Arrest Made In 2015 Double Murder At Cheyenne Coin Shop

CHEYENNE — Closure may soon be a little closer for the families of two people shot and killed in a double murder during a 2015 robbery at a local business with the arrest of a suspect.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Cheyenne Police Department announced it arrested a 68-year-old California man in connection with the murders at The Coin Shop in downtown Cheyenne. Shot and killed were George Manley, 76, and Dwight Brockman, 67.

With the assistance of the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office in northern California, Douglas Smith of McCloud, California, was arrested on a Wyoming warrant alleging two counts of first-degree murder.

Although it came around nine years after the killings, Cheyenne police say they never stopped working to solve the case and make an arrest.

As a result of that ongoing investigation, detectives believe that Smith, who initially called in the shootings to 911, killed Manley and Brockman.

The case has now been turned over to the Laramie County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution while friends and family move into a new phase of their grief, anger and closure.

Cheyenne resident Mike Moser was friends with Brockman as the two bonded over ancient coins. He said the arrest brings some sense of closure.

“It’s a tremendous relief for not just the families involved, but their friends in the community,” Moser told Cowboy State Daily. “It will bring some closure.”

Extensive Investigation

The case had remained open and active since the murder happened shortly before 9:30 a.m. on July, 20, 2015.

Moser said the murders were particularly disturbing for many in Cheyenne because it happened during the day in a busy part of town.

The Coin Shop, Moser said, felt in many ways like Brockman’s living room.

“Cheyenne lost some of its innocence that day,” Moser said.

A witness had described the suspect as a Hispanic male between 5 feet 6 inches and 5-8 wearing a dark-colored shirt running away from the scene of the crime. This does not align with Smith’s current appearance, an elderly white male.

Although there was no video in the shop at the time of the robbery and shootings, detectives were able to develop several persons of interest, the Cheyenne Police Department says in a press release announcing the arrest.

Nine days after the murder, Cheyenne police offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a suspect. By 2016, the reward increased to $11,000, and by 2021 had reached $50,000.

Five different detectives and one civilian had worked to solve the case since 2015, the CPD reports. And just since last year, more than 1,500 hours have been spent working the case and hundreds of tips, emails and letters were reviewed.

In March 2023, detectives revisited the evidence in the case to generate new leads and determine if new technology could provide a break.

Hard Work Pays Off

Additional warrant service operations and interviews were also done in California and Colorado with assistance from partnering law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, Secret Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Homeland Security, U.S. Marshals Service, Laramie County District Attorney’s Office and California Highway Patrol.

Costs for this work, which included travel, testing and examinations, topped $11,100.

Cheyenne Police Chief Mark Francisco said he became aware of the unsolved double-homicide when he was hired as chief of police three years ago.

“Cases like this can be very challenging with many layers of evidence,” he said in the press release. “Our detectives have been diligently working for almost a decade and, through detailed analysis, have been able to thoughtfully re-examine the evidence in ways that bring those responsible to justice.”

It was Cheyenne Mayor Patrick Collins who first introduced the case to Francisco during the chief’s interview for the job in March 2021. Collins was a small business owner at the time of the murder and saw first hand the impact the crime had on Cheyenne.

“I asked him, ‘Would you spend some time and give it a look?’” Collins recounted, to which Francisco affirmed.

Collins credits the new push and perspective Francisco brought on the case for helping solve it.

He knows many people who regularly talk about the murder today.

“It was a wound on our community’s soul,” he said.

Francisco and Collins both commended the efforts that Laramie County District Attorney Sylvia Hackl made in helping solve the case.

“She really helped our team and said, ‘Let’s go get them,’” Collins said. “I’m really proud of her taking the time to do that.”

Smith will be extradited from California back to Cheyenne.

Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak said it will be his department that's responsible for bringing Smith back to Wyoming.

Kozak was chief of the Cheyenne PD at the time of the murder. He said there was no other case he lost more sleep over.

"I put every resource into that case that I could," he said.

Kozak also credited the detectives who first worked for the case for laying a foundation that led to Smith's eventual arrest Tuesday.