Mills Man Arrested for Murder of Cowley Woman

Police in Mills have arrested a 48-year-old man after police say they found his ex-wife dead in her apartment halfway across the state in Lovell.
Police say the body of 49-year-old Carol Jean Barnes, of Cowley, was found Thursday in an apartment on West 7th Street during a welfare check that had been called in by a family member. She’s believed to have died Thursday afternoon or evening.
Lovell Police Chief Dan Laffin said in a statement that an immediate search for the suspect began with a collaborative effort of the Lovell Police Department, the Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office and the Wyoming Department of Criminal Investigation. 48-year-old Donald Joe Crouse was later taken into custody without incident more than 200 miles away in Mills, near Casper.
According to an article in the Powell Tribune, the couple had been married in 2014, but separated in 2016, with court records citing allegations of abuse by Crouse.
Crouse faces a charge of first degree murder.