Wells County

Bed Wetter

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2015
Posts
7,094
Likes
433
Points
368
Location
Cold
What the heck is going on in Wells County ?!?!?!



Two Charged in Brutal Assault on Wells County Man

Victim of Attack Died of Heart Issues Days Later

Copyright 2017 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Fessenden, ND - Two people are facing charges in connection with an assault against a man in rural Wells County last week.

The victim of that assault died later in the week.

Investigators say Alexander Lail and Deanna Neurohr used an ice auger to burn the inside thigh of Jason Thomas's right leg and Thomas, according to court records, "suffered permanent loss or impairment of a function or a bodily member or organ."

Thomas died of heart issues a few days after the attack.

Lail and Neurohr are charged with Criminal Conspiracy - a Class A Felony carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Assault - a Class B Felony with a 10 year maximum.

Other charges were also filed last week against the pair.

Lail was charged with felony eavesdropping.

Court records say Lail bugged the office of Fessenden's police chief for several months last year.

Neurohr was booked on a felony drug possession charge.

The two are due to make their initial court appearances next week.

- - - Updated - - -

Wells County sheriff resigns, deputies fired, investigation underway

Thursday, April 27, 2017 12:08 p.m. CDT
by Don Haney

Former Wells County Sheriff Johnny Lawson
Former Wells County Sheriff Johnny Lawson
FESSENDEN, NORTH DAKOTA (KFGO) - Wells County, North Dakota has found itself without a sheriff's department, at least temporarily. 

KFGO News has learned Sheriff Johnny Z. Lawson has resigned, effective this past Tuesday and county commissioners fired his two deputies this week. 

States Attorney Kathleen Murray did not return calls but a spokesperson in her office says an investigation is underway but she cannot comment on reasons for the departure of the officers or what the investigation is about. 

Lawson is unavailable, but in a post on his Facebook page, he wrote he was resigning "due to personal reasons." 

Sheriff's departments in the neighboring counties of Foster, Eddy, and Sheridan are providing interim law enforcement coverage for Wells County. One sheriff told KFGO News, the additional responsibility will stretch the resources for his small department but said "when asked, we do what we can to help."
 


DirtyMike

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2015
Posts
12,063
Likes
360
Points
418
Location
Bismarck, ND
What an awesome name for a cop though! I'm Johnny Law....Son.

Anyway, it appears to be a shit show up there.
 

Ericb

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
May 19, 2015
Posts
3,200
Likes
85
Points
278
Location
Bismarck
They burnt the in side of his leg with a ice auger. That sounds like some serious torture. Curious what the whole story will be.
 

raider

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2015
Posts
3,397
Likes
45
Points
256
Location
williston
i got on to start a thread bout the snakes and clowns in fargo... crazy times, even way up here...
 


johnr

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2015
Posts
19,994
Likes
3,587
Points
803
Location
Dickinson
Serious question, was this fishing related?
Did the victim pirate, or some such anger causing thing?

Why would you use an ice auger to burn someone?
 

ItemB

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
May 4, 2015
Posts
1,296
Likes
9
Points
191
I think both stories are related and both are involving drugs. I also think the ice auger was used as a way of torture and the ended up ripping the guys leg off or damn near off the way the article reads
 

Fly Carpin

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2015
Posts
2,562
Likes
174
Points
293
I think both stories are related and both are involving drugs. I also think the ice auger was used as a way of torture and the ended up ripping the guys leg off or damn near off the way the article reads
"Bodily member or organ" reads a little different and a whole lot more painful to me
 

BrokenBackJack

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
May 13, 2015
Posts
9,131
Likes
4,398
Points
763
Location
Central, AZ
I move away from Wells County and come to Bismarck and the whole County goes to hell in a hand basket.
I talked with the cousin of Jason Thomas yesterday and he said lots of stories going around but everything is hush-hush. He thinks his cousin got accused of supplying the cops with drug info on the two that tortured and killed him.
As far as the sheriff and deputies go he said the same thing. Lots of rumors but no hard facts on any of them. Said BCI is up there investigating both incidents is what he was told. That in itself means there is more to both stories possibly.
Damn druggies, guess we can't say it can't happen here anymore.
 


Bed Wetter

Founding Member
Founding Member
Thread starter
Joined
Apr 25, 2015
Posts
7,094
Likes
433
Points
368
Location
Cold
Oh my...



Former Wells County sheriff suspected of bribery, conspiring to deal meth

Archie Ingersoll

FESSENDEN, N.D. — The former Wells County sheriff was jailed Saturday, May 27, on suspicion of committing two felonies: bribery and conspiring to deliver methamphetamine.

Johnny Zip Lawson, 41, was also booked on three misdemeanors: neglect of duty by a public official, ingestion of meth and providing false information to a law enforcement officer, according to staff at the Stutsman County Jail in Jamestown.

The details of Lawson's case were not available Saturday. Messages left for Wells County State's Attorney Kathleen Murray and the Wells County Sheriff's Office were not returned.

Lawson's wife of 24 years, Christine Lawson, said she and her family were shocked by her husband's arrest. "He is and has been always a wonderful father and husband," she said. "We are at a loss as to what these charges are truly about."

Christine Lawson said she's never known her husband to use illegal drugs. "He doesn't even drink. He doesn't allow alcohol in our home," she said.

Lawson resigned as Wells County sheriff on April 25, citing personal reasons, County Commission Chairwoman Mary Hager said at the time.

In the same week, the commission fired two deputies because they didn't have the proper licenses to work without the supervision of a peace officer. The deputies had recently been hired.

An investigation was launched with help from the state Attorney General's Office and the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, but at that point, the reason for the investigation was unclear.

On Saturday, Hager declined to comment on Lawson's arrest. She said county officials plan to hold a news conference in a few days to discuss the matter.

Charges have not yet been filed against Lawson, according to North Dakota court records. His attorney, Peter Welte, declined to comment on the case.

Lawson was being held without bail in the Stutsman County Jail, and he's expected to appear in court on Tuesday, May 30, jail staff said.

Lawson was hired as sheriff in 2013 and elected as sheriff in 2014, Hager said. He studied at Lake Region State College in Devils Lake, N.D., and he lives in Harvey, N.D., according to his Facebook page.

The loss of Lawson and the two deputies left the Wells County Sheriff's Department with only an office deputy. The sheriff's departments of neighboring Eddy, Foster and Sheridan counties and the North Dakota Highway Patrol were called on to provide law enforcement services for the roughly 4,100 residents of Wells County.

Hager said the county is searching for a new sheriff.
 

Reprobait

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
May 17, 2015
Posts
3,105
Likes
737
Points
338
They will let him plead this down to nothing and the public will never find out what went on.
 
Last edited:

Walleye202

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2015
Posts
124
Likes
3
Points
103
I have a feeling more will be coming from this. Rumblings locally are this involved a larger drug operation in both Harvey and Fessenden. Should be interesting, this guy is a true piece of work that got hauled in yesterday :)
 


Reprobait

Founding Member
Founding Member
Joined
May 17, 2015
Posts
3,105
Likes
737
Points
338
Not a lot of detail but has some insight:

http://www.valleynewslive.com/conte...ies-bribes-guns-money-and-more-425539303.html
FESSENDEN, N.D. (Valley News Live): It’s a story Valley News Live continues following for you: the former Wells County Sheriff Johnny Lawson jailed after an investigation linking him with meth use, bribery and failing to do his duties as a law enforcement officer. The tip we first received last month was from a caller telling us Lawson resigned because of a drug investigation. New details are emerging now of what investigators were looking into, including drugs, guns, money, bugs placed in offices and illegal GPS trackers.This investigation reads like a movie script, involving illegal GPS trackers, a bug placed in the Chief of Police’s office, burglaries, a woman tied to a chair and sex acts performed, drugs, money, felons illegally owning firearms and surveillance cameras unknowingly installed.Former Wells County Sheriff Johnny Lawson faces conspiracy to deliver meth, bribery and false reports to law enforcement among other charges, and was arrested late last week.The investigation into Lawson’s alleged actions is 38 pages long, BCI agents starting their investigation back in March of last year after two home burglaries in Harvey and Fessenden, North Dakota. The suspects involved include two men known to be meth dealers in the area. Throughout all of last summer, more burglaries are committed in the region by the same people, the court documents saying they were continually reported to then-Sheriff Lawson, but that he just looked the other way.The reason for that is believed to be because those same individuals were supplying Lawson with meth, Lawson not investigating their actions so long as they were “putting a smile on Johnny’s face.”
Lawson faces 25 years in jail and tens of thousands of dollars in fines if given the max sentence.


- - - Updated - - -

http://media.graytvinc.com/documents/LAWSONdocs.pdf
 


Recent Posts

Friends of NDA

Top Posters of the Month

  • This month: 159
  • This month: 133
  • This month: 115
  • This month: 108
  • This month: 103
  • This month: 86
  • This month: 82
  • This month: 76
  • This month: 74
  • This month: 74
Top Bottom