Defendant goes to trial in connection with brutal beating of Lakota woman

Wednesday, March 13, 2019  

Federal prosecutors have charged a Lakota man for lying to an investigator and being an accessory to an assault on a woman who they say was severely beaten by her boyfriend and his sister in early November.

Weldon Two Bulls is charged with two federal criminal violations – being an accessory to the crime after the fact and making a false statement to a federal officer – after authorities say he lied about what he witnessed when Sheena Between Lodges was beaten sometime between November 2 and November 4, 2018, on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

Authorities say Two Bulls allegedly lied to a Bureau of Indian Affairs special agent, saying he was too drunk to remember what happened to Between Lodges.

In court documents filed last week, Assistant U.S. Attorney Cassandra DeCoste alleges Two Bulls told two other tribal citizens, including Between Lodges’ brother, that Between Lodges had been “ganged” and he told them details about how she was beaten and who beat her.

According to prosecutors, Two Bulls told Elgin Young Bear and his wife, Wylene Two Lance, that Between Lodges’ boyfriend, Gilbert “Junior” Lakota, and Lakota’s sister, Lily Larvie, attacked Between Lodges.

However, when he was interviewed by two BIA special agents on November 6, Lakota said between the night of November 2 and the morning of November 3 Between Lodges lost her prosthetic leg while drinking inside her Dodge Durango not far from her home. Lakota said another man, Oscar Saucedo, was with them that night.

When the three people decided to return to Between Lodges’ home, they found the vehicle wouldn’t start. Lakota said he and Saucedo then carried Between Lodges to her home, and that she was injured during the journey.

When they got to Between Lodges’ home, Lakota said, he and Saucedo began helping Between Lodges up the stairs to the home but that she fell on her back in the process. He said he and Saucedo then carried her to her bed.

He told the two BIA agents that Between Lodges also suffered a black eye after hitting her head on a vehicle door handle.

During a subsequent interview with one of the BIA agents, Saucedo said the events described by Lakota happened not on the night of November 2 but on the night of October 30. And he denied that Between Lodges fell from the stair into her home.

Saucedo also denied being with Between Lodges and Lakota on the night of November 2. He told the BIA agent that a woman, Missy Goings, was with him, Lakota and Between Lodges on the night of October 30.

In an interview with the BIA agent, Goings confirmed she was with the group on the night of October 30 and agreed with Saucedo that Between Lodges had not fallen while being helped into her home that night. She also said she wasn’t with Between Lodges or Lakota on the night of November 2.

In a follow-up interview on November 9, Lakota changed his story, saying Saucedo wasn’t with him on November 2 but that someone else was, though he couldn’t remember who it was. In that interview, he then stated that he was too intoxicated to remember what happened between November 2 and November 5.

Between Lodges spent nearly a week in a coma after emergency personnel found her in her home. According to court records, she has no memory of the events that led to her injuries.

After she was found, Oglala Sioux tribal police in Pine Ridge arrested Lakota for outstanding warrants, though he hasn’t yet been charged with a crime related to Between Lodges’ injuries.

In motions seeking to quash evidence against her client, Public Defender Jennifer Albertson argued prosecutors are attempting to convict Two Bulls of lying about an assault that the state has yet to prove even happened.

“In this prosecution, the United States has essentially placed the proverbial cart before the horse – seeking to convict Mr. Two Bulls of being an accessory after the fact to an assault the United States has not proven occurred,” Albertson said.

She argued any testimony offered by Young Bear or Two Lance suggesting Two Bulls offered them a more accurate portrayal of the events that led to Between Lodges’ injuries was hearsay and inadmissible in court.

Prosecutors argued testimony offered to prove someone lied about a crime was admissible and necessary to prove the defendant lied to investigators.

Prosecutors said they plan to present evidence by way of expert witnesses, including doctors and neurosurgeons, to prove Between Lodges’ injuries were caused by being beaten with a blunt instrument and not caused by falling down a step. At least one of those expert witnesses also is expected to testify that injuries on Between Lodges’ neck were the result of strangulation.

Two Bulls’ trial began Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Lakota woman remains in critical condition after brutal attack (November 13, 2018)
Lakota woman fighting for her life after brutal beating (November 9, 2018)