Jury finds Anderson guilty of murder

Logan Dailey
Posted 3/10/21

Terry Anderson, a Goshen County resident who was accused of the murder of Deedra Strauch after an incident that occurred Jan. 24, 2020

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Jury finds Anderson guilty of murder

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TORRINGTON – Terry Anderson, a Goshen County resident who was accused of the murder of Deedra Strauch after an incident that occurred Jan. 24, 2020, has been found guilty of murder in the second degree by a jury of his peers.

The jury trial began Monday, March 1, in the Eighth Judicial District Court of Goshen County in Torrington. The voir dire process of jury selection, or the process through which attorneys examine potential jurors to establish their ability to be impartial and unbiased, was carried out and a jury was seated.

After the jury was seated, Goshen County Attorney Eric Boyer provided his opening statements to the court. Boyer said the prosecution would show that Strauch had stayed with Anderson at Anderson’s residence in Goshen County. They would then show there was an incident involving a fight between Anderson and Strauch.

Boyer said the evidence would show Strauch was getting ready to leave when the altercation transpired, resulting in Strauch’s death. He said Anderson had given law enforcement varying details of the events which transpired, but the forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy of Strauch, would testify the gun used in the matter had been held to Strauch’s face and fired.

Anderson’s attorney, Joe Bustos, followed Boyer with his opening statement. Bustos told the jury Strauch had hit Anderson with a broom, causing him to fall over. Bustos said Anderson’s fall caused a firearm to be bumped and discharged, asserting the discharge was an accident and not intentional.

After opening statements, Boyer began calling witnesses to the stand on behalf of the prosecution. Boyer called Goshen County Undersheriff Doug Patrick to the stand.

Patrick testified he had spoken with Anderson about what had transpired on that fateful day. Patrick pointed out several inconsistencies with Anderson’s testimony, stating Anderson had first said the gun was loaded and wasn’t cocked, but later said the gun wasn’t loaded. 

Patrick also pointed out Anderson was unable to tell him where the gun was located. Anderson told Patrick the firearm had been by a toolbox, leaning against a cabinet by the refrigerator and later by the garage. 

Deputy Sheriff Edwin Ochoa took the stand after Patrick and testified to collecting evidence in the matter, how he collected said evidence and being present at Strauch’s autopsy. The first day of the trial was concluded after Ochoa’s testimony.

Goshen County Sheriff Kory Fleenor was called to the stand the next day as he was the first officer to arrive at the residence with Patrick and emergency medical technicians (EMT’s) with Torrington Emergency Medical Services (EMS).

Fleenor described how he found Strauch when he arrived at the residence. Fleenor said Strauch was covered in a large amount of blood and had matted hair from blood in her hair. He said he was unable to make out the entrance wound, but noted Strauch was moving around, trying to sit up and would lay down on the floor while asking for help. Fleenor said much of Strauch’s attempts to speak were largely unintelligible moans, but he was also able to ascertain she was requesting help.

Fleenor testified about the collection of the firearm, the broom, blood, Strauch’s coat and other various pieces of evidence in the matter. 

The prosecution called for an “out of turn” witness, Forensic Pathologist Peter Schilke of Western Pathology Consultants PC in Scottsbluff, Neb. Schilke said he worked out of the Regional West Medical Center in Scottsbluff.

Schilke established he was the pathologist who had conducted an autopsy of Strauch. Schilke described how his autopsy was conducted after Strauch’s body had been subjected to organ harvesting. He described sutures on Strauch’s body from the organ collection and said he had found a bullet in Strauch’s head.

Schilke testified the bullet was found in the rearward portion of Strauch’s head. Additionally, Schilke said he had found evidence within the entrance wound on the front of Strauch’s face, on the left cheek, which was consistent with a contact gunshot wound.

He said there was tearing on the entrance wound and radiating lacerations around the area of the entrance wound, which further established to him the wound was a contact wound. Schilke stated the barrel of the gun was against the skin. He also said he had found evidence of soot and gun powder in the entrance wound.

Boyer provided Schilke with a ruler and asked him to show the jury the trajectory of the gunshot. Schilke held the ruler to his face, with the ruler angled down slightly below his left eye. 

Boyer asked Schilke what he had concluded from the autopsy. Schilke told the jury he had ruled the death a homicide from the results of his autopsy, coupled with testimony from law enforcement. 

Bustos, on cross examination of Schilke, said Schilke could not testify to the type of death. To establish this, Bustos asked Schilke to explain how he had reached the conclusion. Schilke told the jury the story of the accidental discharge alleged by Anderson didn’t match up with what he observed in the contact entrance wound to Strauch’s face. 

Bustos asked special Judge F. Scott Peasley to strike the conclusion of homicide made by Schilke. Peasley overruled the request. 

Bustos then insinuated through his line of questioning that Schilke was testifying in favor of the prosecution and not in favor of the facts of the case. Bustos asked him to tell the jury how much the State was paying him to testify. Schilke said he was billing the State at a rate of $300 per hour, beginning from when he left his office in Scottsbluff, to when he returned to his office. 

Schilke told the jury he was not being paid to reach any conclusions in the matter.

Sheriff Fleenor was recalled to the stand after Schilke’s dismissal. Fleenor described how Anderson had told Fleenor the shooting was accidental. Anderson then told Fleenor the shooting was the result of an altercation, resulting in the accidental shooting of Strauch.

Fleenor testified Anderson had told him he and Strauch both fell, and the gun fell and went off after falling. Anderson also gave Fleenor differing statements about the location of the gunshot, first saying the shot went through Strauch’s chin and later saying the shot when through her cheek. 

After Fleenor’s testimony, the State called a forensic fingerprint analyst and Forensics Analyst Leah Innocci, a firearms examiner for the Wyoming State Crime Laboratory.

Innocci said she had conducted the examination of the rifle that shot Strauch. Innocci testified about the poor condition of the firearm in the case, and the ability of the firearm to discharge without someone needing to pull the trigger for it to discharge. 

Innocci described testing the firearm by conducting a mallet test, where a mallet is used to apply a direct force to the rear of the bolt of the firearm, and a drop test, where the firearm is dropped from the approximate height of an average countertop. She testified the firearm discharged each time the firearm was dropped or hit with a mallet, but only if the firearm was cocked. Innocci concluded the firearm would not fire unless the firearm was cocked. 

The State rested their case Tuesday afternoon. 

The defense called their first witness Wednesday morning. Ryan Allen of Frontier Arms in Cheyenne was called as he had been hired by Anderson and Bustos to conduct an examination of the firearm previously discussed. Allen testified the trigger required minimal force to engage the firearm’s sear, which would then release the hammer or primer striking mechanism, to disengage and discharge the weapon. 

Allen said the firearm was dangerous and in poor condition. He had the same conclusions of the firearm as Innocci, the firearm would not discharge unless the hammer was cocked. Additionally, Allen said the firearm needed eight pounds of direct force to cause the primer to explode, causing the firearm to then discharge. Allen said the firearm in the matter weighed a pound or a pound and a half. 

The final witness called by Bustos was the defendant himself, Terry Anderson. Anderson took the stand and testified the shooting of Deedra Strauch was accidental. Anderson said he and Strauch had been engaged in an intimate relationship, calling her his girlfriend, for approximately three years.

Anderson testified Strauch had spent the night with him the night before Strauch’s passing. He explained how Strauch and himself had been working on the flooring inside his residence.

The next morning, according to Anderson, he got up and was going to work on Strauch’s car because the vehicle’s brakes were in a state of disrepair. Anderson said the two of them were headed to the parts store when Strauch received a phone call from her employer asking her to come into work. 

Anderson said he didn’t want her driving her car because of the condition of the brakes. An argument ensued. Anderson testified he walked from the bedroom to the kitchen and was surprised to be hit with a broom. He said he fell over and the gun discharged. Anderson testified the argument was not high-level or angry. 

Anderson testified Strauch had handled the gun before it discharged. He said the two of them had removed the firearm from Anderson’s bedroom when they were cleaning out the bedroom to set up a waterbed. 

He said he fell forward and fell over a cabinet. The gun then fell forward at the same time and Strauch fell in the same direction as he did. Anderson said he then heard a bang but didn’t immediately know what had happened. 

He explained how the association between the bang and the blood took a moment to register. He said he tried to help Strauch as she was in great pain and was asking for his help. 

Anderson later testified he had moved the gun from where it laid after discharging. He said he had moved the firearm as he felt like it was a threat after it discharged and shot Strauch. 

Lastly, Bustos asked Anderson if he picked up the rifle and pointed it at Strauch and pulled the trigger or picked it up, pointed it at her in any way or form. Anderson said no. 

Prosecutor Boyer began his cross examination. Anderson said the shooting was a total accident. Boyer asked Anderson if he remembered telling Sheriff Fleenor the gun was left by someone, in his possession, to protect himself. 

Anderson denied owning or being in possession of the firearm, but later admitted he had been given the firearm to protect himself from people who were living by the river and causing problems for him. 

Anderson claimed to know very little to nothing about the firearm, but later testified he had used the firearm to shoot at skunks in the recent past. Additionally, Anderson testified he was uncomfortable having the firearm in his residence but had recently retrieved the firearm from where it was stored so that it would be accessible for his personal protection. 

Boyer brought up a text message received by a person Anderson described as his mechanic. The text message had previously been introduced during the State’s presentation of their case. 

The text message in question was sent from Anderson to his mechanic when it was speculated it was intended to go to Strauch. In the message, the sender says “D, I should have shot that first round at you.” The message then makes a confusing statement about the sender not wanting to take a chance of doing something unknown to a dog. The final piece of the message read, “you’re a piece of shit.”

Anderson agreed he must have sent the message because it came from his phone, but he said he didn’t remember sending the message and didn’t know what it was about. 

After the cross examination, Bustos provided re-direct questioning to Anderson. Through the questioning, Anderson testified Boyer’s questions confused him. 

The defense rested their case on Wednesday, March 3. Closing arguments were presented by Boyer and Bustos with a final closing argument made by Boyer. The jury was then informed of the rules of deliberation by Peasley and ordered to reach a just verdict. 

The jury began deliberations Wednesday afternoon, March 3. By Thursday, March 4, at 10:37 a.m., Peasley asked the jury foreperson to handover the verdict. A bailiff delivered the verdict from the foreperson to Peasley. Peasley ordered Anderson and Bustos to stand while he read the verdict.

Peasley read the verdict, stating the jury had found Anderson guilty of murder in the second degree in the death of Deedra Strauch. Anderson immediately shook his head after hearing the verdict. 

Peasley discharged the jury, thanking them for their fulfillment of their civic duty as jurors. The jury left and Peasley heard argument as to whether Anderson should be allowed the opportunity to have his bond continued or if he should be remanded to the custody of the Goshen County Sheriff’s Office and held in post-trial detention until his sentencing date.

Boyer told the court second-degree murder provided for a minimum sentence of 20 years’ incarceration. He also pointed out there was no right to bail or bond after a conviction.

Bustos argued Anderson had followed all orders of the court and had otherwise complied with all demands of the court. Bustos requested Anderson’s bond be permitted to continue.

Peasley ruled Anderson was to be remanded to the custody of the Goshen County Sheriff’s Office where he would be held without bond until his sentencing in approximately 90 days. The trial and hearings in the matter were then adjourned.