(Fremont County, WY) – The sentencing hearing for Ezekiel “Zeke” Ute took place yesterday, October 31, before the Honorable District Judge Kelly H. Rankin, in the U.S. District Court of Casper.
Ute was sentenced to 192 months imprisonment for second-degree murder, followed by 5 years supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $30,695.37 in restitution and a $100 special assessment fee.
Ute was charged/sentenced in relation to the January 2 stabbing and death of Lawrence Oldman III.
Federal Court documents state the incident took place when Ute, Oldman and three other subjects were out for a drive after having just purchased/consumed alcohol, in the area of the “7700 block of Riverview Road in Riverton, which lies within the Wind River Reservation.”
Those documents state that Ute began driving “recklessly,” and “indicated he was going to intentionally wreck the car,” moments before an argument between Oldman and one of the other occupants began.
The argument between the two continued outside of the vehicle after Ute soon stopped, at which point Ute exited the car and “began stabbing Oldman, and threatened to stab Witness 1 if they didn’t get back in” as well.
Ute initially fled the scene and “left Oldman laying on the road,” but eventually turned around to let two of the occupants out to tend to him, and soon drove away again before later abandoning the vehicle entirely on Blue Sky Highway.
(You can read the full breakdown here.)
In addition to the 16-year sentence, probation and restitution, Ute was also ordered to undergo “Mental Health evaluation and follow through,” as well as “Cognitive/Behavioral Treatment,” and was recommended to “participate in Bureau of Prison’s 500-hour Residential Drug Treatment Program,” according to federal court filings.
You can read County 10’s full coverage of the case here.