Lame Deer assaults send Forsyth man to prison for 10 years

BILLINGS — Edward Leroy Widner III, 29 of Forsyth, was sentenced today for assaulting two men with a gun in one assault and assaulting a woman with a metal bar in a separate assault, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said. Both assaults were committed in Lame Deer, on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation.

U.S. District Court Judge Susan P. Watters sentenced Widner to 10 years in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release.  The defendant pleaded guilty on May 11, 2023, to five charges in a superseding information charging him with two counts of assault resulting in serious bodily injury and three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon.

The government alleged that on May 22, 2022 at Lame Deer, Widner assaulted two victims, John Doe 1 and John Doe 2, with a firearm. Widner went to John Doe 1’s residence and first assaulted Doe 2 in the living room by hitting him in the head with a pistol. Widner dragged Doe 2 into a bedroom occupied by Doe 1 and told Doe 1 to get up or Doe 2 was going to die. Widner then hit Doe 1 repeatedly in the face. At some point, the gun discharged, and a round went through the bed, a wall and into the ground outside of the residence. Doe 1 suffered serious injuries.

The government further alleged that in March 2020 at Lame Deer, Widner assaulted Jane Doe 1, who sought medical attention for serious injuries. At the time, Doe 1 declined to name her assailant citing increased danger if she were to speak to law enforcement. Doe 1 reported that Widner assaulted her with multiple objects, including a metal pipe. In a recent interview with the FBI, Doe 1 identified Widner as her assailant.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kalah A. Paisley prosecuted the case which was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Northern Cheyenne Investigative Services and Bureau of Indian Affairs.