Elizabeth Ehlers 25 yr.old case solved

[Sister Iroz]

Elizabeth Miles Ehlers (EL'-ers), of Jackson Hole, was murdered
in June 1984 while she was traveling to Florida to be with her
husband.

The body of the 25-year-old woman was found near her car at the
mouth of Hoback Canyon in western Wyoming's Sublette County. She
had gunshot wounds to her head, chest and hand.

The Sublette County Sheriff Office says Troy Dean Willoughby, of
Wickes, Mont., was arrested Sunday for the murder of Ehlers.

Sheriff's officials say Willoughby is being held in Helena on
felony charges unrelated to the homicide, and a charge of
first-degree murder is pending.

Willoughby is formerly from Daniel in central Sublette County.

http://www.kgwn.tv/story.aspx?ID=1695&Cat=2

[Abroad]

I wonder what lead them to him after all that time? DNA, do you think?

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Willoughby was being held at the Lewis and Clark County jail in Helena on felony charges unrelated to the homicide.

The charges included failing to give notice as a sexual or violent offender to local authorities upon moving to an area. Willoughby also was charged with failing to appear in court.

Sublette County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Brian Ketterhagen said Willoughby lived in Daniel in central Sublette County at the time of the slaying and was an acquaintance of Ehlers’.

Ketterhagen said he interviewed Willoughby in Helena last week, before he was jailed.
[...]
The initial investigation went cold and remained unsolved despite being reopened by the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation in the mid-1990s, according to the sheriff’s office.

Ketterhagen said Sheriff Wayne Bardin asked him to reopen the case last fall. Ketterhagen said the new investigation took thousands of hours and involved interviewing witnesses in four states.

Sgt. K.C. Lehr, an investigator with the Sublette County Sheriff’s Office, told the Jackson Hole News&Guide in June 2007 that investigators took blood samples from Ehlers in 1984 that have been used in the ongoing investigation. He said investigators also lifted fingerprints from Ehlers’ car.

“Technology is so much more advanced now than it was in 1984,” Lehr told the paper. “We didn’t have DNA tests then and now it’s so prevalent in murder cases.”

Ehlers, a newlywed, was killed just days before her 26th birthday. Passers-by on Highway 191 found her dead next to her car. Authorities estimated she had been dead about five minutes.

Three witnesses reported seeing two white men standing over a body at the time of Ehlers’ death. They were driving a “dark sedan.”

Ehlers had $500 in cash on her for the trip. Her car was full of her personal possessions and nothing seemed to be missing. There was no evidence she had been assaulted.

http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/article.php?art_id=4307

I wonder if there will be another arrest?

His record as a sexual or violent offender:

Montana Statute: Aggravated Assault Counts: 1
Sentence Date: 08/02/1996

Montana Statute: Partner/Family Member Assault Counts: 1
Sentence Date: 06/13/1996

http://www.doj.mt.gov/SVOR/searchdet...Key=MT01209021

[Shellie435]

It really makes me so happy when these old cases are solved. I mean we've had two case in a row solved after 30 years. Good job to LE for never giving up. And big ups to Dakota And Wicked for brining them to our attention!Thank you ladies :)

[Shizz]

Yesss, I love when cold cases get solved.
JUSTICE !!!!!

FUCK YOU to the cunt got away with it for 25 years though. Burn you worthless, despicable motherfucker, burn.

[witzah]

hmmm.....

found articles june 2011 showing s.ct upheld his guilty conviction but an aug 2011 article comment posted from a radio byte saying the state wont appeal his winning a new trial?

in any event, havent read the transcript yet but its got a summary of facts leading up to why he killed her along with the ruling.

http://www.leagle.com/xmlResult.aspx...WAR3-2007-CURR

FACTS

[¶ 3] During the evening of June 20, 1984, the victim attended a party with friends in Jackson, Wyoming. The appellant and his wife (R.H.) and a companion (T.B.) were also present. At some point during the party, the appellant sold some "dope" to the victim, who said that she would go get the payment money from her car. The appellant, watching from a window, saw the victim get in her car and drive away. He hurried to follow her, and was joined by R.H. and T.B. as he left. As they were leaving, the appellant saw R.C., the person from whom he had purchased the "dope," and to whom he still owed the purchase money, and the appellant commented to R.C., "I might need that piece."

[¶ 4] Driving his car, with T.B. in the passenger's seat and R.H. in the back seat, the appellant chased after the victim. At some point, as they headed south out of Jackson, the appellant pulled over to the side of the road, and R.C. pulled in behind the appellant's car. The appellant went to R.C.'s vehicle and returned with a pistol. He then resumed the chase of the victim, eventually coming upon her car pulled over in a turnout. Upon seeing the vehicle, the appellant said something like, "I've been looking for her." He pulled in behind the victim's car, got out of his car, approached the victim's car, and dragged her out by the hair. A struggle and screaming match ensued, during which the appellant punched the victim twice in the face, causing her to fall to the ground. The appellant returned to his car, retrieved the pistol, walked back up to the victim and shot her twice.

[¶ 5] When the appellant returned to his vehicle, R.H. demanded to know what he had just done. The appellant responded that "this will teach the bitch to rip me off." The appellant then drove to his home in Daniel, a small town south of Jackson, where R.H. drove him to work. T.B., being too afraid to leave and having no transportation, stayed with the appellant and R.H. for a few days. At some point, the appellant told R.H. he needed help hiding the gun, which was eventually hidden in the couple's septic tank. When R.H. initially refused to assist the appellant, he struck her in the face with the butt of a rifle. After witnessing that violence, T.B. hitchhiked back to Jackson, where he made an anonymous telephone call to law enforcement saying the appellant had killed the victim.

[¶ 6] During the trial, several witnesses implicated the appellant in the victim's murder. Much of the preceding factual scenario came from the testimony of R.H. and T.B., the eye witnesses, and from B.C., a fellow inmate with whom the appellant had discussed many aspects of the crime. In addition, another witness, D.S., testified that, during a hunting trip in 1984, the appellant had described how the victim was murdered, and that the appellant's account scared D.S. to the point that he eventually reported it to authorities. At the time of the murder, however, not everyone was so forthcoming, and insufficient evidence was developed with which to charge the appellant.

[¶ 7] The appellant's trial defense was that of alibi. He claimed to have been at work at the time of the murder. The State presented expert testimony, however, indicating that the appellant's signature and initials on the "drilling log" had been forged. Further, the appellant told B.C. that he had paid the driller $100.00 for the forgery. Beyond that, the appellant's defense focused upon inconsistencies in the details of the testimony of the State's witnesses. The jury found the defendant guilty of first-degree murder, and the appellant's post-trial motion for a new trial was deemed denied when it was not determined by the district court within the time constraints of W.R.Cr.P. 33.

[witzah]

Found an article with updated info....he IS gwtting a new trial. Just decided a few days afo.

http://jacksonholeradio.com/?p=4133

Trot Dean Willoughby will be getting a new trial. District Court Judge Timothy Day issued the ruling Tuesday, vacating Willoughby’s murder conviction, and ordering a new trial. Willoughby was convicted of the murder of Lisa Ehlers, who was shot to death outside her car in a turnout at the south end of the Hoback Canyon on June 21st, 1984. On January 29, 2010 Willoughby was convicted of the first degree murder of Ehlers. On June 10, 2011, the new Sublette County & Prosecuting Attorney, Neal Stelting, gave notice to the defense team of previously undisclosed evidence, which could have assisted in Willoughby’s defense. The order signed by Judge Day stated …. quote…. “The Defendant’s Motion for New Trial was prompted by the disclosure of the report to the Defendant by the Sublette County & Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. The Court suspects that the evidence withheld in this matter was done under a misguided zeal that the disclosure of the report may result in a failure of justice, in the eyes of the investigators, because they “knew” the Defendant was guilty. If this philosophy prevails, the danger is that there will be a failure of justice because of the mentality that the ends justify the means; justice as measured by the government and not by the jury.

[witzah]

prior prosecution team conflicted out...so currently dunno who is gonna retry him or how they're gonna handle thecase

http://www.pinedaleroundup.com/v2_ne...&story_id=2169

Because of a Wermuth’s current employment,Stelting said the Sublette County Attorney’s Office cannot handle Willoughby’s new trial.

“It has been very disappointing to come to the decision that my office should not and cannot be involved in the new trial,” Stelting wrote in an email.

Stelting said he has “spent countless hours” researching the conflict issue,which included speaking with several county attorneys,the Wyoming State Bar and University of Wyoming Professor John Burman,who specialized in legal ethics issues.

“The consensus is that my office should not be involved and I’ve had to come to terms with the advice of more experience[d] prosecutors,” Stelting wrote. “The integrity of the first trial has already been undermined. I would rather make a safe decision than let my eagerness to handle this case undermine the integrity of a second trial.”

District Court Judge Timothy Day granted Willoughby a new trial Aug. 16 after determining members of the prosecution team knowingly withheld exculpatory evidence from Willoughby’s defense.

Willoughby is now,once again,faced with the original first-degree murder charges.

Stelting said Tuesday there have not been any decisions made yet on who will handle Willoughby’s retrial. However,the attorney who ultimately handles the case will have the discretion to evaluate the evidence associated with it and determine its strength, Stelting said.

Once a special prosecutor has entered his or her appearance with the court,the next step will be to select trial dates,Stelting said. The State also has the option of moving to dismiss Willoughby’s charges or reaching a plea agreement in lieu of going to trial, he said.

[witzah]

ahhhh....the reason for the new trial is dound here:

http://www.subletteexaminer.com/v2_n...&story_id=1741

‘Exculpatory’ evidence

In a June 14 release,Sublette County Attorney Neal Stelting –on the heels of the Wyoming Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Willoughby’s appealed verdict –told the public that “exculpatory” evidence recently given to his office gives Willoughby an alibi because Ehlers was killed just before 6 a.m. on June 21 and Willoughby was in Daniel at 12:38 a.m. –“four to five hours prior to the murder for which the defendant was convicted,” Stelting wrote to defense attorneys.

“The undisclosed evidence is material to the defendant’s guilt as it tends to support the defendant’s alibi and refute the state’s primary witnesses,” he wrote to Wyoming Public Defenders’ chief trial counsel Kerri Johnson.

The “undisclosed evidence” is a sheriff’s report with three men’s affidavits that on June 20, 1984 they had a run-in before midnight in Daniel when Willoughby approached their car with a club,threatened them and then broke out two windows with a rock. It was reported by dispatch at 12:38 a.m.

Stelting said then-prosecutor Lucky McMahon, then-county attorney investigator Randall Hanson,then-Sheriff’s Capt. Brian Ketterhagen and current Capt. Lance Gehlhausen knew of the report before trial and all but Gehlhausen agreed to withhold it from the defense during discovery.

Currently with the Republic of Palua Attorney General’s Office,McMahon responded in an email to Stelting’s allegations of misconduct.

“I can tell you that there is no truth to the unfounded accusations made by Neil Stelting,” she wrote. “I have retained an attorney and I will fight this battle,but not in the newspaper.”

Hanson declined comment Friday,saying,“I am not making any statement until after the probable (District Court) hearing.”

Ketterhagen,now the chief of police in Tea, S.D.,didn’t respond before press time.

Although Gehlhausen disagreed with the prosecution about the report’s importance,he did not turn it over to Sheriff Dave Lankford until several weeks ago,according to Stelting. Lankford then gave it to Stelting’s office.

Lankford said last week that Gehlhausen was out of town and any information has to come from Stelting as the office of origin. When contacted by the Examiner with a list of questions,secretary Julie Bell replied Stelting “will not be making any additional comments.”

Stelting said he confirmed the report was never given to Willoughby’s defense. Rick Wermuth, the public defender investigator for Willoughby’s trial,now works for Stelting as the Sublette County Attorney’s Office investigator.

[Abroad]

http://www.pinedaleroundup.com/v2_ne...&story_id=2367

Troy Dean Willoughby was found not guilty of first-degree murder by a Fremont County District Court jury last Thursday night.

The trial, which lasted nearly three weeks, concluded after only five hours of jury deliberation. Willoughby has been released from jail and cannot be retried for the murder of Elisabeth “Lisa” Miles Ehlers, according to Sublette County Attorney (SCA) Neal Stelting.

The verdict seemingly ends the Willoughby saga, which saw a July 2009 arrest and January 2010 conviction for the 1984 murder of Ehlers in Sublette County District Court. Ehlers was shot and killed at a turnout in the Hoback Canyon. Willoughby had been sentenced to life in prison.