Suspect charged in Powell girl's death
By MICHAEL MILSTEIN
Gazette Wyoming Bureau
CODY, Wyo. - Prosecutors on Sunday formally charged James Eric Peterson of Powell, Wyo., with the murder July 19 of 8-year-old Christin Lamb along with two additional crimes: sexually assaulting Christin in June and sexually assaulting another, unidentified child sometime between June 1 and Aug. 5.

JAMES PETERSON
formally charged

Park County Court Commissioner Edward Webster found probable cause that Peterson, 22, had committed the crimes and ordered him held without bond on the murder charge and set his bond at $20,000 cash for each of the sexual assault charges.

Webster scheduled Peterson's preliminary hearing for Aug. 18 at 1:30 p.m. At the preliminary hearing, a judge will decide whether there is sufficient evidence to send Peterson's case to trial.

Christin Lamb's family filled about half of the courtroom and watched stoically as Peterson answered Webster's questions in a soft and sometimes barely audible voice.

Park County deputies drove Peterson about 100 feet from the Park County Jail to the door of the Park County Courthouse in an unmarked van, preventing news photographers from taking photos of the suspect. Deputies also searched everyone entering the courtroom for Peterson's initial court appearance, which began about 8:45 p.m. Sunday and lasted about 45 minutes.

Court testimony revealed conflicting information about the man's criminal history.

When Webster asked Peterson whether he had any prior criminal record, Peterson replied that he had faced "traffic offenses" and said he was on probation for "reckless driving."

Park County and Prosecuting Attorney Michelle Marker told Webster that Peterson had in fact failed to appear in court in 1995 on charges of taking indecent liberties with a minor and that a warrant had been issued for Peterson's arrest at the time. She also said Peterson had a juvenile criminal record and was placed in a juvenile facility at one time.

In a press conference following Peterson's court appearance Sunday night, Marker declined to provide any further details of the 1995 indecent liberties case.

She said the investigation of Christin's disappearance and information from the Behavioral Science Unit of the FBI led police to believe that a local person may have abducted the Laramie girl while she was in Powell visiting her grandparents.

Additional information from neighbors and other interviews prompted police to consider Peterson as a strong suspect, and questioning of Peterson by an FBI and Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation agent prompted his arrest Friday. She said "good investigative work" led police to search the local landfill, where they found Christin's body inside a duffel bag and trash bag on Wednesday.

Police believed someone who did not have a vehicle for use in disposing of a body may have placed it in local Dumpsters, she said.

Marker alleged in court documents that Peterson killed Christin Lamb in the course of a "sexual assault, kidnapping or abuse of a child," which constitutes first-degree murder. Marker would not say which of those three crimes applied.

An affidavit signed by Wyoming DCI Agent Rich Spencer said Christin's body was found amid garbage from the neighborhood where the girl's grandfather lived. Peterson spent much of his time baby sitting his stepdaughter and son at his estranged wife's trailer home across the street from Christin's grandparents' home.

Spencer said he determined that Peterson did not drive a vehicle; his driving privileges had been suspended and he had no access to a vehicle.

In an interview Friday with Spencer and FBI Agent Todd Dawson, Peterson said that he had had sexual relations with Christin in his estranged wife's bedroom while Christin was in Powell visiting relatives about one month before.

Marker said she could not comment on whether Christin had told anyone of the alleged incident, which led to one of the two counts of sexual assault against Peterson.

Peterson also told the agents that on July 19 - the night of Christin's disappearance from the neighborhood where her grandparents lived - she came to his wife's trailer home, where Peterson was baby sitting his stepdaughter, Andrea, and his son. He said he was watching the Cartoon Network on television and that Christin moved up onto the couch where Peterson was sitting and sat on his lap, according to the affidavit.

"James picked up Christin and took her into the bedroom," where the two had sexual intercourse, Spencer said in the affidavit.

"According to James (Peterson), Christin was moving around for a couple minutes and then stopped, but started moving again," the affidavit said. "James continued having intercourse with Christin. James realized that Christin had not moved for some time and James nudged Christin and said her name, but Christin did not respond. James determined that Christin was not breathing. James carried Christin into the living room and performed CPR, but Christin did not start breathing. James sat there for awhile and tried to figure out what to do. James got an Army duffel bag from the bathroom under the sink and put Christin in the bag. James put the bag with Christin inside it in the trash Dumpster in front of the trailer."

Peterson then dismantled the scooter Christin had been riding and put it into the same Dumpster.

Marker said the cause of Christin's death had not been determined. Her body was in an advanced state of decomposition when found in the landfill.

Marker said she could not describe or identify the victim of the second count of sexual assault brought against Peterson in court on Sunday.

The Lamb girl and her family had formerly lived in Powell but moved to Laramie about a year ago and were staying with her grandparents in Powell when Christin disappeared July 19.

She had last been seen turning off water at a garden about a block and a half from her grandparents' home at about 9:30 that night. Little more than an hour after her disappearance, family and friends began searching the neighborhood for some hint of the friendly girl or the red-and-white scooter she had been riding. Police went door-to-door asking neighbors - including Peterson, who was at his wife's home that night - if they had seen her.

Peterson soon crossed the street to the girl's grandparents' home, asked who was missing and then joined the search himself, said Christin's grandfather, Edward Smith of Powell.

Search teams checked Powell and outlying areas for Christin and her family and friends launched an intensive campaign to alert the rest of the region and even the nation of her disappearance. Around 200,000 fliers with Christin's name and description - many printed without charge by local copy shops - went up throughout Wyoming, Montana and surrounding states. An Internet home page designed by Powell radio announcer Dave Merkel logged many thousands of visits by people around the world.

After the discovery of Christin's body, electronic mail messages offering condolences have poured in, her grandfather said.

"I'm trying to figure out how to clear my computer to make room for the new ones," he said.

Christin's funeral has been scheduled for Tuesday at 2 p.m. in Powell at the First United Methodist Church on West Second Street. It is the largest church in Powell and crowds are expected. Interment will be at the Ten Sleep Memorial Cemetery in Ten Sleep. A memorial service will be held in Laramie, but has not yet been scheduled.

Memorials can be sent to the Christin Lamb Memorial Fund, First National Bank, P.O. Box 907, Powell, Wyo. 82435.

Protecting your children

Thousands of children are reported missing every year in America. Most are found and returned home safe. Some are not. The Billings Police Department offered some tips on how you can keep your children safe.

Know where your children are at all times.
Never leave children alone in a car.
Establish strict procedures for picking up children at school, after movies, at a friend's house, etc. Don't let your children accept rides from people with whom you haven't made a previous arrangement, even if they say they are a police officer, teacher or a friend of the family.
Teach your children their full names, address and phone number. Make sure they know how to make local and long-distance phone calls. Even small children can learn to dial 911 or 0 for an operator.
Pay attention when your children tells you about someone they've encountered in your absence.
Establish a family code word. Tell your child never to go with anyone who does not know the code word.
Take pictures of your kids at least four times a year. Make note of birthmarks or distinguishing features.

Teach your children to:

Never leave the yard without your permission. Very small children should play only in a backyard or in a supervised area.
Avoid taking shortcuts through alleys or deserted areas.
Always come straight home from school unless you've made other arrangements.
Never enter anyone's home without your approval.
Scream, run away and tell a trusted adult if anyone attempts to touch or grab them.
Never give any information over the phone, particularly their name and address, or that they are home alone.