Klingbiel Charged with First Degree Murder

A Wapiti man is now in jail, after spending the last few nights at West Park Hospital under the watchful eye of Park County Sheriff’s Deputies.
76-year-old Dennis Klingbiel was released from the hospital yesterday afternoon and was immediately booked into the Park County Detention Center, charged with first degree murder, accused of shooting his wife, Donna, in the head on Sunday night. Klingbiel had been under medical care due to a prescription drug overdose, which occurred immediately after the shooting.
Klingbiel will make his initial appearance in court this morning at 11 a.m. According to an affidavit filed by investigator Phil Johnson, one of the Klingbiels called 911 a few hours before the shooting, but neither filed a formal complaint. However, Donna Klingbiel told the dispatcher that she and her husband had both been drinking alcohol and were working on a legal trust document.
First-degree murder is Wyoming’s only capital crime, and carries a mandatory life sentence.