Second-degree murder case not bound over

by Janet Montgomery

Sublette County Circuit Court Judge John Crow ruled against binding over the new charge filed on Aug. 8 by the Sublette County Attorney’s office accusing 42-year-old Iva Jo Hueske of murder in the second degree.

Signed on Sept. 7, the order denying the bind-over stated that in the charges there must be a finding that the defendant probably acted maliciously. However, Crow found that “(t)he exact circumstance of the use of the knife being unknown, and no evidence prior to the incident to support an inference of malice, the charge of murder in the second degree will not be bound over to the district court.”

The charges were apparently filed in light of new information on the same circumstances as the previous charge of voluntary manslaughter, which was bound over from Sublette County Circuit Court in April to the Ninth Judicial District Court with a trial set for October.

Hueske was charged with the felony count of voluntary manslaughter following an alleged altercation between her and her boyfriend that resulted in the man found dead and Hueske arrested on March 11, with the felony charge filed March 13.

Hueske is accused of voluntarily, upon a sudden heat of passion, killing a human being, namely 30-year-old Brandon Honerkamp, in district court as well as the second-degree murder charge in circuit court that alleges purposely and maliciously, but without premeditation, killing a human being.

Court documents alleged that a 911 call was received at 12:25 a.m. But no one spoke to the dispatcher, who heard arguing and yelling. About an hour later, a deputy was approached outside Stockman’s Lounge in Pinedale by one of the business’ employees. She told the deputy that the sheriff’s office needed to send someone to Big River Road apartments in the Boulder area.

At 1:45 a.m. on March 11, Sublette County sheriff’s deputies responded to Big River Road apartments on a medical call. The deputies entered the reported residence and found the body of a male subject, according to a press release from the sheriff’s office.

Emergency medical services personnel were unable to find a pulse or respiration, and the subject was pronounced dead, according to the release. The man had been eviscerated.

The deputies returned to Stockman’s to re-contact the woman they spoke with earlier and learned that Hueske was allegedly the other person involved in the altercation.

According to court documents, Hueske allegedly uttered statements that she had stabbed her boyfriend. Hueske was placed under investigative detention.

Hueske allegedly admitted stabbing her boyfriend after he apparently assaulted her in a vehicle and later forced his way into the bedroom in which she said she had barricaded herself, according to court documents.

But when Hueske was told that Honerkamp had died, her story allegedly changed, according to court documents.

After being questioned, Hueske was taken into custody and charged.

Following the execution of a search warrant, a silver kitchen-style knife with a black handle bearing apparent “biological residue” was discovered in one of the duffle bags, according to court documents.

State of Wyoming Crime Lab agents responded to assist in executing the search of the apartment, while elements of Hueske’s story were checked.

According to court documents, an autopsy performed March 13 by a forensic pathologist in Loveland, Colo., determined the cause of death was homicide.

Voluntary manslaughter is a felony punishable by no more than 20 years in prison and fine of up to $10,000, or both. Murder in the second degree is a felony punishable by a term in the penitentiary for not less than 20 years.