BOZEMAN — The suspect arrested in Bozeman after a stabbing that left one man dead and another hospitalized on Saturday appeared in Gallatin County Justice Court on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025.
Thomas Riley Wegley, 24, was charged with one count of deliberate homicide and one count of attempted deliberate homicide in connection with the incident that happened early Saturday morning.
According to charging documents, Bozeman Police officers were dispatched around 4:15 a.m. on Saturday to a 911 call for a reported stabbing.
Four people were driving a man to the hospital who Wegley allegedly stabbed during a fight on 6th Avenue behind the RSVP Motel. Officers intercepted and stopped the vehicle as it was en route.
Charging documents say the officers extracted the victim, later identified as Richard Sherman, and began performing life-saving measures.
Two women and another man who were in the vehicle reportedly fled the scene during this time. Sherman was taken to Bozeman Deaconess Regional Medical Center where he was pronounced dead from his injuries.
Law enforcement reportedly identified the man who fled in the vehicle by reviewing body-worn camera footage from the officers who removed Sherman from the vehicle.
The man, identified as Jared Minard, had “a large amount of blood” on his shirt, according to charging documents.
Police then contacted Minard by phone. Minard reportedly identified Wegley as the man who stabbed both him and Sherman during the fight. He told police he had not yet sought medical treatment for his injuries.
Officers located Minard at his Belgrade residence with the two other women from the vehicle. Court documents say he was transported to the hospital “for an immediate surgical operation for lacerations to his lung, colon, kidney and liver.”
He remained in the critical care unit; according to the Bozeman Police Department, he is in stable condition.
The two women were interviewed at the Bozeman Public Safety Center. They, along with Sherman and Minard, had planned to meet Wegley to retrieve items one of the women believed he had stolen from her, according to charging documents. Each of the women reportedly affirmed that Wegley stabbed the two victims during the ensuing fight.
Charging documents say police requested a ping of Wegley’s cell phone that put his location near Glen Lake Rotary Park. He was located in an RV in that area and taken into custody.
Wegley reportedly had injuries consistent with having been in a fight and was medically evaluated at the hospital. According to charging documents, he invoked his right to remain silent when officers arrived and read him his rights. Wegley was taken to the Gallatin County Detention Center after he was medically cleared.
Wegley has prior criminal convictions, including for a 2018 armed robbery. MTN News reported on a subsequent arrest in 2020 where Wegley was accused of stealing property from parked cars and buying items with stolen credit cards.
In court on Monday, Wegley’s bail was set at $1 million. His next court date is scheduled for Feb. 21, 2025.
