Case Against Star Valley Man In Wife’s Death Proceeds After Contentious Hearing

After a contentious hearing full of objections, debates over court rules and photographs showing an injured woman, a judge in Kemmerer concluded Thursday that the state has enough evidence to keep prosecuting a man whose wife died under “concerning” circumstances last November. 

The finding does not mean Jared Erickson, 52, is necessarily guilty of voluntary manslaughter in his wife Tennille Erickson’s death, but it means special prosecutor Blaine Nelson has probable cause to keep pursuing that charge. 

Voluntary manslaughter carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, plus fines. 

Jared Erickson, who is out of jail on an $80,000 cash-only bond, sat still and attentive at the defense table in a black suit and tie. He wore brown cowboy boots and short, salt-and-pepper hair and a goatee.

His wife Tennille Erickson, 46, died around Nov. 17 with “goose egg” bruises on her forehead, a 0.14% blood-alcohol content, and after texting a friend that her husband had beaten her, according to testimony the case detective gave Thursday in Kemmerer Circuit Court.

Her cause of death was blunt-force trauma to the head, and her liver disease contributed because her body didn’t clot blood properly, according to testimony. 

Paramedics and investigators found her in her room the evening of Nov. 17 after Jared Erickson called 911 to report that he’d found her in bed near vomit and blood. She had confined herself to her room starting the prior afternoon after the pair had an argument or a fight, court documents say. 

Jared Erickson later told investigators that he checked on his wife a couple times throughout the day and, before he reported finding her unresponsive amid bloody vomit at about 6:30 p.m., she appeared to have lain snoring all day in bed.

‘Not The Purpose Of Justice In Wyoming’

The crux of the argument Thursday between Nelson and Jared Erickson’s defense attorney John Bowers was whether Tennille succumbed to injuries her husband allegedly dealt during a Nov. 16 argument. 

Or, whether others’ reports of her chronic alcoholism, weakened ankles and feet, and occasional falls posed enough evidence to conclude she could have died in a drunken fall or accident. 

The evidence, argued Bowers, shows “a really good likelihood that she’d fallen down — perhaps a higher likelihood than that my client did something to her.”

The judge could speculate either way, said Bowers, adding that it’s worse to speculate toward a man’s guilt when the evidence could break either way. 

“To put an individual who lost his wife … through the things we’ve heard today is not the purpose of justice in Wyoming,” said Bowers. 

He asked Kemmerer Circuit Court Judge Gregory Corpening to dismiss the case “without prejudice,” meaning the state could bring the charge again if it gained more evidence.

Nelson, conversely, said the evidence from Tennille Erickson’s own telling — a Nov. 16 text to a friend saying her husband had beaten her and other texts to Jared showing selfies of her own bruised face and asking if she should “send these around” — link Jared Erickson to her death. 

That is, when coupled with her body and autopsy findings, the prosecutor indicated. 

“Defense counsel wants to have it both ways,” said Nelson. “She just falls down all the time, (and yet) she could have fought back?”

He was referring to Bowers having emphasized evidence that Tennille Erickson would initiate routine physical fights with her husband, and yet on Nov. 17, investigators found no injuries on Jared. 

Bowers had also emphasized the lack of evidence that there had been a struggle in the home.  

To Nelson, that Jared Erickson reportedly conducted a couple casual checks on his wife after their argument as she slept all day Nov. 17, and that he never responded to her selfies, were “omissions” that are “probative and compelling” toward conclusions of wrongdoing. 

Judge Says

Corpening said he was inclined to side with Nelson, that the evidence shows Tennille Erickson was probably too intoxicated or in too ill of health to pose much of a defense if her husband did attack her. 

“Quite honestly, she might not have been in a position to put up much of a struggle,” the judge said. 

Corpening opened Wyoming Supreme Court 2020 case Wyoming v. John and read from it, describing the limited purpose of Thursday’s hearing.

Jared Erickson sat on the edge of his seat, literally, bolt upright during the judge’s reading of the case, but he leaned back into his chair once Corpening started listing the probable-cause evidence against the defendant. 

Bowers and Nelson were also on the edges of their seats during the case reading. Nelson gripped his armchair with one hand, which he braced backward. 

Ultimately, Corpening reminded everyone that it was the state’s burden to show probable cause, and he said Nelson had done so. 

Jared Erickson’s case now ascends to the Lincoln County District Court where, as long as he is mentally competent, he will give a plea. 

Should he plead not guilty (as nearly all felony-level defendants do in the higher court), he can then advance to trial or establish a plea deal.

Guys!

The hearing was more than three hours long, and contentious. 

Nelson became animated and emphatic, raising his voice during some objections. Bowers remarked that his blood pressure had spiked and said Nelson had “chastised” him. 

Bowers at the outset had said the charges against his client are “capricious.” He questioned the need for the 18-page criminal affidavit in support of the charges, which he said is rife with “double hearsay.” 

Also, said Bowers, some of his questions could seem like fishing that exceeds the hearing’s purposes, but that was because he didn’t have all the requested evidence from the state that he needed to conduct his questioning. 

As Nelson and Bowers took turns questioning the detective, both attorneys repeatedly objected to the other’s approach. 

Bowers said Nelson was leading the witness and asking him questions beyond his experience. 

Nelson said Bowers exceeded the scope of a cross-examination, vouched for the defendant’s honesty and ignored the relevance constraints of the probable cause hearing. 

“Guys, enough,” said Corpening in the third hour of questioning. 

Corpening had repeatedly cautioned both attorneys to make their points with more brevity and less tempest. But he later thanked them both for representing their respective clients so “zealously” and working so hard, saying he values that.

Bowers after the hearing said he looks forward to showing the “truth in this matter” to a jury.

Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.