Law enforcement officials say evidence indicates that a former local resident murdered a woman in Cheyenne over the weekend, then attempted to hide her body in a remote area south of Cody Saturday …
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Law enforcement officials say evidence indicates that a former local resident murdered a woman in Cheyenne over the weekend, then attempted to hide her body in a remote area south of Cody Saturday afternoon.
The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation has identified the victim as 40-year-old Angela Elizondo; agents believe Elizondo was killed in Cheyenne, where she lived, the division told media outlets on Tuesday.
The suspect charged in connection with the case is 45-year-old Joseph C. Underwood of Cheyenne, a former Cody resident with a lengthy criminal record.
Underwood was arrested just hours after a hunter found Elizondo’s body along a two-track road west of Wyo. Highway 120, roughly halfway between Cody and Meeteetse. According to charging documents, Underwood returned to the area where he'd allegedly left the woman’s body late on Saturday night and was spotted by a Park County Sheriff’s deputy who’d been posted at the crime scene. A pursuit and then a roughly 2 1/2 hour standoff with officers ensued, in which Underwood reportedly threatened to shoot himself.
Underwood was ultimately taken into custody when a ranger with the Bureau of Land Management knocked a loaded gun out of his hand and, with the help of a deputy, subdued him, authorities say. After his arrest, Underwood “admitted to transporting the dead body and depositing it in a peaceful location between Meeteetse and Cody,” according to an affidavit filed in court records.
Authorities have not released any information about the events that led up to Elizondo’s killing or what connection she had to Underwood.
The Park County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has charged Underwood with four criminal counts in connection with the incident: disposing of a human body in order to conceal a felony crime and possessing a firearm despite a prior conviction for a violent felony, plus misdemeanor counts of fleeing or eluding police and interference with a peace officer.
Although Underwood has not been formally accused of killing Elizondo, Deputy Park County Prosecuting Attorney Jack Hatfield said at a Tuesday morning court hearing that Underwood “is likely going to be charged with murder in the coming weeks, once the autopsy is completed and the investigation’s complete in another county.”
Hatfield added that Underwood “is likely going to be facing a life sentence,” implying that prosecutors in Laramie County will consider charges of either first- or second-degree murder. Laramie County District Attorney Leigh Anne Manlove declined to comment on Underwood’s case on Monday.
At Hatfield’s request, Park County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Waters set Underwood’s bail at $1 million during a Tuesday morning hearing; Underwood, who appeared by video from the Park County Detention Center, did not object to that amount.
For reasons not laid out in charging documents, Underwood had been identified as a person of interest in the case shortly after Elizondo’s body was discovered Saturday afternoon.
He became a wanted man around 10:45 p.m., when he allegedly drove to the spot where the body had been abandoned. Park County Sheriff’s Deputy Rob Cooke had been stationed at the scene and attempted to stop Underwood’s white truck, but Underwood fled, racing away at speeds of up to 80 miles an hour, charging documents say.
Underwood pulled over about 2 miles away from the crime scene and a standoff began. The Wyoming Highway Patrol and the Hot Springs County Sheriff’s Office helped shut down the highway while the Cody Police Department’s Special Response team was summoned. Meanwhile, Deputy Cooke, Sheriff Scott Steward and BLM Ranger Robert Lind all tried to convince Underwood to get out of the vehicle and give himself up, without success.
“... Underwood had a handgun pointed at his head and was threatening suicide and stated on several occasion[s] he would not go back to jail [and] that he had nothing to live for,” Cooke wrote.
Over the course of two hours, Lind and Cooke were able to approach Underwood’s truck and speak with him, the affidavit says. The conversation eventually turned to a 2014 standoff with Cody police that culminated in Underwood shooting himself in the head with a pistol.