Crime and Courts Reporter

Clair McFarland

Clair McFarland is a general assignment reporter for Cowboy State Daily and is based in Riverton, Wyoming. She specializes in crime and court reporting and social issues coverage. Clair also writes a twice-monthly column on motherhood and country living.

Previously, Clair wrote for The Ranger, the Lander Journal and the Wind River News. She is an award-winning journalist, columnist and poet, who joined Cowboy State Daily on Valentine's Day, 2022.

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Latest from Clair McFarland

Sheridan County Sheriff's Office Deputy Braydon Dempsey and his wife Addison Dempsey at a memorial for Sheridan Police Sgt. Nevada Krinkee, which has been growing throughout the day Wednesday.

30 Hours In, Still No Surrender In Sheridan Standoff With Suspected Cop Killer

UPDATE 4:30 p.m. Wednesday: More than 30 hours into a standoff, tactical response teams remain patient and willing to wait out a man suspected of killing a Sheridan police officer Tuesday morning.

Clair McFarland & Andrew RossiFebruary 14, 2024

The man suspected of shooting and killing a Sheridan police officer in front of this house was also renting it. He'd been squatting for several months and had been ordered to vacate.

Suspect In Sheridan Cop Killing Was Squatting In Rental House

The man suspected of shooting and killing Sheridan Police Sgt. Nevada Krinkee on Tuesday was squatting in a rental house he’d been ordered to vacate and hadn’t. He also has a lengthy Wyoming criminal history.

Clair McFarlandFebruary 14, 2024

A tactical robot is deployed toward a house where a man is in a standoff with Sheridan police

Standoff In Sheridan, Wyoming Continues: Suspected Killer Reportedly Shoots At Cops

12 Noon Update: A man suspected of killing a Sheridan Police Department sergeant Tuesday reportedly shot at police from the two-story house Wednesday in which he’s been barricaded for 24 hours as law enforcement and tactical units from all around Wyoming pressured him to come out.

Clair McFarland, Andrew Rossi & Pat MaioFebruary 14, 2024

Scenes Wednesday morning from a standoff in Sheridan between law enforcement and a man suspected of shooting and killing a police officer.

‘Come Out The Front Door!’ Standoff With Suspected Sheridan Cop Killer Hits 24-Hours

UPDATE: Wednesday, 10:20 a.m.: The man suspected of shooting and killing a Sheridan, Wyoming, police sergeant Tuesday remains barricaded in a house as police use water canon, armored vehicle and even an excavator to try and coax him out.

Clair McFarland, Andrew Rossi & Pat MaioFebruary 14, 2024

Law enforcement from Sheridan, Gillette and other Wyoming jurisdictions have the area around a Sheridan, Wyoming, home blocked off Tuesday evening during a standoff with a man suspected of killing a Sheridan police officer earlier in the day.

Sheridan Police Officer Killed In Line Of Duty, Suspect Barricades Himself

After Sheridan Police Sgt. Nevada Krinkee was shot and killed on a local street Tuesday morning, the suspect remained in an armed standoff more than 12 hours after barricading himself in a house near the shooting.

Clair McFarland & Andrew RossiFebruary 14, 2024

The 2024 Wyoming Senate meets on Feb. 13, 2024.

Wyoming Senate Will Hear Bill To Outlaw 'Sexual Contact' As Prostitution

Only the Wyoming Senate’s two Democrats voted against a bill that would add "sexual contact" to the definition of prostitution, with one saying laws to protect prostitutes from exploitation would be better.

Clair McFarlandFebruary 13, 2024

Sheridan Police Officer Shot And Killed, Suspect In Standoff With Law Enforcement

The Sheridan Police Department has announced that Sgt. Nevada Krinkee was shot and killed in the line of duty on Tuesday. The man suspected of shooting him is in an active standoff with police.

Clair McFarlandFebruary 13, 2024

U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyoming, voted against a controversial $95 billion foreign aid package because he said the U.S. needs to take care of securing its own borders before it gives billions to other countries to secure theirs.

Barrasso Votes Against $95 Billion Foreign Aid Package; It Passes Anyway

Sen. John Barrasso voted against a $95 billion foreign aid package early Tuesday morning, saying the U.S. needs to take care of the crisis at its southern border “before helping other nations secure theirs.” The bill passed 70-29.

Clair McFarlandFebruary 13, 2024

Bill Introduced To Discourage Child Custody For People Who Allow Gender-Change Treatments

Thirteen Wyoming legislators have signed-on to the "Best Interests Of A Child" bill that would sway child-custody battles in favor of parents and guardians who won't allow children to receive gender-change treatments.

Clair McFarlandFebruary 13, 2024

Otis Edlund, top right, and Quintin Wyrick Amarillo, both 16 and from Lander, Wyoming, are suspected of stealing this 1969 Chevy Chevelle.

Texas Police Say Lander Runaways Not A Threat To Shoot Up A Preschool

The claim that two runaway Lander teens are out to shoot up a preschool in Texas is “a very intriguing story line” social media users have woven together without a credible source, a Texas police chief said Monday.

Clair McFarlandFebruary 12, 2024

'You Deserve This': Riverton Man Accused Of Strangling, Raping Woman For Hours

A Riverton man could face life in prison on claims he beat, strangled, confined and raped a woman for four to six hours on the Wind River Indian Reservation last month.

Clair McFarlandFebruary 12, 2024

The front steps and porch of this house were taken out by a car that led Laramie police on a chase exceeding 100 mph at one point.

Felony Charges Facing Utah Man After 100MPH Chase & Crash Into Laramie Home

A Utah man accused of crashing into a Laramie home and demolishing the front porch while fleeing law enforcement at more than 100mph with his child, marijuana and illegal mushrooms in his vehicle could face up to 28 years in prison if convicted on all charges.

Clair McFarlandFebruary 12, 2024

Other Authors

One of the windows broken at the Laramie Chili's restaurant remains boarded up after a man who was trespassed from the property allegedly came back and broke windows.

Laramie Man Accused Of Making Death Threats, Breaking Windows At Chili's

William Coco is accused of breaking the windows at a Laramie Chili’s restaurant after he was kicked out, then leaving behind a stack of threatening letters for police to find. “You need to die!!!” read one of the letters.

Clair McFarlandFebruary 12, 2024

Religious Freedom Expert To Speak In Cheyenne Tuesday

The attorney fighting major and controversial religious freedom cases in the U.S. is speaking at a conference in Cheyenne on Tuesday to discuss religious freedom in the U.S. and how it can be safeguarded for the future.

Clair McFarlandFebruary 11, 2024

Clair McFarland: Video Games Are An Abomination

Clair McFarland writes: “All I want is for everyone to stop playing video games… True male bonding time should be going out into the hills and shooting a nice rabbit for dinner stew.”

Clair McFarlandFebruary 10, 2024

Wyoming’s Appeals Court Upholds Law Barring Drug Users From Having Guns

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes Wyoming, on Friday upheld a federal law barring drug users from possessing guns. Hunter Biden is charged under that same law in a federal court in Delaware.

Clair McFarlandFebruary 09, 2024

Lander, Wyoming, Teens Suspected Of Running Away With Guns & Stolen Classic Car

A pair of Lander, Wyoming, 16-year-olds reportedly ran away Thursday in a stolen classic 1969 Chevelle. Police think they’re possibly heading to Texas and may have guns with them.

Clair McFarlandFebruary 09, 2024

Former Casper Mayor Bruce Knell after a 2022 plane crash left him seriously hurt and hospitalized.

Former Casper Mayor Sues Plane Repair Companies Over Near-Fatal Crash

Former Casper Mayor Bruce Knell on Thursday sued Casper Air Service and Natrona Avionics, saying the repair shops didn't fix the fuel system in his plane, which caused a near-fatal crash in 2022.

Clair McFarlandFebruary 09, 2024

Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray and former President Donald Trump.

Chuck Gray Lobbies Against Keeping Trump Off Ballots In Front Of Supreme Court

Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray livestreamed from the U.S. Supreme Court building Thursday minutes before the justices heard oral arguments about whether the Colorado Supreme Court was right to remove Donald Trump from that state's election ballots.

Clair McFarlandFebruary 09, 2024

Wyoming Man Accused Of Stabbing Another To Death In Front Of Car Full Of Witnesses

One witness told an FBI investigator that a Fort Washakie man repeatedly stabbed the victim and threatened a number of others that he would do the same to them if they didn’t get back in the car.

Clair McFarlandFebruary 08, 2024

Eastern Shoshone Business Council Member John Washakie, right, and other Wyoming tribal members and press at a Feb. 8 FBI press conference to address murders and other crimes.

FBI Asks Wyoming Residents To Help Solve American Indian Murders

At the Wind River Indian Reservation on Wednesday, the FBI announced a new tip line designed to draw out hesitant tipsters with information about unsolved murders or missing cases of American Indians in Wyoming.

Clair McFarlandFebruary 08, 2024

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