Opinion ID: 2585495
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: facts

Text: [¶ 3] In August of 1985, Belden was employed as a baker at the ARA facility at the Shute Creek Exxon Plant near Diamondville, Wyoming. On August 29, 1985, Belden, using the pseudonym Richard Price, was scheduled to begin his shift at 9:30 p.m. Instead of punching in for work, however, Belden quit his job without notice. Various co-workers described Belden's appearance as suspicious, impatient and nervous, real anxious, real jittery, and nasty, aggravated, upset. One co-worker noted Belden's nervousness as well as scratches on his chest, neck, and face. Belden proceeded to dispose of several personal items before leaving the facility in a co-worker's truck, which he did not have permission to use. Belden also left various items behind that he never attempted to recover, including a motorcycle and his final paycheck. [¶ 4] Belden's co-worker in the bakery, Terrie Smith, returned to the mobile home she shared with her friend, Nancy Lane, after completing her shift early the next morning on August 30, 1985. Smith discovered the naked, battered body of Nancy Lane on the living room floor of the trailer. Lane had been brutally beaten and then strangled to death. Her body bore injuries indicating that she had been the victim of a sexual assault prior to death. Investigators were able to collect a semen sample along with scrapings from under Lane's fingernails and a hair found on her body. [1] [¶ 5] Belden was not located until December of 1987 when he was arrested in Utah. Investigators went to Utah to question him. Belden claimed he had permission to use the truck that he had taken on the night of August 29, 1985. He also stated that he knew the victim through her roommate, who was also his co-worker at the bakery. Belden voluntarily provided the investigators with blood and hair samples. DNA analysis revealed that Belden was the source of the semen found in the victim's body. DNA tests of the fingernail scrapings were generally inconclusive but tended to exclude Belden as the source. [2] [¶ 6] For reasons that remain unclear in the record, the investigation into the victim's death remained dormant until sometime in 1998. The re-opened investigation ultimately led to charges of sexual assault in violation of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-2-302(a)(i) [3] and first-degree murder in violation of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-2-101(a) [4] against Belden. A jury trial was held from October 9, through October 17, 2000. Belden's defense was that he had consensual intercourse with the victim on the night of August 29 but that she was alive when he left her trailer. Belden suggested that either the victim's ex-boyfriend or her roommate's estranged husband might have been involved in her death. Nevertheless, the jury returned a guilty verdict on both charges. Additional facts will be set out in our discussion below, as necessary.