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October 6, 2016 Newcastle, Wyoming Year 130 Week 40
Spirited baton twirlers from Newcastle Elementary steal the show at the Dogies' Homecoming parade on
September 30. (Pare Penfield/NLJ)
I
Alexis Barker
NLJ Reporter
Richard Campbell Jr. was known
by family and friends to be a sweet and
caring man who greatly disliked guns.
According to them, he would never kill
himself, especially with a gun.
A Coroner's Inquest was held in
Newcastle on September 28 and 30,
however, to determine if Campbell did
kill himself on June 24, 2015, or if there
are other factors involved in his death.
Little is still known of what happened
after the last time Campbell was seen
at about 3 p.m. on the day of his death.
All that is known is that Campbell
suffered a deadly gunshot wound to the
head, and a veil of mystery surrounds
his life and the relationship he had
with Weston County resident Caroline
Scoutt, who discovered his body and
owns the property on which he lived.
Weston County Coroner Cynthia
Crabtree called for the inquest to deter-
mine the true cause and manner of
Campbell's death. The Inquest was
conducted by Deputy Campbell County
Coroner Steve Rossier over a two day
period. Rossier also serves as a Deputy
Coroner for Weston County through an
agreement between the two counties
that consists of officials from both
offices being deputized to serve in each
other's jurisdiction.
Campbell was found unresponsive
by Scoutt last June 24, with an apparent
gunshot wound to the head. Evidence
put forward at the inquest indicated that
during the 911 call, Scoutt explained
that she had been out of town for the
day before returning home to pick up
her grandchildren. She told authorities
that when she arrived at her home,
which is 11 miles south of Newcastle on
I
Old Highway 85, she found Campbell's
body, his head surrounded by blood, on
the floor of the bedroom in the trailer
he occupied. The trailer was located
at 1072 Old Highway 85, on property
owned by Scoutt.
According to Weston County
Sheriff's deputies that responded to
the scene, Campbell was lying on the
ground next to his bed with an apparent
gunshot wound to the head. The gun, a
lever action .357 Rossi with a 2-inch
barrel, was laying across his chest with
the muzzle sitting between his left
shoulder and left ear.
According to those who responded
to the scene, with no other evidence
at the time suggesting anything else
had occurred, suicide was assumed
to be the cause of death. Some of the
evidence proved contradictory to such
an assumption, however, and a number
questions arose during the course of the
investigation. Officials reported during
the inquest that they were troubled by
the fact that there was no blood Splatter
at the scene and a lack of fingerprints
on the gun, both of which contributed
to no definite cause of death being
determined.
Crabtree hopes those questions,
and others, will be answered by the
Inquest, which last week consisted
of Rossier questioning a total of 23
witnesses-- including Sheriff's depu-
ties, family members, and insurance
agents-- about different aspects of both
Campbell and Scoutt's life leading up
to the incident on June 24. Some of the
witnesses were also asked for details
about what is already known in regards
to what happened on the day Campbell
died.
-- See Shooting, Page 3
m'
Alexis Barker
NLJ Reporter
Greg James will finish his second stint as
Newcastle's mayor at the end of the year after
choosing not to seek re-election to the post
this year, and he could well be moving into the
same position he held at the conclusion of his
first term in the mayor's office. James, who did
file for election to a city council post and will
appear on the November ballot in that slot, could
instead be moving into the recently vacated
office of the City Clerk/Treasurer-- a job he
held after serving as mayor the first time in the
late 1990's.
The position of City Clerk has been vacant
since August 1 when Charita Brunner resigned
from the position. A number of applications
were submitted by individuals wishing to take
on the job, and the list was whittled down to
three candidates who were offered interviews. A
committee was then tasked with selecting their
top choice to replace Brunner, and on Monday
night they informed the rest of the council that
the current mayor was their pick.
"The City Personnel Committee met and got
the applications down to three. One of those
backed out, and we interviewed two very quali-
fied people. Our recommendation is to hire Greg
James to the City Clerk position," announced
Councilman Roger Hespe, who made a motion
to extend the job offer to James after making
the declaration to the council. The motion was
approved by four of the five council members
present at the meeting, with Councilman Steven
Ladwig voting against the motion, expressing
that he had to change his vote to "Nay" after
further reflection of the topic.
City Attorney Jim Peck explained that with
the extension of the offer, the council has a
number of options when it comes to filling the
position for Mayor once James resigns.
"If he accepts, the next question is regarding
the position of Mayor. Until he actually starts
working as the Clerk/Treasurer he can still serve
as mayor. I assume he will tender his resignation
if he accepts," stated Peck. He noted that until
the council appoints another mayor, Councilman
Todd Quigley will serve as President of the
Council.
-- See Clerk, Page 3
Alexis Barker
NLJ Reporter
Currently, a total of five trustees make up the
Weston County Health Services Board, but that
group has the ability, under statute, to increase to
seven members. A number of years ago the discus-
sion took place on whether or not to amend the
bylaws to increase the number of members on the
board, and the discussion surfaced again at last
month's board meeting.
On September 19, WCHS Board Treasurer Barry
Peterson made a motion to amend the board's bylaws
to increase the board to seven members-- who
would be appointed immediately. Those positions
would then be up for election when trustee positions
go before voters in 2018.
"We have talked about putting people on com-
mittees. There are not enough of us to do so... We
are a very diversified board, that isn't the issue. It
has nothing to do with that. It has to do with putting
people on different committees and providing more
for the board," declared Peterson, who first raised
questions regarding the procedure involved in
changing the bylaws.
He said he had discussed the issue with Board
President Jimmy Long prior to the meeting, and they
had determined that there were no written rules for
the board regarding how to amend the bylaws.
Attorney Jim Peck Clarified that amending the
bylaws is done by a motion and a second to that
motion. He noted that by statute, the WCHS board
can consist of either five or seven members but those
numbers are the only two choices. He did reveal
that the previous board had discarded the idea out
of concern for attracting enough interest to serve on
-- See Hospital, Page 7
Board backs early childcare resolution
Mary Freeman
News Editor
i The Weston County School
District 1 School Board met on
Wednesday for a routine business
meeting, recognizing achieve-
ments, taking up-to-date reports
from principals and educators and
considering motions.
Board member Joe Corley
offered recognition for the school
district's janitorial staff.
"I was there on the Thursday
night when they had the concert
and several other things were
going on. They cleaned every-
thing up quickly and really well,"
Corley stated with emphasis.
"I'd like to recognize all of
the young people involved with
Homecoming. They have all
worked so hard," said Weston
County School District #1
Superintendent Brad LaCroix.
Community Recreational
Director Jessica Bettorf reported
positively on the activities
-- See School Board, Page 8
Alexis Barker
NLJ Reporter
A representative of the Predator Board
was joined by a former member of the board
when he approached the Weston County
Commissioners on September 20 to discuss
inconsistencies in board member lists, and
his belief that one board member was not
qualified to hold a position on the board.
The Weston County Predator Management
Board is a state-mandated board that requires
the county commission to appoint four of
its members. According to Predator Board
Treasurer Mike Davis, there are a number
of positions on the board that are meant to
be filled by either sportsmen or livestock
owners, and in order to receive appointment
to either of those positions, a specific set of
qualifications must be met by the applicant.
Nicky Groenwold had been appointed to
fill a sportsmen's opening by the commis-
sioners, and they heard arguments last month
that she does not meet the qualifications to
hold that position-- primarily because she
owns livestock,
"We need to get a board member the
commissioners appointed removed from the
board. She does not qualify to be sitting on
the board. She owns livestock," declared
Davis, who said that in order to represent
sportsmen on the board, an individual is not
allowed to own any livestock.
Davis revealed to commissioners that
the Predator Board had collected proof that
Groenwold had sold livestock within the
last two years, and that both she and her
husband's names appear on the brands for
their cattle. He argued that such proof of
ownership makes her ineligible to hold the
seat to which she was appointed.
"This kind of puts our state funding in
jeopardy," asserted Davis, who cautioned the
commissioners that the county does not want
to cover the shortfall that forfeiture of state
funding would create.
Davis said the board shared these con-
cerns with Groenwold, and that she had
informed them that she would resign. He
told the commissioners she had still not
submitted her resignation, and had in fact
attended a meeting since the concerns were
raised. Davis also alleged that Groenwold
has a personal agenda regarding an employee
of the board, and accused her of holding the
seat simply to "rabble-rouse." He said the
board itself is unable to take any action to
correct the situation, and asked the commis-
sioners to do so.
"We can't remove her. She has to be
removed by the commission," professed
-- See Predator, Page 3
Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday INSIDE
Parity Cloudy Sunny Sunny Sunny Sunny Parlly Cloudy Sunny
Hi 49, Lo 33 Hi 54, Lo 35 Hi 60, Lo 42 Hi 68, Lo 44 Hi 67, Lo 43 Hi 66, Lo45 Hi 67, Lo 46 • AWANA, P0ge 8
tu • Sports, Page 9
IIg • Manor Awards, Page 11
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