Initial Appearance for Lovell Murder Suspect

A 48-year-old man has made his initial court appearance on a charge that he killed a woman in her apartment last week in Lovell.
Donald J. Crouse is charged with first-degree murder. Big Horn County Circuit Judge Thomas Harrington on Monday has ordered a public defender, Timothy Blatt, to take Crouse’s case.
The Lovell Police Department says the body of 49-year-old Carol Jean Barnes, of Cowley, was found Thursday in Lovell. Police later arrested Crouse at a convenience store in Mills in Natrona County. The police report said he was covered in blood.
Authorities say the suspect and the victim had been married previously but were not living together at the time of the murder.