Crouse Charged with First Degree Murder
Written by Andrew-Rossi on January 10, 2018
More details have emerged in the case of a Cowley woman who was found murdered in Lovell last Thursday.
Donald Joe Crouse, a resident of Lovell, was charged with premeditated first-degree murder during his initial appearance in Basin Monday. Court documents say that the defendant, quote, “purposely and with premeditated malice, killed a human being.” Endquote.
Crouse’s ex-wife, Carol Jean Barnes, was stabbed to death at Rose City West apartments in Lovell early Thursday evening. According to an article in the Lovell Chronicle, law enforcement was dispatched to the apartment after a family member received a text message from Barnes asking for help.
Court documents say that officers went to Barnes’ residence in Cowley, as well as Crouse’s apartment in Lovell. Blood evidence was found outside Crouse’s apartment door, and when officers entered the apartment, they found Barnes dead on the floor, with injuries consistent with stab wounds. They also found several bloody knives in the residence, along with handwritten notes that were allegedly written and signed by Crouse, some of which expressed his intention to kill Barnes.
Crouse was apprehended in Mills by a police officer who noticed his bloody clothing and several cuts on his arms. He is currently being held at the Big Horn County Detention Center in Basin on a $1 million cash bond.
