Fort Washakie Man Waives Preliminary Hearing After Threatening Law Enforcement

By Ellen Fike

Special to the Wyoming Truth

A Fort Washakie man who threatened to murder an FBI agent last weekend waived his right to a preliminary hearing.

Leo Barnaby II, 45, was arrested on April 30 and charged with threatening a federal law enforcement officer, a felony that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

U.S. District Court Judge Teresa M. McKee ruled Thursday that Barnaby would be detained in jail until further notice due to “crime of violence, weight of evidence is strong, no viable release plan.”

The judge did note that if another release plan is established for Barnaby, she would consider releasing him on bond.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed Monday, Barnaby threatened to assault and murder FBI Agent Scott Jensen.

Jensen wrote in the affidavit that he was contacted in the early morning of April 29 regarding a report of two people having been shot, Barnaby and another individual identified as “K.T.” The court documents did not state whether K.T. is a man or a woman.

Barnaby and K.T. were transported to SageWest Emergency Room in Lander, where Jensen met them. Barnaby had bullet fragments in his right shoulder, which was initially thought to be bird shot. K.T. suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the back, and one bullet was thought to be lodged in their stomach.

Jensen began to interview Barnaby around 5:45 a.m., and Barnaby told him that not even an hour before, he and K.T. had been driving down a road in Fort Washakie (which sits on the Wind River Indian Reservation) when they observed several men standing around a small bonfire outside a residence.

When Barnaby drove past the bonfire, he said, the men began to shoot at his truck. He drove away from the scene until the truck died a short time later. Barnaby told Jensen that he made his way home on foot, but it was unclear whether K.T. accompanied him or stayed in the broken down vehicle, according to the affidavit.

Barnaby consented to the interview and to being photographed by Jensen, as well as having DNA collected and his truck searched.

Bureau of Indian Affairs agents contacted K.G., a man who lives at a residence in the area where the shooting took place, the affidavit stated. K.G. told officers that he and several people had been standing around a fire on his property when a pickup truck matching the description of Barnaby’s pulled into his driveway and then out again.

As the pickup began driving down the road, someone inside the vehicle started shooting at the people standing around the bonfire. K.G. said he returned fire with an AR-15, which he provided to police.

Around 7:15 a.m. on April 29, Jensen and a fellow FBI agent went to the area where the shooting took place. Jensen wrote he was not clear at which residence the incident occurred, so they went to Barnaby’s home to ask follow-up questions.

Not long after Jensen pulled into Barnaby’s driveway, Barnaby arrived home from the ER in a vehicle driven by a person identified as “L.P.” When asked about the shooting location, Barnaby offered to take Jensen there, but Jensen said he didn’t want Barnaby to return to the house.

Barnaby became agitated and then angry that Jensen did not know the location of the residence, Jensen wrote. He told Jensen that there were guns in the house and that he intended to use them.

Barnaby then told Jensen he would do to him what had been done to Derek Redstar Pappan, a local man who died from a gunshot to the back of his head.

“Barnaby threatened that he was going to put a gun to the back of my head and kill me,” Jensen wrote in the affidavit. “He also threatened to use the rifle in his house to shoot me and the people down the street that shot his truck.”

Barnaby repeated the threats several times, called the other FBI agent with Jensen a “whore” and said he would “take care of her,” Jensen wrote.  

Jensen warned Barnaby that his threats were a crime and that he could face real consequences for making them, but alleged that Barnaby continued to threaten him.

A Fort Washakie man who threatened to murder an FBI agent last weekend waived his right to a preliminary hearing.

Leo Barnaby II, 45, was arrested on April 30 and charged with threatening a federal law enforcement officer, a felony that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

U.S. District Court Judge Teresa M. McKee ruled Thursday that Barnaby would be detained in jail until further notice due to “crime of violence, weight of evidence is strong, no viable release plan.”

The judge did note that if another release plan is established for Barnaby, she would consider releasing him on bond.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed Monday, Barnaby threatened to assault and murder FBI Agent Scott Jensen.

Jensen wrote in the affidavit that he was contacted in the early morning of April 29 regarding a report of two people having been shot, Barnaby and another individual identified as “K.T.” The court documents did not state whether K.T. is a man or a woman.

Barnaby and K.T. were transported to SageWest Emergency Room in Lander, where Jensen met them. Barnaby had bullet fragments in his right shoulder, which was initially thought to be bird shot. K.T. suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the back, and one bullet was thought to be lodged in their stomach.

Jensen began to interview Barnaby around 5:45 a.m., and Barnaby told him that not even an hour before, he and K.T. had been driving down a road in Fort Washakie (which sits on the Wind River Indian Reservation) when they observed several men standing around a small bonfire outside a residence.

When Barnaby drove past the bonfire, he said, the men began to shoot at his truck. He drove away from the scene until the truck died a short time later. Barnaby told Jensen that he made his way home on foot, but it was unclear whether K.T. accompanied him or stayed in the broken down vehicle, according to the affidavit.

Barnaby consented to the interview and to being photographed by Jensen, as well as having DNA collected and his truck searched.

Bureau of Indian Affairs agents contacted K.G., a man who lives at a residence in the area where the shooting took place, the affidavit stated. K.G. told officers that he and several people had been standing around a fire on his property when a pickup truck matching the description of Barnaby’s pulled into his driveway and then out again.

As the pickup began driving down the road, someone inside the vehicle started shooting at the people standing around the bonfire. K.G. said he returned fire with an AR-15, which he provided to police.

Around 7:15 a.m. on April 29, Jensen and a fellow FBI agent went to the area where the shooting took place. Jensen wrote he was not clear at which residence the incident occurred, so they went to Barnaby’s home to ask follow-up questions.

Not long after Jensen pulled into Barnaby’s driveway, Barnaby arrived home from the ER in a vehicle driven by a person identified as “L.P.” When asked about the shooting location, Barnaby offered to take Jensen there, but Jensen said he didn’t want Barnaby to return to the house.

Barnaby became agitated and then angry that Jensen did not know the location of the residence, Jensen wrote. He told Jensen that there were guns in the house and that he intended to use them.

Barnaby then told Jensen he would do to him what had been done to Derek Redstar Pappan, a local man who died from a gunshot to the back of his head.

“Barnaby threatened that he was going to put a gun to the back of my head and kill me,” Jensen wrote in the affidavit. “He also threatened to use the rifle in his house to shoot me and the people down the street that shot his truck.”

Barnaby repeated the threats several times, called the other FBI agent with Jensen a “whore” and said he would “take care of her,” Jensen wrote.  

Jensen warned Barnaby that his threats were a crime and that he could face real consequences for making them, but alleged that Barnaby continued to threaten him.