One More For The Road

[{"type":"text","text":"Pretend I'm not here. Just go around me..."}]

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<title>🚧 One More For The Road: Sunday, April 30, 2023 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Pretend I'm not here. Just go around me...

One More For The Road: Sunday, April 30, 2023

 Pretend I'm not here. Just go around me...

Zakary Sonntag

Crime & Courts

Public Safety

Justin Bradshaw was headed for a job site

on Dec. 16 in the small town of Lyman, Wyoming, when he got the last call he’d ever take from his 20-year-old daughter, Macey Dawn Bradshaw.

There was panic in her voice, because her ex-boyfriend was standing outside her apartment, and she feared the worst.

“She called at 11 o'clock and said, ‘Dad, he’s outside, and I need you to scare him away,’” said Bradshaw.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"He pulled a U-turn and punched the gas. "}]

He was there in less than four minutes, but it still wasn’t soon enough. The moment he reached for the handle to enter the apartment, gunshots sounded

“I reached down to open the door, and I heard the two gunshots go off … back-to-back. I actually heard his body fall to the floor,” he told Cowboy State Daily.

He charged in and found his daughter and her ex-boyfriend, James Hunter, prostrate on different sides of the room. 

Each had bullet wounds in the head, and both were still alive. 

He rushed to his daughter lying on the bed.

“She was still alert, still awake, and she asked me to help her," he recalled. "She said, ‘Dad, I’m gonna be sick. I’m gonna throw up. I need to get on the floor.’”

Bloodied hair clung to his palms when he reached for the phone to dial 911, exactly four minutes after she’d called him for help.

It’s the gruesome bookend in a long and troubled relationship that raises questions about the efficacy of social and institutional guardrails in the face of widespread 

In pursuit of closure, the Bradshaws and others are mining the loss for insights in the hope that their story may help save others. 

Their first insight is as clear as it is forbidding: When it comes to jilted love and poor mental health, even proactively cautious families can be caught off guard.

“About a month ago, Macey said to me, ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if James killed me, and then killed himself,’” said Macey’s closest sister, Taylor Bradshaw. “I never thought it would actually happen.”

This is the story of how a loving relationship turned deadly. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"How It Began"}]

It all began with curious glances in the back seat of their parents' cars, as Bradshaw and Hunter first met while sharing a carpool to Urie Elementary School in the Bridger Valley of southwest Wyoming.

Bradshaw, congenial and outgoing, took an interest in Hunter’s subtle humor and quirky sensibilities. 

“He had this sense of humor where he’d tell a joke so straight-faced you weren’t even sure if you should laugh at it or not,” said Taylor Bradshaw, 22, Macey’s closest sibling who’d known Hunter most of her life.

Hunter, introverted but observant, cherished her attention and was eager to return it in full. They bonded over a love of art, passing pencil sketches and handwritten notes.

When they began dating in high school, he spoiled her with affection.

“He bought her flowers, planned these special dates. He was always doing random acts of kindness,” said Taylor. “I actually have a text saved between me and Macey that said, ‘Someone must be paying James, because no guy ever treats anyone this nice.’” 

But teenage love morphed into unhealthy co-dependency.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Dark Manipulation"}]

Hunter graduated from high school two years ahead of Bradshaw, and in the middle of her junior year, she left home to live with him and his parents. Then she started skipping school before dropping out entirely.

“That’s when it started going downhill," Taylor said. "They spent all their time at home together. He wasn’t going out with his friends anymore. Both of their mental health got really bad.

“They turned towards drinking. I think that was her out, and it was something they did a lot together.”

Bradshaw confided in her sister that the relationship was making Macey unhappy. Yet she felt trapped on a crucifix of her own compassion, as Hunter resorted to dark manipulations, said Taylor.

Each time she broached the topic of separation, he threatened self-harm.

“She knew she needed to leave him for a long time, but she kept telling me, ‘I care for him so much and I don't want him to do anything to himself,’” Taylor said.

Days after Macey's 18th birthday, they had a decisive argument in which Hunter admitted his threats of self-harm were insincere. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"That was all she needed to hear. "}]

A contingency plan was in place to move near her mother in southern Utah, where her parents first met in college.

“After that, I'm not even kidding you, the very next day, we moved her," Taylor said. "We loaded up our cars, and I took her down to St. George."

But the relationship with James did not end there.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"‘Big Change From How He Used To Be’"}]

The separation was a needed reprieve, but Macey continued to struggle mentally and never found the social support she needed in southern Utah. 

Though she was nervous about what could happen with Hunter, after two years away she decided that returning home was her best chance at a happy life.

She was right, and yet the decision proved deadly wrong.

In June 2025, she returned to Lyman, took a job as a waitress and got into her own apartment. For the first time in many years, Macey Bradshaw was proud, happy, and looking forward to her future, her father said.

“Macey was so proud to have her own place. She decorated it all cute. She had a job, she had a car. She felt like she finally gained independence in her world,” said Justin Bradshaw.

Tacitly, she rekindled with Hunter, thinking they might now be capable of a healthy relationship. 

It was a fatal misjudgment, because by that time his mental health had taken a turn for the worse, said Taylor. 

“I could tell how bad he was struggling because he wouldn't see or talk to any of us," Taylor said, adding that his physical appearance had also changed. "If they came to my house, Macey would come inside and he'd sit out in the car. If they were on the phone and James knew she was around someone else, he wouldn't talk at all. It was a big change from how he used to be."

From tall, lean and clean-cut, to unkempt and unhealthily thin.

“It pretty much looked like skin and bone to me,” she said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Blood Painting"}]

Once again, Macey found herself tangled up by Hunter’s threats of self-harm and other forms of aggression, said Chaynee Martin, a close friend and one of the few to witness his manic tactics firsthand. 

Hunter forced Bradshaw to sign “soul contracts” and scared her with threatening art, said Martin.

“He gave her a blood painting. It was this demonic drawing and he cut himself and used his blood to finish it,” Martin said, explaining that Macey viewed these drawings as symbolic threats. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"He also monitored Macey's phone."}]

In September, they had a date to spend the night in the nearby city of Evanston. Shortly after they arrived, Martin received a scary text from Bradshaw.

“She sent me a message that said, 'He has a gun. This isn't normal. I don't feel safe. I just have to tell somebody. I'm deleting this message,'” Martin said. “She told me not to tell a single person about it.”

Martin alerted a police officer, and then she drove to Evanston and waited in the parking lot of Macey's hotel.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"‘Just Wouldn’t Let Go’"}]

Hunter’s intimidations reached new extremes after Macey began dating another man in October.

Macey told Martin his car was often seen prowling her new boyfriend’s neighborhood, where she stayed on occasion.

Investigators would later discover binoculars and other suspicious implements in Hunter’s car, according to the family, corroborating after-the-fact Macey's fear that she was being stalked, putting her among the 9% of women who’ve been 

 by an intimate partner in their lifetime.   

“She’d call me having a panic attack, because he would not stop texting her, he wouldn't stop blowing up her phone, he wouldn't stop coming around. James just wouldn’t let go,” said Justin Bradshaw.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Martin also witnessed this behavior."}]

“James would text and say, ‘Macey, I don't know if you're busy, but if you have the time, I'd appreciate a response,'" she said. "Then he’d send that same text about 100 times in a row while calling 90 times in between. It scared her."

‘I Need To Know If He's Coming To My House To Kill Me’

Macey's therapist and family members prompted her to block Hunter’s phone, but she believed that would put her at a greater risk.

“At one point, she told me she didn't want to block him because, she said, ‘I need to know if he's coming to my house to kill me,’” said Taylor Bradshaw. 

Her sister concedes that while she worried he may be dangerous, she still couldn’t believe that James Hunter — the quirky, introverted boy from elementary carpool, and the doting high school boyfriend — would ever be capable of murder.

One night in October, Hunter “laid hands on her,” said Martin, which simultaneously terrified Macey as well as gave her resolve. The following day, she asked Martin for help crafting a message meant to end all communication with Hunter indefinitely.

Less than five minutes after they sent the text, Hunter was at her door. 

“I slammed the door shut and I locked it," Martin said. "He banged on the door. Macey was hiding in the corner and we had Taylor on FaceTime. He banged on the door again, and I told him, ‘Macey said she's done. You have to respect that.'"

Hunter for a few minutes stood silently outside. Then he knocked again, saying he’d come to pick up a hoodie. Martin prepared to hand over the item through the door. 

“We were terrified. I was so afraid of a gun on the other side of that door,” she said.

She worked up the courage to pass the hoody through a crack in the door, and once he left, the girls rushed to her sister’s apartment to spend the night.

“I've never seen somebody have a panic attack that bad, her body was in such a state of trauma and flight she was wetting the bed. It was heartbreaking,” Martin said about the impact on Macey.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"A Little Bit Of Peace"}]

Bradshaw lived in a historic studio space made of rough-cut timber on one of Lyman’s main thoroughfares, and its outdated features put her at risk that day, said Taylor Bradshaw.

Shortly before 11 a.m. on Dec 17, 2025, Hunter parked around the corner from her apartment, then approached on foot. 

Her sister believes he entered by popping out a window frame in the front door and reaching through to unbolt the lock from the inside.

Had Macey not called her father right then, her final hours may have been much worse, Justin Bradshaw said. 

First responders found duct tape and zip ties on Hunter’s person, according to the family.

“I think James had malicious intent beyond just taking her life," Justin Bradshaw said. "But the timing was so quick — I was there within minutes of when he broke into her house — he didn't have time to do anything else.

"At times that kid was happy and had a good heart and had nothing but genuine love and intent for Macey. But that was not the person I saw that day. The evilness of the world … got him.”

Justin Bradshaw takes comfort to know Macey felt protected by him in those last moments; her clothing had come loose, and the last thing she ever asked from him was to cover her up. 

“She had a visible look of pain and agony on her face, but she was still there with me, and she talked to me.  I think she found a little bit of peace knowing that I was there to help her,” he said, his voice cracking with emotion.

Hunter and Macey were taken to Evanston Regional Hospital; they were pronounced dead the following day at the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City.

For the Bradshaws, closure comes from turning tragedy into purpose. 

The family has established a nonprofit organization called A New Dawn, which is fundraising and organizing mental health resource for young women and others. 

Macey Dawn Bradshaw’s celebration of life ceremony is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday in Lyman. The ceremony can be streamed on the 

Contact Zakary Sonntag at zakary@cowboystatedaily.com

Lyman sign and Macey 1 3 26

<title>🚧 Tortured Relationship Ends In Murder-Suicide In Lyman | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Justin Bradshaw was headed  to work on Dec. 16 in Lyman when he got the last call he’d ever take from his 20-year-old daughter, Macey. He was there in four minutes, but it still wasn’t soon enough. As he reached to enter the apartment, gunshots sounded.

Tortured Relationship Ends In Murder-Suicide In Lyman

Jimmy orr

Jimmy Orr

Politics

If Karen Wheeler was retiring, it was a short retirement. It must have been more of a resignation.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder picked up a blue-chipper on Tuesday when she announced that former Deputy Secretary of State Wheeler would be joining her staff.
Wheeler, who worked 37 years in the Capitol, stepped down from the Secretary of State&#x2019;s office <a href="https://cowboystatedaily.com/2022/12/20/a-fixture-for-nearly-40-years-deputy-secretary-of-state-karen-wheeler-marks-final-days/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">at the end of 2022</a> after working in the office under seven different administrations.
Few have a better understanding of how state government works than Wheeler, who began her career in 1985 when Thyra Thomson was in the tail end of her 24 years as the state&#x2019;s second-highest elected official.
Degenfelder said Wheeler would serve as the Boards and Commissioners Coordinator for the Department of Education.
&#x201C;One of my top priorities as state superintendent is to maximize return on state lands and investments for schools and other beneficiaries,&#x201D; Degenfelder said.
This is where Wheeler&#x2019;s background is invaluable. In the Secretary of State&#x2019;s office, she staffed the meetings from the State Loan and Investment Board to the State Board of Land Commissioners to the State Building Commission on this exact topic.
&#x201C;[She] will be an invaluable resource on this priority,&#x201D; Degenfelder said.
Degenfelder also noted that Wheeler received national recognition for the state-of-the-art administrative rules system and blockchain and digital asset regulation — both of which fell under Wheeler&#x2019;s purview.

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<title>🚧 Former Deputy Sec Of State Karen Wheeler Ain’t Done Yet, Joins Superintendent’s Office | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Former Deputy Secretary of State Karen Wheeler is joining the Superintendent of Public Instruction's office. Wheeler, an icon in state government had worked at the secretary of state's office for 37 years.

Former Deputy Sec Of State Karen Wheeler Ain’t Done Yet, Joins Superintendent’s Office

Wolfson leo 2

Leo Wolfson

By Leo Wolfson, State Politics Reporter Leo@Cowboystatedaily.com
With Wyoming Deputy Secretary of State Karen Wheeler stepping down in less than two weeks, her office will lose 37 years of experience. 
Wheeler has served under seven secretary of state administrations during her time with the state, likely the most of any staff member in the history of the office. 
&#x201C;The duties don&#x2019;t really change,&#x201D; she said with a small smile &#x201C;Every secretary does bring their vision, but really, it&#x2019;s the hardworking people that are here and stay here that really shaped the office.
&#x201C;Secretaries come and go, it is the staff who stays here and really forms the office.&#x201D;<h2>&#x2018;This Is My Home&#x2019;</h2>During her 37 years, Wheeler has played a role in nearly every aspect of the department that oversees registration of business entities, statewide elections, election laws, campaign finance, securities, public notaries and registered agents, trade names and trademarks, document authentication and agricultural liens.
&#x201C;This is my home, my pride and joy,&#x201D; Wheeler said proudly.
The type of institutional knowledge Wheeler possesses isn&#x2019;t likely be replaced anytime soon. Many lawmakers found her knowledge particularly valuable for input on drafted legislation, able to provide nearly four decades of historical context to legislators.<h2>Service &#x2018;Unparalleled&#x2019;</h2>She was a familiar face before the Corporations, Elections, and Political Subdivisions Committee, which is the home committee for the Secretary of State&#x2019;s office. Wheeler said she enjoyed educating, not lobbying, legislators on bills. 
&#x201C;Deputy Wheeler&#x2019;s service to the state is unparalleled,&#x201D; said state Sen. Tara Nethercott, R-Cheyenne. &#x201C;Her tireless professionalism and expertise has guided excellence in both policymaking and deliverables to the businesses and people of Wyoming. Her depth of knowledge and expert testimony to the Legislature will be irreplaceable.&#x201D;
One testament to the impact she made could be seen in the response to her LinkedIn post announcing her resignation. 
Among the people to comment on her departure were Gov. Mark Gordon, state Sens. Stephan Pappas, R-Cheyenne, and Fred Baldwin, R-Kemmerer, Department of Revenue Director Brenda Henson and many others.<h2>The Start Of A Journey </h2>A Wyoming native, Wheeler started her career in the secretary of state&#x2019;s office in 1985 after temporarily stepping away from school at the University of Wyoming. 
Then, the office was under the tutelage of longtime Secretary of State Thyra Thomson. 
After starting her career working with corporations and limited partnerships, she later moved on to the securities division, serving as a financial analyst and an auditor. This position involved Wheeler&#x2019;s participation in a federal white collar fraud task force sponsored by the U.S. Attorney&#x2019;s Office. <h2>Battle Against Fraud</h2>Over her 20 years in this role, she worked directly with federal law enforcement agents and testified before federal grand juries and in federal courts, a responsibility she felt particularly proud of because of the difference it made in communities across the state.
&#x201C;Which is probably, as I reflect on, the most rewarding times of my career, because when our Wyoming citizens would lose their money, and maybe frauded out of it, we could give them some closure,&#x201D; she said. &#x201C;We couldn&#x2019;t get their money back, but we could hold those accountable that took them.&#x201D;
Wheeler was there in 1988 when the IRS issued its favorable ruling for Wyoming limited liability companies to be taxed, opening the door for these types of typically small businesses in the state.
&#x201C;That was really monumental,&#x201D; Wheeler said.<h2>Keeping Ahead Of Trends</h2>Wheeler believes her staff has stayed ahead of the times when it comes to implementing new technology and rules. For example, in 2016, the office made it possible for the public to submit initial filings for LLC profit corporations online.
&#x201C;We saw an incredible jump in initial filings after that,&#x201D; she said.
She also served as director of compliance, overseeing the entire Securities Division, which included oversight and auditing of the stock brokerage industry, commercial registered agents and notaries. <h2>High-Profile Allegations</h2>She believes the allegations brought forth in the &#x201C;Pandora Papers&#x201D; and &#x201C;Panama Papers&#x201D; about loopholes exploited in Wyoming&#x2019;s corporate security trust laws, are simply allegations.
&#x201C;It&#x2019;s nothing more than allegations,&#x201D; she said. &#x201C;No one has ever brought to this office proof of conviction or proof of wrongdoing, it&#x2019;s allegations.
&#x201C;No matter what the law is on the books, there are people who break the law, but bring us proof.&#x201D;
The state lacks any kind of training for registered agents and background checks aren&#x2019;t required for the members of trusts and companies they represent. 
A number of major former criminals turned up as part of an extensive examination by The Washington Post and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists this spring within thousands of company records filed with the state of Wyoming. 
Under state law, managers and members can either be corporate entities or natural persons, making it possible for a shell corporation to be formed in Wyoming without any individual person named in the corporate records. 
There also is no requirement to file with the Secretary of State&#x2019;s office the name of company managers or members.<h2>Deputized</h2>Wheeler became deputy secretary of state in 2015 under former Secretary of State Ed Murray. The deputy is the No. 2 decision-maker in the office.
When Secretary of State Ed Buchanan began in 2018, he retained Wheeler as his deputy. Interim Secretary of State Karl Allred has done the same.
Another proud moment for Wheeler was getting a state office building in Casper named after Thomson, her former boss, a project she initiated. The dedication for the building took place in April, which the Thomson family attended. It&#x2019;s the first state building in Wyoming named after a woman.
&#x201C;Knowing what Secretary Thomson did for our state, and particularly working parents and mothers,&#x201D; Wheeler said. &#x201C;She was incredible.&#x201D;
One of the few aspects of her job she found disappointing was when the department&#x2019;s offices were moved out of the Capitol to the Herschler Building next door in 2019.
&#x201C;It&#x2019;s just a humbling experience every day to walk up those steps into that building,&#x201D; she said of the Capitol. &#x201C;It really was a humbling experience and I&#x2019;m reminded every day you are there to serve your state.&#x201D;<h2>Elections</h2>The secretary of state and the office are in charge of overseeing all election matters in Wyoming. 
Prior to the 2020 election, the topic of election laws and security were relatively mundane conversation pieces for most people. But after former President Donald Trump started questioning the results of that election, the topic took on a whole new life in Wheeler&#x2019;s office, quickly becoming an area of concern for many Wyoming residents.
&#x201C;I think our other responsibilities have been forgotten, not by members of this office, but by the general public,&#x201D; she said.
The allegations brought by Trump and many hardline conservatives did nothing to hinder Wheeler and former Secretary of State Buchanan&#x2019;s faith in the security of Wyoming&#x2019;s elections.
&#x201C;We all knew Wyoming did not have issues in the 2020 election,&#x201D; she said. &#x201C;It got very disheartening for us to see our constituents suddenly lose confidence in Wyoming&#x2019;s elections when we&#x2019;ve never had those issues before.&#x201D;<h2>Defending Wyoming&#x2019;s Process</h2>The office began an Election Integrity Initiative that featured a statewide tour from Buchanan this summer, giving presentations on how the state&#x2019;s elections work and the security measures in place.
There was a lot of work &#x201C;to help restore faith in the election process in Wyoming before the 2022 election,&#x201D; Wheeler explained. &#x201C;It was shocking and a little disheartening, but we took it very seriously and it was our job to make sure that Wyoming citizens have faith in elections again.&#x201D;<h2>Time To Go</h2>Shortly after Secretary of State-elect Chuck Gray won the Republican nomination, Wheeler and a handful of other leading staff members in the office announced their resignations. 
She and three others from the five-member executive team are leaving, representing 119 years of experience between the four of them.
&#x201C;With the incoming administration, the change in administrations, I just felt that it was a good time for me to close this chapter of my book and start a new one,&#x201D; Wheeler said.
But she has spent significant time working with Gray&#x2019;s transition team to ensure the best retention of institutional knowledge possible.
Wheeler isn&#x2019;t retiring and said she will be looking for job opportunities in the private sector. 
&#x201C;Hopefully, my experience can be a benefit for an organization,&#x201D; she said.

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<title>🚧 A Fixture For Nearly 40 Years, Deputy Secretary Of State Karen Wheeler Marks Final Days | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Deputy Secretary of State Karen Wheeler began working in the secretary of state's office back in 1985 for Wyoming legend Thyra Thomson. At the end of the year, after working for seven administrations, she's stepping down.

One More For The Road: Sunday, April 30, 2023

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