
Chief Deputy County Attorney Cal Rerucha said in court that Bromley "is an extreme danger to the community."
"There may be a potential danger to the reporting witness, who has asked for some sort of protection. The defendant is a heavy user of controlled substances," Rerucha said in court.
Mental evaluation delays trial
LANDER - A federal judge has ordered a mental evaluation for a woman accused of murder in the death of a child last fall.
Lila K. Goggles, 47, had been scheduled to go on trial April 2 on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of 22-month-old Tyraine Wanstall.
U.S. District Judge William Downes last month granted a request from Goggles' defense lawyers that she undergo an evaluation. She began her official 45-day evaluation on April 19. A report on her mental state is due to the judge on June 15.
The judge's order states that "reasonable cause exists to believe the defendant may presently be suffering from a mental disease or defect rendering her mentally incompetent to the extent that she is unable to understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings against her or assist properly in her defense."
The boy died Nov. 1, and an autopsy was performed the next day at McKee Medical Center in Loveland, Colo. Authorities have not released details about his death.
Goggles was arrested in Montana in January.
Because the alleged murder took place on the Wind River Indian Reservation and Goggles is Indian - a member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe - the case is in federal court.
State builds new hangar
CHEYENNE - The state of Wyoming is building a new hangar for its fleet of airplanes here.
The 19,200-square foot, $2.2 million building should be ready for the state's four airplanes by mid May.
"The floor's still curing," said Shelly Reams, administrator of the state's Division of Aeronautics. When the building is finished, she said, it will provide a secure home for the aircraft.
Reams also said the hangar will provide a better place to perform maintenance.
Gov. Dave Freudenthal and other state officials use some state airplanes to travel around the state. Other planes are used for photo mapping and other purposes.