Wyoming News Briefs

Streaming service airs episode on missing Gillette woman

GILLETTE (WNE) — The story of missing Gillette woman Irene Gakwa recently aired on a nationwide streaming service.

The 25-minute episode titled “American Dream, American Nightmare” follows Gakwa’s journey from Nairobi, Kenya, to Gillette where she disappeared in early 2022. The episode is part of Paramount Plus’ “Never Seen Again” series, which documents families sharing the stories of lost loved ones.

Featured on the show are Gakwa’s brothers, Kennedy Wainaina and Chris Gakwa and Chris’ wife, Gyoice. The three open up about the time spent with Gakwa before her disappearance.

Other locals featured in the episode are Wyoming Truth writer Jennifer Kocher, search leader Stacy Koester and News Record editor Jake Goodrick. The three share insight into the timeline of events in Gillette, after Gakwa was reported as a missing person.

Gakwa was reported missing by her family in March 2022.

Since then, search parties, vigils and posted signs have all been used throughout the city to maintain awareness of her disappearance, while also searching for answers.

Man allegedly steals saddle at nite rodeo

CODY (WNE) — The Arizona man arrested for a DUI July 6 after he was reported to be repeatedly driving around the Stampede Park rodeo grounds while intoxicated has been arrested again, but this time on theft charges which allege he stole a saddle from a Cody Nite Rodeo contestant.

Cole S. Sherwood, 28, was charged with theft of more than $1000.

According to the affidavit, Cody Police Sgt. Seth Horn was dispatched to the rodeo grounds on July 11 at 9:15 a.m. to respond to a report that a contestant was missing a $6000 saddle.

The contestant told Horn he had traveled to Cody and competed in the Cody Nite Rodeo. On June 29, he was “entertaining people at and about his trailer,” and the next day, he found his saddle had been stolen, but he didn’t report it to the police until July 11, the affidavit said.

He said he and another rodeo contestant identified Sherwood as the suspected thief, the affidavit said.

Horn arrested Sherwood for a DUI and interviewed him about the saddle.

Sherwood told Horn a friend from Ten Sleep arrived on June 29 in Cody with a saddle and ropes that he gave to Sherwood to sell so they could split the money, the affidavit said. He said the two had done this before, and he did not know the saddle was stolen. 

Horn, however, said Sherwood was “clearly being less than truthful” because the rodeo contestant “had come to Cody with his saddle, and it was removed from [his] trailer.”

Sherwood was given a $10,000 cash only bond and ordered not to leave Park County. 

If convicted, he could face up to 11 years in jail and a maximum fine of up to $11,000, in addition to the sentence he receives for the DUI.

Gillette couple charged with felony amounts of MDMA, cocaine and selling to a minor

GILLETTE (WNE) — Two Gillette 19-year-olds have been charged with several felonies for allegedly selling large amounts of cocaine and MDMA from their apartment, including one recent incident when they sold cocaine to a 15-year-old girl.

Isaiah Haliburton, 19, was charged in Circuit Court with three felony counts for possession with intent to deliver cocaine, MDMA and Marijuana and conspiracy to commit possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance.

He also was charged with distributing to someone under 18 and felony counts of cocaine and MDMA possession, along with misdemeanor marijuana possession.

Lastly, he was charged with felony theft for allegedly having a stolen gun.

Justyce V. Eliassen, 19, faces the same charges except for distributing to someone under 18 and theft.

Police learned about a large amount of drugs in their South Fork Apartments unit after a woman turned over her 15-year-old daughter’s cellphone for police to search. On it, they found videos on Telegram, an encrypted messaging app, that showed large amounts of THC, MDMA, cocaine and mushrooms accompanied by prices for each.

In an interview with police Aug. 8, the girl admitted to buying 0.5 grams of cocaine from Isaiah Haliburton for $60 in the early hours of Aug. 5.

Police executed a search warrant at the apartment later that day where they found Haliburton and Eliassen. In all, police seized 2.88 ounces of cocaine, 24.3 grams of MDMA, about a gram of THC wax and 3.8 grams of marijuana along with almost $3,900 in cash and a Glock 43X that had been reported stolen, according to court documents.

Bartlett set bond for each of Haliburton and Eliassen at $100,000 cash-only.

Haliburton’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 16 and Eliassen’s is scheduled for Aug. 17.

Laman found not guilty in medical malpractice trial

SHERIDAN (WNE) — After three hours of deliberation, a jury of 12 found Dr. Brian Laman not guilty of negligence in the civil lawsuit against Laman and Sheridan Orthopedic Associates, P.A. Plaintiff Mary Moore alleged she suffered complications with a wrist fracture due to Laman’s decline to operate on the injury in 2017.

Jon Moyers, plaintiff Mary Moore’s attorney, asked the jury to consider the difficulty Moore has experienced since she sustained her wrist fracture May 21, 2017. Moyers said Moore has suffered with limited range of motion, loss of grip strength and constant pain that impacts her ability to perform many basic tasks.

Moyers noted witnesses Dr. Carlton Clinkscales and Dr. Barry Smith, two of the best hand surgeons in the region, both testified Moore could have benefitted from surgery to restore proper joint movement of the wrist and decrease her chance of developing arthritis over time.

But Scott Ortiz, the defendant’s attorney, reminded the jury of Clinkscales’ testimony that there are multiple ways to meet the standard of care when treating this type of wrist fracture and Laman met this standard by recommending what he thought was the best treatment option.

Ortiz said Moore’s symptoms of pain, tingling, numbness, limited range of motion and loss of grip strength are all consistent with posttraumatic arthritis that would have developed with or without surgery. Because posttraumatic arthritis is caused by damage to the cartilage and not damage to the bone, Ortiz said surgery to restore the malalignment of Moore’s wrist would not have solved her arthritis and therefore many of her current symptoms.

He said Moore still lives an active, independent lifestyle and is able to manage her pain with occasional steroid injections and over-the-counter pain medication. 

Teewinot fall kills hiker

JACKSON (WNE) — Joy Cho, of Simi Valley, California, died in a fall this week on the west aspect of Teewinot, the 12,330-foot mountain in Grand Teton National Park that has claimed multiple hikers’ lives in the past decade.

Jenny Lake Rangers responded to the rescue call shortly before dawn Friday and found Cho’s body.

She had suffered significant injuries during her fall and was pronounced dead at the scene, park officials said in a Friday press release. A helicopter with a rope slung underneath, a method called short-haul, carried her body off of the mountain.

Her seven hiking companions were flown back to the Jenny Lake Search and Rescue Cache at Lupine Meadows and then taken back to their vehicles at the trailhead.

Route finding up Teewinot’s East Face, a fourth-class climb that many people attempt without ropes because of its classification, is notoriously tricky.

The most recent fatality occurred in September 2021, when rangers found the body of Hitoshi Onoe, a Japanese man vacationing in Teton County, at the base of the Black Chimney route. Six years earlier, Jacksonites Tyler Strandberg and Catherine Nix fell and died while climbing the often-attempted Teton peak. All three people were believed to have gotten off route.

What led to Cho’s fall is not yet clear. Grand Teton did not respond to a request for more information before press time Friday.

Teacher pleads not guilty to child endangerment charge

CHEYENNE (WNE) — Carpenter Elementary music teacher Amelia Giordano pleaded not guilty at her arraignment Thursday to a misdemeanor charge of abandoning or endangering a child.

The maximum sentence, if she is convicted, is up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $1000, Circuit Judge Sean C. Chambers said.

Giordano was charged by the Laramie County District Attorney’s office in late July because she allegedly “let a juvenile student (Paul Pine) be unattended after safety measures were put in place, contributing to [Pine’s] suicide,” according to court documents.

Pine, 11, died by suicide at the rural school in January. 

After his parents were notified that Pine had mentioned suicide to a teacher, they worked with officials at the school to come up with a safety plan for their son, which they told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle the school did not follow.

“Everything that was in the safety plan, I followed it to a T to make sure he was safe,” Chandel Pine, Paul’s mother, told the Tribune Eagle. “... We expected the school to follow the safety plan.”

Paul, a fifth-grader, had experienced difficulty in school, reading at a lower reading level than his peers. Chandel said this led to him being singled out on some occasions by teachers and other educators at the school.

This plan was already in place at the time Paul was in Giordano’s class, according to Chandel, and Giordano was aware of this plan at the time of Paul’s death.

The family previously told the Tribune Eagle they were exploring the possibility of a civil suit against the school.

Giordano was released after the hearing without bond. Her next court appearance, set for Nov. 11, is a scheduling conference.

Powell man charged with raping woman 

POWELL (WNE) — Authorities have charged a Powell man, 40-year-old Christopher S. McKinny, with first degree sexual assault, alleging that he raped a woman in a downtown parking lot in June. 

At a preliminary hearing on July 26, McKinny’s defense attorney questioned the woman’s account and suggested the encounter could have been consensual, but Park County Circuit Court Judge Joey Darrah called the prosecutors’ case “very strong.” 

As of Wednesday, McKinny remained jailed in Cody, with bail set at $250,000. 

The crime reportedly occurred in mid-June. According to the information gathered by police, the woman left a downtown bar sometime after 1:30 a.m., upset about an unrelated incident. 

While walking home, she realized another patron from the bar — later identified by police as McKinny — was “walking behind her, trying to console her,” Powell Police Investigator Chris Wallace said in court of the woman’s account. “A conversation began and the next thing [the woman] remembered was being forcefully ‘bent over’ the hood of a van” in the Mountain West Computer parking lot, Wallace wrote in an affidavit. 

The woman reportedly said she “shut down” in fear as the man raped her. She then walked to the Powell Police Department and reported being attacked. 

The woman reported that she had effectively blacked out during the assault and was unable to recall some details, Wallace recounted. She also said she didn’t know who had attacked her. 

At the July 26 hearing, Deputy Park County Prosecuting Attorney said that DNA evidence “makes it almost impossible for Mr. [McKinny] to not be the perpetrator of this sexual assault.” 

A conviction for first-degree sexual assault carries a minimum sentence of five years in prison. 

McKinny is set to be arraigned on Aug. 24 in district court, where he will formally enter a plea to the charge.

Cheyenne man sentenced to 51 months for drug trafficking

CHEYENNE (WNE) — Cheyenne resident Derek Ascherin was sentenced Aug. 1 to 51 months in prison for possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute, according to a news release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming.

The sentence was imposed by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Scott W. Skavdahl. 

Ascherin, 30, will also face three years of supervised release and $600 in fees.

Cheyenne Police Department officers contacted Ascherin in October, after receiving a call about a trespasser sleeping in their vehicle. Upon searching his vehicle, officers found “multiple plastic bags with methamphetamine and fentanyl pills.” 

He was arrested for being under the influence of a controlled substance.

“In total, the defendant possessed approximately 17 grams of methamphetamine and 8.9 grams (82 pills) of fentanyl. Ascherin pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl,” the news release read.