Lovell, Wyoming 82431
Price 75¢
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Volume 104, Number 51
DAVm l~cK
Quinton Mangus, 7, of Sheridan learns about
the sacrifices of veterans during Monday's
Memorial Day ceremony in Cowley as an
American flag waves in the breeze next to
him.
BY BRENDA TENBOER
A Deaver man charged
with six sex crimes who
fought extradition from
Montana will continue to be
held in the Big Horn County
Jail on $1 million bond.
District Court Judge
Steven Cranfill last
Thursday said witness
testimony is needed before
he can make a decision on
a request to lower the bond
to $100,000 cash or surety
for Marvin Tilley, 58.
BigHornCountyDeputy
Prosecuting Attorney
James Hallman described
Tilley, if convicted of the
charges, as a "longtime
serial sex offender" who
will likely spend the rest of
his life in prison.
Hallman said Tilley
was hospitalized in Casper
in August after suffering
broken bones in his neck as
a result of a car wreck. Law
enforcement authorities
contacted Tilley in the
hospital and asked for
identification but didn't
immediately arrest him on
a Big Horn County warrant
alleging six felony sex-
related charges.
Natrona County
officials, not wanting to
become responsible for
Tilley's immediate medical
bills, positively identified
the suspect and were going
to arrest him before he was
released from the hospital,
Hallman said.
Tilley, tipped off
about law enforcement
plans, allegedly left the
hospital without doctor's
authorization to avoid
arrest, according to
Hallman. He drove to
Billings, where he was
arrested on Sept. 13, 2009,
and held without bond.
He fought extradition
and the governor of
Montana eventually signed
an order on Nov. 6 to force
the suspect's return to
Wyoming.
Hallman also alleged
that Tilley's wife contacted
both victims and witnesses
in this case in attempts to
make them change their
testimony.
Tilley should remain
behindbars on the $1 million
bond for public safety and
because the case is an On the way home,
ongoing investigation with Tilley did meet in
more victims anticipated Thermopolis with attorney
to file complaints, Hallman Mike Messenger, who
said. made some contacts on
Tilley'sattorney,James Tilley's behalf, but because
Castberg of Sheridan, Messenger wanted a
argued the Tilleys are
lifelong residents of Deaver
with a $285,000 home in
Park County to use as
collateral for bond.
Castberg said Tilley
was convicted of fourth-
degree sexual assault
against a woman in the
1990s and served 60 days
in jail. The current charges
all contain allegations of
sex acts against a child, a
crime Tilley has never been
previously charged with.
Castberg then painted
a very different picture
of the events described
by Hallman based on law
enforcement reports.
Tilley was in the Casper
hospital, but after Wyoming
Highway Patrol troopers
took the information from
his driver's license and left,
Tilley had no idea he was a
wanted man, according to
Castberg.
$100,000 retainer, Tilley
chose to keep moving.
Tilley went to Montana
to work in the oil fields
and on construction sites,
which is his normal means
of income, Castberg said.
Castberg said Tilley
refused to cooperate with
extradition because a
Big Horn County deputy
threatened him at one time
and he was afraid to come
back.
Judge Cranfill set an
evidentiary hearing on
the bond request for June
17 when witnesses are
expected to testify.
The six charges Tilley
allegedly committed
include rape and forced
sex acts on a girl under the
age of 12 in 1981, rape of
another young girl in 1976
and forcing a third child
victim to perform sex acts
on him in the mid 1970s.
BY BRAD DEVEREAUX
Coming to the Big Horn
Basin in 1879, Henry Clay
L0vell was just beginning to
get into the cattle ranching
business. He met Anthony
Mason and the two men
formed a partnership and
a plan to raise cattle on the
open range of the Big Horn
Basin that was wide open
and stretched as far as the
eye could see.
But they had a lot of
work to do first.
They built the enter-
prise slowly but surely, con-
structing a ranch and later
relocating it to its current
location at Willow Creek
near the Big Horn River.
Their partnership flour-
ished and through a lot of
hard work, their herd grew
to more than an estimated
25,000 head that roamed
free-range through the ba-
sin, helping the partners
make much money from the
land they lived on.
Life was good at the
Mason-Lovell Ranch.
About 120 years later,
Rep. Elaine Harvey (R--
Lovell) experienced a simi-
lar satisfaction when visit-
ing the Mason-Lovell Ranch
last week at the Bighorn
Canyon National Recre-
ation Area. She stopped to
talk with a group of Univer-
sity of Wyoming students
who were hard at work
rebuilding corrals at the
ranch, originally built dur-
ing the early ranchers' hey-
day around the turn of the
20th century.
The eight students are
a crew that is' part of the-
Wyoming Conservation
Corps. The WCC was cre-
ated in 2007 by legislation
that was pushed through
the Wyoming House of Rep-
resentatives and Senate by
the Joint Minerals, Busi-
ness and Economic Devel-
opment Committee. Har-
vey managed the bill on the
floor of the House.
"Our vision was for
state and other agencies to
use them to do construction
projects," Harvey said, add-
ing that another purpose of
the WCC was to peak stu-
dents' interests in resource
management. "So the stu-
dents would come to love
the land and through sci-
ence learn what the land
needed."
The bill took two years
before it passed to secure
seed funding of $312,000
in matching funds for the
WCC, Harvey said.
She said the program is
meant to keep young adults
educated in all of Wyo-
ming's natural resources
while also instilling in them
a love for the land that will
make them want to stay in
Wyoming later in life.
"We want you to learn
to conserve and take .....
of what we have here," Har-
vey said, adding, "Hands-on
experience is the best way
to learn."
The students got a taste
of being a homesteader/
rancher at the turn of the
century, installing a large
corral at the ranch that had
become dilapidated over
the years and was even-
tually torn down. Though
they used an auger and
other power tools to help
with the construction, the
students were performing
essentially the same work
that Lovell did when he de-
signed the original corrals
and hand-dug holes for the
railroad tie posts. The stu-
dents worked alongside Ted
Preator, Tyler Ennis and
other NPS workers.
WCC Senior Project Co-
ordinator Ben Bump said
BRAD D~W~Aux
Team players who helped make the ML Ranch Corral restoration a reality
include (l-r) WCC Senior Project Coordinator Ben Bump, Ted Preator of the
NPS, UW student Amy Freye, Rep. Elaine Harvey (R--Lovell) and UW students
Emma Openheim, Erin Daley, Adam Ellowitz, Sam Murray, Stephanie Bartlett
and Eben Johnson. The group is posed in front of the bunkhouses at the historic
ranch, behind a portion of the corral they worked on.
the program puts an em-
phasis on education for stu-
dents enrolled. They receive
UW credits for the 10-week
course, and they spend at
least a day taking an edu-
cational tour of each area in
which they work while also
learning about the local re-
source management pro-
grams in place. This sum-
mer, six different crews will
complete six 10-day projects
throughout the state.
See 'RANCH,' page 6
Filing wraps up
BY DAVID PECK
AND KARLA POMEROY
There will be a significant changing of
the guard among north Big Horn County
mayors as four of the five incumbent
mayors did not file for re-election by
Friday's deadline for the August 17
Primary Election.
According to final filings reported to
the Big Horn County Clerk's Office by local
town clerks, mayors Milton Meier of Byron,
Roland Simmons of Cowley, Rod Wambeke
of Deaver and Gerald Dart of Frannie did
not file for office. In their place on the ballot
will be 11 challengers, including four in
Byron, four in Frannie, two in Deaver and
one in Cowley.
In Lovell, Mayor Bruce Morrison did
file for re-election and will be joined on the
ballot by three challengers.
There will be four candidates for mayor
in Byron to replace Milton Meier: Bret
George, Gary Gruell, Gary Petrich and
Carl Watts. Two candidates will advance
to the General Election in November.
In Frannie, there are four candidates
for mayor to replace Gerald Dart: Jack
Cordner, Harold Curry, Jason Dixon and
Nadine Kreutzer. Again, two will advance
to the General Election.
Two councilmen have filed to take over
for Rod Wambeke in Deaver: Don Wenstrom
Jr. and Fred Yates. Both will advance to
the General Election in November with
the winner elected mayor and the loser
staying on the council with his council
term not up until 2012. The council would
then appoint a replacement for whoever is
elected mayor.
There are also two candidates in
Cowley to replace Roland Simmons in
the mayor's chair. Current councilwoman
Carolyn Barnes has filed for mayor, along
with Joel Peterson.
In Lovell, there are three challengers
for Mayor Bruce Morrison: Stephen Fowler,
Garrett Pike and James Szlemko.
There are also 17 candidates*
throughout north Big Horn County for two
town council seats in each municipality.
Byron leads the way with six candidates
for two seats on the council. Filing in
Byron were incumbent Linda NeVille, Alan
Bair, Dennis Cozzens, Jeffery Langston,
Andy Petrich and Karma Sanders. Four
candidates - two for each seat - will
advance to the General Election. Curtis
Abraham did not file for re-election.
There are four candidates in Frannie:
incumbents James Beard and Marty Roedel
and challengers Gayla Hazen and Richard
Kelly. Barring a write-in candidate, all
four will advance to the General Election.
Three have filed for the council in
Cowley: incumbent David Banks and
challengers Diane Badget and Frank
Weinand. The other council member
whose seat is up; Barnes, is running for
mayor. Three will advance to the General
Election, with the possibility of a fourth,
write-in, candidate.
There are few candidates for council
in Lovell and Deaver, leaving open the
possibility of write-in nominations. There
are two candidates for two seats in Lovell:
incumbent Bruce Wolsey and newcomer
Rick Banks. Councilwoman Jodi Lindsay
did not file for re-election.
There are also two candidates for two
seats in Deaver in the form of current
councilman Mark Cozzens and newcomer
Gary Fulbright. Councilwoman Cindy
Phillips did not file for re-election.
According to Wyoming statute, a
candidate must receive three write-in
votes to be eligible to be on the ballot. A
candidate must accept the nomination by
filing the appropriate paperwork, along
with the $25 filing fee.
BUSY COUNTY RACES
At the county level, there are five races
with any opposition with former county
attorney Michelle McColloch Burns of
Greybull filing to challenge current Big
Horn CountyAttorney GeorgiaAntley Hunt
of Basin for the Republican nomination.
County Clerk Dori Noyes of Greybull is
being challenged by Deputy Clerk Cynde
LaCounte of Greybull for the Republican
nomination, while former Deputy Clerk
Catherine C. Stuber of Greybull has filed
for the Democratic nomination.
Three county residents are challenging
Keith Grant of Lovell and Thomas "Scotty"
Hiuman of Basin for two commission
seats. Joining Linda Harp of Basin are Joe
Sylvester of Greybull and Barry Wilske
of Lovell. All five candidates have filed as
Republicans.
Big Horn County SheriffKen Blackburn
of Cowley is being challenged by Greybull
police officer and Basin resident Ben
Mayland for the Republican nomination.
Assessor Gina Anderson of Shell is
being challenged by Deputy Assessor Teri
Hill of Basin for the Republican nomination
for that position.
Unopposed in the Primary Election are
County Coroner Del Atwood Jr. of Basin,
Clerk of County Court Vickie Larchick
and County Treasurer Becky Lindsey of
Greybull.
See ELECTION, page 6
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