Trial delayed in ptarmigan-argument shooting

June 12, 2005

KATE GOLDEN

Frontiersman reporter

PALMER - A trial in Palmer Superior Court has been postponed for a 19-year-old Houston man accused of shooting two friends after an argument over the proper weapon for hunting ptarmigan.

Joseph Walter Leroy Sheldon was indicted Dec. 20, 2004, the day after the shooting, on two counts of first-degree attempted murder, assault and one count of second-degree misconduct involving a weapon.

Sheldon's public defender requested more time at a Tuesday trial call. Assistant District Attorney Richard Payne said Friday that the trial would not take place until mid-July, at the earliest.

The evening of Dec. 19, Sheldon and his housemates, Darin Hotrum, 38, and Robert N. Cross, 51, of Wasilla, were drinking in front of the television and began arguing over the use of slingshots for ptarmigan hunting.

Alaska State Troopers reported that Sheldon went outside to his pickup truck, retrieved a 12-gauge shotgun and fired it several times into the house. Hit in the back of the head and upper torso with shotgun pellets, Hotrum jumped out a back window, troopers said. He ran to a neighbor's home and called 911. Cross, who was hit in the face, was still at the house when troopers arrived.

Sheldon caught a ride to the Big Lake trooper post, where he called 911 from an outside phone. When troopers reached him, his gun was at his feet and he gave himself up. Hotrum and Cross were taken to Providence Alaska Medical Center; they were later released.

Sheldon is held at Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility in lieu of $100,000 plus a court-approved third party.

Contact Kate Golden at 352-2284 or kate.golden@frontiersman.com.