Crime and Courts

Wyoming triple murder suspects appear in Cody court

Posted: Mar 5, 2013 11:06 AM by MTN News with reporting by Drew Trafton

CODY, WY - Two men accused of murdering three people in Clark, Wyoming over the weekend appeared in court Tuesday morning.

Tanner Vanpelt and Stephen Hammer face 11 counts, each related to and including the murders of three people in Clark, Wyoming on Saturday. Nine of those charges carry a penalty of death or life imprisonment.

Both men were denied the possibility of posting bond and will remain in the Park County Detention Center until their next court date.

A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for both men on March 13 at 9 a.m.

A packed courtroom of around 60 people listened for half an hour as each charge was read aloud by Judge Bruce Waters. Many of the people in the courtroom were young adults who were friends with the two men being charged.

Neither man being charged showed emotion.

At around 11:15 a.m. on Saturday, March 2, a neighbor called the Park County Sheriff's Office, saying two people had been shot inside a home. Deputies and paramedics responded and a third body was found in the basement.

Ildiko Freitas, 40; her father, Janos Vogyessi, 69; and her mother, Hildegard Vogyessi, 70, were found dead inside the home.

Shortly after responding, the Wyoming Highway Patrol and the Park County Sheriff's Office arrested Stephen Hammer, 19, and Tanner Vanpelt, 18, both from Cody.

"This is nothing short of cold-blooded murder," Steward said in a news release.

Sheriff Steward says alert neighbors helped law enforcement quickly apprehend Hammer and Vanpelt, both from Cody.

"I attribute the quick apprehension of the suspects to alert neighbors and the swift actions of members of the Park County Sheriff's Office and the Troopers of the Wyoming State Patrol," Steward said at the time.