White House to Vet Three for Wyo.’s Next U.S. Attorney

Rep. Gingery On Short List

By GIL BRADY

Filed 6-29-07
Updated 6-30-07, 7:15 a.m., MST

JACKSON, Wyo. (CT) – President Bush has received a list of three nominees for U.S. Attorney for Wyoming, according to a press release late Friday from the office of Wyoming’s senior Republican Sen. Mike Enzi.

In alphabetical order the names submitted to the White House are: Keith Gingery of Jackson; Kelly Rankin of Casper; and Harlan Rasmussen of Sheridan.

(Click & Read on courtesy of NewWest.net)

Photo caption & credit: Rep. Keith Gingery, (R-Dubois/Jackson), via the Wyo. state legistature

Shame of Wyoming

A freely available OPINION

It's high time for Vice-President Cheney to hang up his spurs

By The Cowboy Picayune-Sunny Times Editorial Board

Filed 6.26.07

“Great liars are also great magicians,” Hitler once boasted in cold blood while making Jews vanish by the millions.

“Liars are always most disposed to swear,” the Italian dramatist Vittorio Alfieri swore between acts.

“Liars share with those they deceive the desire not to be deceived,” the Swedish philosopher Sissela Bok proffered before fading into obscurity.

“Go f*ck yourself,” Vice-President Dick Cheney, Wyoming’s infamous son, told Patrick Leahy, the distinguished Senator from Vermont, after getting the third-degree over Halliburton’s magical sole-source contracts in Iraq during a Congressional photo-op in 2004.

In true form, the exchange occurred on the same day the Senate passed legislation described as the “Defense of Decency Act” by 99 to 1.

(Click & Read on courtesy of NewWest.net)

Hot Springs Rancher Can't Sue BLM under RICO

HIGH COURT DENIES HOT SPRINGS RANCHER

By PETER YOST
The Associated Press

Washington, D.C. (AP)-- The Supreme Court on Monday ruled against a Wyoming rancher who sued government employees in a dispute over federal access to a road on his land. Harvey Robbins of Hot Springs County, Wyo., accused half a dozen employees in the Bureau of Land Management of trying to coerce him into granting an easement on a road leading to the Shoshone National Forest.

(Click & Read courtesy of the Casper Star-Tribune)

Photo Captions & Credits: "Hot Springs rancher Harvey Frank Robbins atop an ass outside the Worland, Wyo., BLM Office"

'Buddy Holly' Arson Suspect Bound for Trial

POLICE: Man admits being jobless in Jackson drove him to arson

By GIL BRADY
The Cowboy Picayune-Sunny Times

Filed 6.22.07

JACKSON, Wyo. (CT) – A bespectacled Nevada man nicknamed “Vegas,” who police have said resembled “Buddy Holly,” was bound over on charges of arson and burglary after a preliminary hearing here Thursday.

Following an all night party May 27, police say Nicholas “Vegas” Kunst, 21, of Las Vegas, Nev., entered two condos at Elk Run Townhomes in Jackson. Court documents say after leaving one burning condo Kunst told a witness he was drunk.

(Click & Read on courtesy of NewWest.net)

Monkeying with Justice

A freely available OPINION

By The Cowboy Picayune Editorial Board

Filed 6.15.07

It was sickening to read in The New York Times last week how the U.S. Justice Department has strayed from its once proud, strong and grounded civil rights mission, under the current regime of dogmatic Tartuffes in Washington, and elevated Church over State.

Back home in Wyoming, however, the reality that there are certain forms of justice, or rather injustice, that the system here just doesn’t handle very well is old news to anyone who's bothered to arm themselves with the facts.

(Click & Read on courtesy of NewWest.net)

Artwork depicting the character "Tartuffe" from the comedic play on religious hypocrisy by Moliere

Father: 'There were no strangers in his life'

Coroner says Man drowned at Flat Creek

By GIL BRADY
The Cowboy Picayune Sunny-Times

Filed 6.18.07

JACKSON, Wyo.(CT) — Sheriff’s investigators have ruled that a man found dead in a brook here three weeks ago, after leaving a local saloon alone and intoxicated, drowned. But they likely won’t decide until this week whether he entered the cold creek by himself or by the hand of another.

(Click & Read on courtesy of NewWest.net)

Damnit, I knew it! Tony was 'whacked!'

By STEVE GORMAN
Via Yahoo TV

Filed 6.14.07

Fans of "The Sopranos" are seizing on clues suggesting that the controversial blackout which abruptly ended the TV mob drama meant that Tony Soprano was rubbed out, and HBO said on Thursday they may be on to something.

(Click & Read on via Yahoo)

Day gives DeBoer 180 days

By GIL BRADY
The Cowboy Picayune-Sunny Times

Filed 6.13.07

JACKSON, Wyo. (CT)—A former corporate pilot and notorious horseman with a storied four-year history of run-ins with Game Creek trail users here was given 180 days in jail Tuesday for recklessly endangering the lives of three bicyclists nearly half his age last summer.

Last week, a jury of three women and three men found Paul DeBoer, 66, guilty on seven misdemeanors: three of reckless endangering, one of reckless driving and three counts of illegally passing a vehicle on the left. For his crimes, under state law, DeBoer faced over three years in jail.

(Click & Read on courtesy of NewWest.net)

It's not a conspiracy, it's just Wyoming!

A freely available OPINION

By The Cowboy Picayune-Sunny Times Editorial Board

Filed 6.10.06

Since the passing of much-beloved Wyoming Senator Craig Thomas this week for some reason some here have been wondering: Why the heck doesn’t Washington’s professional chattering class and press corps appear to give a hoot, in the "let's whip up the public" free-for-all political calculus sense?

When senators from other states turn gravely ill (much less die) during times of narrowly held one party majorities over the other in Washington--like South Dakota’s Tim Johnson, a Democrat, who was cut down by a stroke during a phone interview with a reporter in December--the Beltway pundits went bananas!

(Click here & Read on courtesy of NewWest.net)

Extraordinary Extradition

Breaking...EXCLUSIVE REPORT

By GIL BRADY
Star-Tribune correspondent

Filed 6.07.07, 1:50 a.m., MST
Updated 6.07.07, 6:55 p.m., MST

Rape suspects Daniel Juarez Bonilla & Armando Aguilar return to jail Thursday, held on $1 million bail -- prosecutors seek enhanced life sentences for both men for convictions on all charges. DNA, eyewitness testimony and positive fingerprint ID evidence purported to be key to state's case. Circuit Court Judge Timothy C. Day slates probable cause hearing here for next Thursday, June 14.

FLASHBACK...Aug. 21, 2005

JACKSON, Wyo. — Citizens of Jackson Hole awaken to the shocking news no small town can bear: Two of their own daughters are reportedly assaulted and raped around the Town Square by four men shortly after bars closed here the night before.

Community leaders call for calm. Vigilantes call for a noose.

Behind the scenes, police come under tremendous pressure from elected officials to capture the perpetrators and assure tourists and the public all is well in paradise. Cops and detectives work around the clock to crack the case as the press catches the hopping, mad fever.

Within days, Jackson police release composite sketches of two suspects--only to discover days later a folded up newspaper splashing their mugs on the dash of an abandoned get-a-way car.

Within two weeks, officials announce the capture of two later-convicted accomplices.

But for nearly two years, one nagging question has haunted the minds of victims and concerned residents alike: What happened to the two primary culprits?

Late Tuesday evening, sources say, federal agents delivered into custody here two fugitives from Mexico that police allege are the ones who got away one long summer, two years ago.

(Click here & read on courtesy of the Casper Star-Tribune)

Photo Captions & Credits: High-profile 2005 rape suspects "Daniel Juarez Bonilla (left)" & "Armando Aguilar (right)" courtesy of the Jackson Police Department

DeBoer: 'Guilty'

Jury Convicts Game Creek Horseman on 7 Counts

By GIL BRADY
The Cowboy Picayune-Sunny Times

Filed 6.06.07

JACKSON, Wyo. (CT) – A sixty-six year-old man accused of recklessly endangering the lives of three bicyclists nearly half his age when he sideswiped them with his truck near Game Creek Trail here last summer was found guilty on seven counts by a jury Wednesday.

After deliberating for over three hours today, a jury of three women and three men convicted Paul DeBoer, 66, of seven misdemeanors—including reckless driving, reckless endangering and illegally passing a vehicle on the left.

Sentencing in the case is scheduled for next Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. before 9th Circuit Court Judge Timothy C. Day. DeBoer faces a maximum of over three years and a half in jail and about $1,300 in fines, or both.

Stay tuned for Thursday's full report in the Casper Star-Tribune

DeBoer Trial Kicks Off After Long & Boring “Voire Dire”

By GIL BRADY
The Cowboy Picayune-Sunny Times

Filed 6.5.07

JACKSON, Wyo. (CT) – After nearly six hours of “voire dire” Monday—where lawyers probe potential jurors about their opinions for or against their case—and one bored, uncalled juror in Beetle Juice knee socks practiced seated Yoga in the galley, four women and three men were chosen to decide the fate of Game Creek horseman Paul DeBoer.

(Click Here & Read on courtesy of NewWest.net)

Busted: Cops Nab 'Buddy Holly' Suspect

UPDATE...Kunst arraigned Friday, bail tentatively set at over $250,000

By GIL BRADY
Star-Tribune correspondent

Filed 6.1.07, 2.06 a.m., MST
Updated 6.1.07, 8:20 p.m., MST

JACKSON – With his modish dark hair and retro-looking glasses police say he sported last Sunday morning, some suggested he resembled a resurrected version of pioneer rocker Buddy Holly.

But a young, bespectaled man with a prior record but no sweetheart Motown deal, wanted in connection with a spree of arsons and burglaries here, is more than likely singing the blues in jail today.

Charged with one count of felony arson and at least one count of aggravated burglary, for becoming armed with guns following one larceny, Nicholas “Vegas” Kunst, 21, was arrested and booked into the Teton County jail late Thursday afternoon, according to Sheriff’s Capt. Gaylen Merrell.

On May 27, Kunst allegedly burglarized two vehicles and set fire to two condos—one being occupied—and tried unsuccessfully to break into several cars.

During Kunst's 11 a.m. arraignment today, Teton County Prosecuting Attorney Steve Weichman, who lives with his family at Elk Run Townhomes, told Circuit Court Judge Timothy Day, during Kunst's bail hearing, that someone "rifled" through his wife's unlocked truck around the time of the alleged crimes in question.

Neighbors reportedly helped snuff out the fires. Damage was described as minor and no injuries were reported. However, several victims of the purported arsons and burgalries observed Kunst's arraignment under the watchful eyes of two sheriff's bailiffs.

Jackson Police Chief Dan Zivkovich said yesterday that Kunst was initially picked up, without incident, on a probation violation. However, the chief added, Kunst could face additional charges “depending on his state of mind” at the time of his alleged crimes.

Sgt. Scott Terry told a Star-Tribune reporter earlier this week that “multiple-good” witnesses reported that a man wearing black “Buddy Holly/Roy Orbison-style glasses” allegedly muttered something last Sunday—as he left one Elk Run Townhome—about “drinking.”

Terry added that the suspected arsonist-burglar was also seen leaving one torched condo carrying the stolen goods from another.

Zivkovich said Thursday that detectives are investigating whether Kunst was also involved in another spree of arsons here in late April.

“We just don’t know yet,” the chief said. “He could be.”

Merrell said Kunst was arrested at 990 Budge Drive. At roughly the same location on April 26, firefighters and police extinguished a torched Dodge Ram truck that also charred part of a rental cabin overlooking Sidewinders Tavern.

That blaze, which firefighters responded to at 4:19 a.m., was the second in a string of early morning arsons nearly five weeks ago that destroyed two other SUV-type vehicles.

Asked about a possible motive for Sunday’s arsons, Zivkovich said, “No, we don’t have one. But hopefully he’ll tell us.”

Police Cpl. Andy Pearson said last month that investigators had lifted a fingerprint off one burned-out car body. Zivkovich said yesterday that analysis of the print had not yet come back from the state crime lab.

Sunday's burglaries and blazes occurred near where the body of Jonathan Koberna, 24, was discovered May 23 partially submerged in Flat Creek, which winds through the same Elk Run neighborhood.

“Sunday’s crimes are not associated with the death that occurred in this same location last week,” officials said.

Police say a critical tip from a reader of the Jackson Hole Daily, which ran a composite image of the Elk Run suspect this week, led them to making Thursday's arrest. The paper is also reporting that Kunst stole guns from one apartment, which made him especially dangerous, according to police.

A law enforcement source, who asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to discuss the case, said that Kunst also allegedly stole numerous laptop computers and possibly stereo equipment.

Weichman, who several times glared at Kunst as he sat shackled beside public defender Greg Blenkinsop, requested bail be set at $500,000. The prosecutor also insisted on exceptional release terms, should Kunst meet bail, to ensure monitoring of the defendant's whereabouts and the safety of the community.

Prosecutors also accused Kunst of previously lying to the court, including giving a false address on Aspen Drive, while on six month's probation for his passing over $1,000 in bad checks this past April.

Kunst answered Day's inquiries into his understanding of the charges and penalties he faces with soft and polite "yes and no, your honors and sirs" and frequently bowed his head during today's arraignment.

Day tentatively set bail at more than $250,000, pending a probation revocation hearing later this month. The judge also granted Blenkinsop's request to waive a speedy preliminary hearing for the defendant who returned to jail Friday.

His next scheduled appearance is June 21 for a preliminary hearing to determine if probably cause exists for the crimes he is charged with committing and probation terms he reportedly violated.

The defendant's probation violation charge arose from check frauds in March and April this year when Kunst allegedly passed over 20 bad checks to local businesses for about $1,300 from a closed bank account.

He served 14 days of an 180 day sentence in jail here, the remaining 166 being suspended as a condition of complying with the terms of his probation.

Kunst currently faces more than 50 years in prison and $80,000 in fines should he be convicted on all felony counts. Authorities said Friday additional charges against Kunst could be added, pending the findings of an ongoing investigation into events on May 27th and April 26.

(Click here & Read on courtesy of the Casper Star-Tribune)