Richard Dollard, a federal officer for the Bureau of Land Management, was arrested and charged with the murder of a man who was killed after a bar fight in Wyoming.
The suspect was arrested by state law enforcement and charged with one count of second-degree murder and one alternative count of manslaughter in the death of Evan Denevan.
According to reports by the Lander Police Department, they received a call shortly before midnight on Jan. 9 in reference to a “physical altercation” at the Maverick Restaurant Lounge. The deceased was pronounced dead on the scene.
There were multiple witnesses to the fight who said Dollard choked Denevan.
“Deak (the suspect’s nickname) choked him,” a witness told police, per a probable cause affidavit.
Two other arrests were made. Justin Dollard, Richard Dollard’s 54-year-old brother, and Jesse Dollard, Richard Dollard’s 21-year-old nephew, were each charged with one count of accessory before the fact to second-degree murder as well as the alternative lesser charge of accessory before the fact to manslaughter.
In a surveillance video, Jesse Dollard can be seen pointing at the victim shortly before the fight broke out. According to Justin Dollard, the victim initiated the interaction by yelling at him from across the room. Once Justin walked up to the victim, he told police that the victim hit him first.
At some point, Richard Dollard pulled the victim away to “de-escalate” the situation. This lead to him putting the victim in a “rear naked chokehold” until the victim stopped breathing and fell to the floor.
While the victim was in the chokehold, Justin allegedly pulled the victim’s sweatshirt hood and kicked him in the torso after he had fallen to the ground.
The Dollards’ court files did not list any defense attorney names at the time of this reporting.
