Occupants & Witnesses

Darrell Beck: Experienced Drinker

·     Darrell Beck, a passenger in the Chevy Pickup, locally known for drunkenness, convicted of DUI and aggravated assault, admitted to drinking heavily that night. Under oath he stated that he was too drunk to drive from the Years ley’s Construction Company Christmas party. Yet mysteriously, his BAC (blood alcohol content) was only .01. How can this be?

·     He was also found at the scene pinned between the steering wheel and the driver’s seat. He had to be extricated from the vehicle. Darrell Beck's facial injuries are consistent and match the damage to the Chevy's windshield on the driver’s side. Darrell Beck's chest, cervical, kidney, posttraumatic pancreatitis injuries, often associated with hitting the steering wheel in a car accident, is consistent with him being the driver. State Trooper Delane Baldwin indicated at first that he believed Daryl Beck was the driver, due to his injuries and the fact that he was pinned between the steering wheel and the driver’s side seat, and had to be extracted from the vehicle.

·     Investigators never examined hair samples found in the windshield on the passenger side. I suppose the reasoning for this was Trooper Delane Baldwin's statement, that "it looked like Beck's hair", was enough. Note: It is unusual and there is no legal basis for a passenger involved in an accident to have a blood alcohol test performed. Could this be the reason to conceal that Daryl Beck was driving the Yearsley’s Construction Company truck, rather than David Yearsley himself?? Investigators just took the word of David Yearsley and company that he was driving, even though the evidence says otherwise. Is this just shoddy police work or is there more to it?

·     It is highly unusual to allow a sanding truck to clean the road while two victims are still lying on the side of the road. No one knew at that time what happened.   This is why the Highway Department was called in to clean the road! It's interesting that Beck's father works for the Highway Department.

·     Why was Darrell Beck (passenger in the Chevy) recently given immunity from prosecution from his involvement in a drug trafficking and distribution scandal in Jackson during this past year? The assistant DA cut "quite the deal" with the sister of the wife (and passenger) of the driver of the Chevy vehicle in the same drug scandal/investigation.

The people who were speeding were the ones coming down the straightaway, rushing back to town to continue their party. Judith Erby, who also wrecked her vehicle at the same place, made that statement. She also stated that her husband, Darrell Erby was drunk, and that he and Yearsley and Beck were heavy in the drug scene.

David Yearsley’s Father Owns Yearsley's Construction Co. who is well known in Jackson Hole

• David Yearsley was supposedly the driver of the Chevy truck that struck and killed Conley Lane and John Oliver Sutherland. David Yearsley is very well known in Jackson and apparently has some pull with local authorities.

• David Yearsley was intoxicated with a BAC of .11, which in the State of Wyoming is considered legally intoxicated. David Yearsley was never charged with this crime. There were four occupants in the front seat of the Chevy pick up truck that David Yearsley was driving, which is illegal. Open alcohol containers were found in his vehicle. David Yearsley was speeding in hazardous conditions and inattentive, which he himself admitted to, and again, has never been charged with a crime.

• David Yearsley and his occupants were all coming from The Yearsley's company Christmas Party where they consumed a great deal of alcohol and admitted to such. All authorities knew this and the prosecuting Attorney, Steve Weichman, ignored this, and never followed up to determine the extent of their drinking. They were "rushing back to town" to continue the party at the Rancher Bar when the collision occurred. David Yearsley's father, a well-respected citizen in Jackson, as well as those who attended the party, were present at the scene of the collision.

• Contrary to law, Teton County and the State of Wyoming failed to charge or investigate David Yearsley in the face of substantial evidence.

• An informant said that Yearsley told him the Bronco was sitting still when they hit it.

• It is known that the Yearsley Construction Company was doing Federal contracts. It is also known that, if convicted of a felony, they would lose those contracts. It’s true:  vehicular homicide is a felony.

• Why did David Yearsley and his wife, Wendy Yearsley (Phelps), separate within two weeks and divorce within months of the collision?

Wendy Yearsley – Phelps

• Wendy Yearsley (Phelps) was heard by an unidentified officer, who told Patrolman Gray and another officer off the record of course screaming "...I told you to slow down!  I told you to slow down!"

• The plaintiff’s wife walked right up to Jim and Jeri Lane’s attorney, Richard Wolf, and thanked him immediately after the verdict was read in the civil trial.  Jim and Jeri were standing right next to their attorney when she did this.  Mr. Wolf jumped back from her words as though he had just stepped in a pile of dung.

Heidi Anderson

• Heidi was convicted of DUI in September of 1992, three months prior to the collision.

Darrell Erby & Judith Erby Volger: Following from the party

• There was another vehicle directly behind the Yearsley vehicle: the Erby's suburban. They said they were in the vehicle following the Yearsley vehicle from the party, and that no vehicles were between them and the Yearsley vehicle. How can this be, when Cindy & Wayne were directly behind the Yearsley's vehicle? Were the Erby's every questioned about this discrepancy? NO! With this inconsistency, why wasn't a more in-depth investigation performed? The Erby's had been drinking as well, and coming from the same party. They also lost control of their vehicle and basically wrecked at the same time. Judith Erby and the people who pulled her vehicle out of the snow bank in front of the Chevy and Bronco II substantiated this. If the Erby's were directly behind the Yearsley vehicle, then the Yearsley vehicle must have passed them. The Yearsley vehicle must have been traveling at a very high rate of speed. The Erby's had to see everything, since they were closer to the Chevy. Why was no statement of the Erby's ever taken by the troopers? Why did Cindy & Wayne Williams say there was no vehicle between them and the collision? Could the Erby's have been in front of the Yearsley's vehicle when they reached Brown's curve?? This is a very plausible explanation as to what happened that night. Could the Erby's have actually come around Brown's curve, seen Ollie & Conley losing control of their vehicle and possibly causing the collision? The Erby's know exactly what happened and, again, they are not talking. Authorities have never questioned them officially. Unbelievable!!!!

• Someone is misrepresenting the truth here, and since Cindy & Wayne Williams were not part of the Yearsley entourage, one certainly has to favor their testimony.

• Officers on the scene allowed Judith Erby to remove items from the Yearsley's vehicle, specifically, the purse and shoes of Wendy Yearsley. The next day she retrieved Wendy's clothes, which she took to the cleaners that very same day, and we are not sure what else!! Must have been a traumatic experience for her? Two fatalities and she is running to the cleaners. Why was she taking evidence to the cleaners? How could officers of the law allow anyone to remove items from a vehicle just involved in a fatal collision? Especially when the occupants of that vehicle were intoxicated?  Beyond Belief!!!!!!!!!

• Darrell Erby was convicted of DUI several months after the collision.

• Darrell Erby was convicted of DUI in January 2003 again. This guy is still driving a vehicle???

Wayne & Cindy Williams: Eye Witnesses Following the Yearsley Vehicle

• Patrolman Delane Baldwin's ONLY interview was with Cindy Williams over the phone. Her statement is basically the only feet that Prosecuting Attorney Steve Weichman has to stand on. And it is quite weak. Wayne Williams was interviewed in 1998 by a private investigator, paid for by Jim Lane, and it basically says neither saw much at all.

• There were two separate vehicles directly behind the Yearsley vehicle. The Williams’ were passed by the Yearsley vehicle at the ponds on Rt. 22. The Williams were traveling at approximately 38 to 40 mph and they said the Yearsley vehicle passed them going at least 10 miles per hour faster than their speed. When they reached the top of the hill (Sky Line Ranch) they could see the Yearsley vehicle going into the wreck. Now, if you calculated the speed of the Yearsley vehicle, it had to be traveling at least twice the speed of the Williams vehicle in order to have been at Brown's curve when Cindy reached the top of the hill! Also, Cindy stated that she observed the wreck, and it looked like Ollie was in the wrong lane. She may not be quite accurate on that point. If you go out to the hill and observe the cars as they enter that curve at ten or eleven o'clock at night, there is no possible way you can tell whether any vehicle crossed over the centerline.

• What is very interesting about Wayne Williams’ recollection, as the first civilian on the scene, is the observation he made of David Yearsley and passing by the window of his vehicle. David Yearsley was standing by the tailgate, yet from Wayne's observation, it appears that the driver's side door is closed. Wayne stated that he thought he saw at least two other people in the front seat as he passed by the driver's side window. Why would David Yearsley close the driver's side door if he had just gotten out?? He was supposedly driving. Could he have crawled out the extended cab back window, which had been broken out??? Maybe he really wasn't driving. This is all speculation, of course, but since this plausible explanation was never investigated we may never know exactly what happened.

• Another noteworthy piece of information in Wayne Williams’ statement to Jim Lane's investigator is the fact that the Williams vehicle must have passed through the collision scene, yet he saw no other vehicle at the site other than the Yearsley's Chevy. Wayne Williams states that he got out of his car, passenger side, walked to the rear of his vehicle and in front of the Yearsley vehicle. Where was the Bronco that the Yearsley vehicle collided with?? How could he not see the other vehicle?? It had to be right in front of him. We don't understand this at all. Pieces to the puzzle seem to be missing.

EMS at the scene: 

• EMT Jeff Stratton specifically heard comments concerning a vial of cocaine and some cash associated with the pickup truck and its occupants.

• EMT Jeff Stratton was interviewed and specifically remembers that the very next day, during an EMT Extrication Class, there were "CIVILIANS, NON-OFFICIAL PERSONNEL, in the cab of the pickup".

• EMT Miles Roice stated he couldn't remember many details from that night, but he does remember:

• "It was stormy that night". It was not stormy that night.

• "He did not come close to the Yearsley vehicle or help take the door off the hinges, but he has a memory that Wendy Yearsley was driving the truck as the designated driver." Has this guy been coached or what?

• "The only alcohol he remembers smelling was on the Lane and Sutherland boys. He says there is a certain smell to blood with alcohol in it, and there was a lot of blood at the scene." Sounds like he attended the Christmas Party as well!!!

• EMT John Ryan: stated he couldn't recall smelling alcohol on anyone's breath.  He describes the collision as "nasty head-on collision".

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