CASPER, Wyo. — A man jailed after one day in Casper is now being sought by Montana authorities as a person of interest in a homicide investigation in Golden County, Assistant District Attorney Blaine Nelson said in Natrona County Circuit Court on Friday.
Robert Lewis Crosby II, 36, is presumed innocent until proven or pleading guilty in the following matters.
Crosby first appeared in Natrona County Circuit Court on Monday and pleaded not guilty to domestic assault and being a pedestrian under the influence.
On Sunday, May 14, a Casper Police Department officer responded to Southeast Wyoming Boulevard near the Flying J for a report of a man attempting to step in front of vehicles, according to the report.
Officers made contact with the man and a woman who was with him. She told officers the man, identified as Crosby, had hit her in the face twice with a knife sheath and had thrown a spear at her, but missed.
Officers recovered the spear.
Crosby told circuit court Judge Nichole Collier on Monday that he had been in Casper one day, having most recently been in Idaho. Court records list a mailing address in Oregon.
After being released on a $2,000 personal recognizance bond, Crosby appeared again in court on Wednesday after the state said he’d violated bond conditions by contacting the alleged victim.
Nelson asked Judge Collier for a new bond of $5,000 cash only.
“F— you!” Crosby said in response. After the hearing grew more heated, Crosby was ordered to be jailed for 30 days for contempt of court.
On Friday, Crosby appeared again, this time on an extradition warrant from Golden Valley County, Montana.
Nelson told the court Crosby was being sought as a person of interest in connection to a homicide investigation. Nelson said the active warrant concerned the theft of the homicide victim’s vehicle.
Abigal Turner — a woman Crosby called his fiancée — also appeared Friday in connection to the stolen vehicle warrant.
On May 15, the day Crosby first appeared in Natrona County court, Golden Valley County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched to a rural residence in Montana for a welfare check.
Deputies located a 67-year old male with head trauma deceased in the residence, according to release by the agency on Thursday.
“Through the diligent efforts of the Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the Division of Criminal Investigation, Wheatland County Sheriff’s Office and others, a 37-year-old male and 21-year-old female were taken into custody regarding this death.”
“Currently there are no outstanding suspects and there is no risk to the public as a result of this incident,” the Golden Valley County Sheriff’s Office release added.
Turner did not contest extradition on Friday.
Crosby chose to contest, and an identification hearing will follow. His bond was set at $500,000 cash only.
