Twisted tale emerges

On Saturday 25 participants shared the twisted tale of murder in the Sierra Madres.

The events of Oct. 31, 1945 were discussed throughout the day-long Saratoga Historical and Cultural Association trek that began with a memorial to two fallen Game Wardens and ended at the site of the murders.

As the group moved from honoring Bill Lakanen, Rawlins Deputy Game Warden, and Don Simpson, Saratoga Deputy Game Warden, discussion turned toward motives for Johann Malten to commit the murders and whether or not he survived the incident.

We may never know the answer to whether Malten died in the cabin fire he set after the murder or if he escaped and found shelter among friends in the area. Extensive research conducted specifically for the trek has compiled information from several sources and archives around the county. With this the picture of the events of the day of the murder a clearer, but many questions remain. All of the criminal investigation records and crime scene photographs seem to have disappeared with former Carbon County Sheriff John Terrill. Many other photographs and records may be in the hands of local families but were unobtainable by the time of the trek.

What seems to be clear after much discussion and analysis of a few existing photographs is this. Malten clearly had both a truck and a coupe. The truck that is still at the site of his cabin was his Chevy. It matches both photographs and a 1946 description of the the location of the truck when crime scene investigators arrived. The coupe is not mentioned as being present in any of the newspaper reports about the crime scene and is even rumored to have been seen in Saratoga days after the murder.

Another new piece of information provided by former Game Warden and Game Wardens Association historian Dave Bragonier is that Lakanen may not have been on the up and up. The Game Wardens Association has records on file of at least two poaching violations committed by Lakanen prior to his becoming a Game Warden. Additionally there is a report that Lakanen had two 55 gallon drums full of beaver traps at his state housing in Rawlins which were removed after his death. At the time of the murders beaver were under protected status, and in fact Malten served six months in prison in 1943 after he was convicted of possessing illegal beaver pelts.

Suspicions have arisen that there was an active beaver pelt ring in southern Wyoming and that law enforcement officials, including Lakanen, were involved.

Besides the fact that Malten told several people while in jail and after that he would kill Simpson and Lakanen if they ever returned to his property, he may have been holding resentments about more than his time behind bars.

According to local resident Gene Carrico, Malten spent his winters at the cabin making fine woodwork such as inlaid tables. Carrico suspects that while Malten was in jail his homestead was essentially looted of its valuables.

Another popular topic of discussion was that the game wardens appeared to have backed right up to the door of Malten's cabin before the German immigrant opened up on the officer's with his .22 high-power rifle. Did they back up to the door intending to load the truck with something?

It is reported in several sources that Malten had tried unsuccessfully to buy ammunition for his .22 high-power in the days prior to the incident. It was war time and non-citizens were forbidden from buying ammunition or weapons. In a line of research still under investigation it was discovered that Malten filed for naturalization in the fall of 1938 and if that request was formalized Malten would have been a citizen for a little over a month at the time of the murders.

Whatever his motivation to take two men's lives and whether or not he survived, we may never know. However, it is clear from the trek that the story is alive and well and as contentious as ever.