(Riverton, WY) – Riverton man John Goodman was sentenced to life in prison for second-degree murder at his sentencing hearing held today, June 4, in Lander’s District Court.
The hearing was overseen by the Honorable Judge Jason Conder, with Micah Wyatt representing the State, and Valerie Schoneberger and Zachary Mahlum acting as Defense.
Case Origins
Goodman was originally charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping, stemming from an incident occurring in March of 2023 on Rendezvous Road, where human remains were discovered wrapped in a blanket, bound, and partially covered in the snow, with apparent wounds to the head and neck. The deceased was later identified as Gustave Yellowhair, and his death was ruled a homicide by the County Coroner.
The investigation began after law enforcement learned that Goodman had reportedly shown the body to two younger female subjects, and the victim’s remains were later discovered in the Rendezvous Road area. Investigators found hotel key cards at the scene, which matched the origin of the bedsheet the victim was wrapped in.
It was determined that Goodman had stayed at the Riverton hotel where the sheet and cards originated, and he was later found by law enforcement hiding under a bed in the hotel room. Investigators found blood stains in the room, and, along with Goodman’s DNA samples that they took, sent the blood/DNA swabs to the Wyoming State Crime Lab for analysis. The original case affidavit stated the following concerning the Crime Lab’s findings:
“The lab analyzed both Yellowhair and Goodman’s DNA and found ‘very strong support’ of a mixture of Goodman’s, Yellowhair’s, and another as yet unknown individual’s DNA on one of the Super 8 room keys, swabs of fingernail clippings from Yellowhair’s left fingernail, and swabs from the black USB cord used to bind Yellowhair’s wrists.”
During the investigation, Goodman was arrested/incarcerated in an unrelated case, and Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation agents and Riverton Police Department detectives soon conducted “numerous interviews and reviewed recorded jail calls made by Goodman.”
The affidavit states that while those calls were being monitored, Goodman stated that he had “tortured a male” at a hotel, and tried to decapitate the victim with a machete by jumping on it while “it was in his neck.” Goodman reportedly “even made a song about the murder entitled ‘Who got the last laugh now,’” the affidavit states, and made multiple comments about “recruiting/starting a new gang called ‘the Midwest Maniacs.’”
After reviewing the calls, conducting further interviews, and obtaining the Crime Lab results, a warrant for Goodman’s arrest in relation to the first-degree murder/kidnapping charges was then issued on July 2, 2025, and he was subsequently arrested on November 3, 2025.
Goodman went on to plead “not guilty” to the charges at his December 2025 arraignment hearing, and a jury trial was set. However, a plea agreement was later filed on his behalf on March 18, which lessened the charge to second-degree murder and dropped the kidnapping charge completely, contingent upon Goodman pleading guilty to the second-degree murder charge and adhering to the other plea agreement stipulations. (In Wyoming, a second-degree murder is defined as a “purposeful and malicious killing that lacks premeditation,” and carries a minimum sentence of 20 years imprisonment, and a maximum of life.) His sentencing hearing was then set for today, June 4.
Sentencing Hearing
At today’s hearing, the State requested the maximum sentence for second-degree murder, life imprisonment.
Wyatt stated that even though a plea agreement was made, it did not diminish “the brutality of the crime,” and commented that the case “does not fit the normal definition of a second-degree murder.”
“The defendant killed another human being, and even after the victim was dead, the violence did not stop,” Wyatt said, noting the abandonment of the remains in a snow bank, the attempted decapitation, and that Goodman brought other subjects to go see the body, all of which Wyatt described as “homicidal violence followed by desecration.”
Wyatt cited Goodman’s criminal history, which included multiple felony battery and assault charges, as well as a felon in possession of a firearm charge. He also noted Goodman’s overall “absence of meaningful remorse,” but did give credit to his guilty plea, which “spared the victim’s family of a jury trial.”
In response to the State’s comments, Schoneberger went on to say that most of Goodman’s criminal history was not violent, and that he had “not received a lot of grace over the years” and was “met with a lot of harshness” for the sentences in the other charges, which began at the age of 12. She noted that he was ordered to “sit 57 days in jail” for an alcohol-related charge when he was 14. She added that Goodman has “taken responsibility for his charge,” as per his subsequent guilty plea, and that he has lived a difficult life fraught with personal tragedies.
Schoneberger asked for a sentence of 25-35 years imprisonment for “potential of rehabilitation,” and cited similar second-degree murder cases, both local and in Park County, where the defendants did not receive the maximum life sentence.
While Judge Conder agreed that Goodman has suffered “innumerable tragedies,” he noted that he has “inflicted tragedies on others.” He disagreed with the assessment that Goodman’s criminal history was “devoid of violence,” and also stated that he “will not compare to other cases with only having a snapshot” of them.
“I can’t say just because this is what they did in Park County, we should do it here,” Judge Conder said, adding that Goodman’s actions were “intentional, knowing, and brutal.”
Judge Conder then stated that “the only option I have… the only appropriate sentence, is life imprisonment,” and noted that Goodman had 338 days of credit for time already served. Goodman was also ordered to pay $6,355 in restitution in addition to the standard court fees.
When Judge Conder announced the sentence, Goodman jumped from his seat and responded with a profanity- and racial epithet-laden outburst directed at Conder, which ultimately led to the courtroom being cleared. Goodman’s life imprisonment sentence does contain the possibility of parole.