South Dakota
Acquitted in beheading case, South Dakota man sues, claiming malicious prosecution
WATERTOWN, S.D. — A man who spent 1,217 days as the only suspect in the 2020 murder and beheading of an Indigenous woman filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court on Thursday, Jan. 8, alleging he was negligently and maliciously prosecuted.
The complaint, filed in the United States District Court of South Dakota Northern Division, on behalf of Jeremiah Peacemaker, 49, names nearly three dozen defendants, including current Watertown Police Chief Timothy Toomey, department officers, South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley, as well as agents from the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, the city of Watertown, and others.
Peacemaker was
acquitted on March 5, 2024,
of murdering 28-year-old Kendra Rae Owen, an enrolled member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate.
Patrick Lalley / Sioux Falls Live
Peacemaker argues his rights under the 4th, 5th, 8th and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution were intentionally, recklessly and willfully violated, and claims the ordeal has left permanent damage to his reputation, his emotional well-being, his livelihood and his relationships.
Represented by Steven Beardsley, Kate Benson and Scott Bratland, of South Dakota law firms, Peacemaker is seeking compensatory damages in an amount to be determined by a jury at trial.
In the complaint, Peacemaker claims little of Owen’s case was actually investigated: Witnesses were ignored, evidence was ruined, misplaced and lost, and other suspects besides Peacemaker were not investigated.
“Investigators refused to consider the possibility that they had arrested the wrong person,” his complaint states.
Peacemaker told investigators that he met Owen only once, days before her murder, and he was the victim of a beating and a hit-and-run the night before his arrest.
At the time, police thought Peacemaker’s story strange, according to the complaint, and fingered him as the primary suspect hours after Owen’s body was found.
“They wanted to prove that (the) plaintiff made up the story about the assault and hit and run. When they actually did an investigation, what they discovered is that he had told the truth,” the complaint states.
Shortly after Owen’s murder, investigators agreed to trick Peacemaker, according to the complaint. Outwardly, they pretended they were going to investigate the hit and run, but quickly focused on placing Peacemaker at the scene of the murder.
At the police station, Peacemaker alleges he was tricked into giving a DNA sample, and into talking about a woman with pink hair.
Owen had pink hair.
Patrick Lalley / Sioux Falls Live
Eventually, he was read his Miranda Rights. A photograph of Owen’s corpse and her head propped on a mattress was “slapped” in front of him, the complaint stated.
Even though Peacemaker tried to tell investigators that he had only met Owen one time, two days before the hit-and-run, they called him a psychopath and a serial killer.
“He was completely blindsided and stunned,” the complaint stated.
Video evidence later revealed that Peacemaker was telling the truth, according to the complaint — he was seen with Owen buying beer from a nearby bar.
“The plaintiff explained that he was not trying to hook up with her and that she did not make him mad. He was happy to meet her and to have made a new friend,” the complaint stated.
After an entire night of interrogation, Peacemaker was arrested.
Patrick Lalley / Sioux Falls Live
Nearly three years after Owen’s death, Peacemaker’s defense lawyers returned to the crime scene. While walking around the house, they saw a strange saw on the roof. After reviewing crime scene photographs from 2020, the saw was visible in the same spot, according to the complaint.
“Defendants did not find it because they did not look. It remained on the roof for three years. By the time it was finally collected, the forensic evidence was gone,” the complaint stated, adding that there were reddish-brown stains on the roof under the saw.
Patrick Lalley / Sioux Falls Live
No reasonable investigating officer could have believed there was probable cause to arrest Peacemaker, the complaint stated.
“Because of the quick arrest of Mr. Peacemaker and subsequent press releases, the public was led to believe that this was an open and shut case. Law enforcement officers were hailed as heroes for the quick arrest. The victim’s family had no idea how flawed the case was until they showed up to watch the trial,” the complaint stated.
Contributed / Jewel DeMarrias
Owen, whose Indigenous name according to her obituary was Gakiya Nagun Wiyan or “Hears the Voice in the Distance Woman,” lived a “high-risk lifestyle,” the complaint stated, adding that she had disabilities that impaired her judgment. She had a substance abuse disorder, but she was also independent and a fighter.
Owen’s case worker, Marciella Espinoza, from the Human Service Agency, called her “Mike Tyson” because her initials were “K.O.,” and at times she was involved in fights, both as an assailant and a victim, according to the complaint.
But Owen was much more than that, her mother Jewel DeMarrias told Forum News Service in a brief interview.
She played bowling, basketball and softball in the Special Olympics. She was a churchgoer, DeMarrias said.
“She was an earth angel. She would give you her last penny to help you,” DeMarrias said.
Contributed / Jewel DeMarrias
Because of her lifestyle, intoxicated people were frequently in her home, according to the complaint. From Jan. 1, 2020, until the day her body was found, she called 911 six times, usually asking for help removing people from her home.
“A quick search of Ms. Owen’s record yielded a ton of potential suspects. The 911 records had the names of individuals who should have been interviewed because they were recently in altercations with Ms. Owens, but they were not,” the complaint stated.
From that suspect list of eight people, some have already died since the trial, according to the complaint.
One possible suspect had had Owen’s keys and threatened to kill her.
A second possible suspect — a woman — tried to hire an undercover FBI agent to commit murder, and when asked what she would do to help with the murder, she offered to cut up the body, according to the complaint.
A third potential suspect, who made the last nine phone calls to Owen, stopped by her house numerous times looking for his jean jacket. Owen was wearing a jean jacket at the time of her death.
A fourth potential suspect once broke Owen’s arm, and a fifth was with Owen when she met Peacemaker. Both these people are now deceased.
The sixth person on the list described by the complaint was described as Owen’s occasional boyfriend.
The seventh was a violent meth user who once gouged out a person’s eye.
And the eighth possible suspect was once married to a woman who assaulted Owen. While in jail, he made a “strange phone call” to Peacemaker, saying that whoever killed Owen was after him.
Cigarette butts found in Owen’s apartment were also not tested until defense attorneys in Peacemaker’s felony trial insisted. When DNA evidence came back, the genetic trail led to a woman named Brianna Lawrence, who spent time in prison for hiring a hit man to kill the father of her children, according to the complaint.
“She planned to assist the hit man by chopping the body into pieces,” the complaint stated, adding that Lawrence was also not interviewed until three years after the murder, a delay that made documentation of Lawrence’s location difficult.
The Watertown Police Department’s failure to properly investigate the case “shocks the conscience,” the complaint stated.
“Key pieces of evidence were recklessly ignored. Evidence proving Mr. Peacemaker was innocent, lost, not collected, not tested and not documented,” the complaint stated. “Investigators were more worried, tiptoeing around each other’s egos, than doing a proper investigation.”
Watertown Police Capt. Ryan Beauchamp — one of the defendants — told Forum News Service that the department could not comment on the lawsuit at this time.
South Dakota
South Dakota man whose life sentence was commuted by Noem now implicated in his niece’s death
Two men, including one whose life sentence was commuted by then-South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, have been charged in the death of a 14-year-old girl whose body was found in a rural area five days after she went missing in March.
McKenna Wendel was reported missing March 13 and last seen alive in her hometown of Sioux Falls early on March 14. Her body was found outside Brookings, an hour’s drive north of Sioux Falls, on March 19.
Wendel’s uncle, Mark Milk, 51, also of Sioux Falls, now faces five counts related to her death. Milk was almost three decades into a life term on a manslaughter conviction when Noem commuted his sentence in 2023.
Wendel was raised by her grandparents, loved animals and had a “vibrant personality and a zest for life,” according to her obituary. She and her grandparents were Rosebud Sioux Tribe members and attended powwows often.
“She loved the singing and the beautiful sounds of the drums,” her obituary read.
Details about Wendel’s death remained thin as authorities who announced the charges in a Sioux City, Iowa, news conference Thursday kept close what they knew to protect their investigation.
Authorities have said an autopsy was done, but the findings have not been released. The cause and manner of Wendel’s death would not be released yet per Justice Department policy, said Leif Olson, U.S. attorney for northern Iowa.
Milk faces five counts including possession with intent to deliver cocaine that caused Wendel’s death. He is also charged with transportation of a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, according to court documents.
Jon Rogness, 38, of Brookings faces conspiracy and accessory charges in an alleged attempt to cover up the crimes. The counts against the men were the “most serious, readily provable” charges and all originated in Iowa, Olson said.
“This is a horrific case,” FBI special agent Gene Kowel said. “There are no cases that we investigate that are more heart-wrenching and more tragic than the ones that involve children or the death of a child.”
Court records showed no lawyers listed for Milk and Rogness, and no relatives could immediately be located through phone records and social media to speak on their behalf.
In February 2023, Noem commuted Milk’s life sentence for a manslaughter conviction in an October 1993 stabbing death. Milk, then 19, had been involved in several altercations in the city of Winner that ended with the death of Shawn Peneaux, according to records.
Milk was in jail on unrelated allegations of driving under the influence and eluding police when Wendel’s body was found. His name came up in public discussion about the case from the start. But prosecutors, who finished their investigation in late May, did not formally link him to Wendel’s death until filing charges Wednesday.
South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley said in a late March news conference the decision to commute Milk’s life sentence was strictly Noem’s.
“It is fairly often that you see law enforcement oppose commutations,” Jackley remarked without commenting further on Noem’s decision.
The commutation documents were sealed and even he had not seen them, he noted.
The Associated Press left a message Thursday for Noem on seeking comment through NovaRed Mining, a Canadian firm she recently joined in a “strategic advisory role.”
A Republican, Noem, 54, was South Dakota’s lone congressperson from 2011 to 2019 and governor from 2019 to 2025. She was Homeland Security secretary before being fired in March by President Donald Trump amid criticism of her handling of the administration’s immigration crackdown and disaster response.
Trump praised Noem’s leadership and said he was making her special envoy for “The Shield of the Americas.” The new organization of Western Hemisphere nations is focused on supporting democracy and security in the region.
___
Gruver reported from Fort Collins, Colorado, and Billeaud from Phoenix, Arizona.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Bruno Calfa and his wife loaded their two dogs into an RV for a cross-country journey that started from Vancouver, Canada, and included a stop at Falls Park.
“We were passing by, and we were just like Googling what the things we must see when we are around and then we heard about the falls, and we just came to check it out,” Calfa said.
Calfa was impressed by the Sioux Falls scenery. But navigating a visit to Mount Rushmore was more challenging.
“We missed the four heads of the presidents. I should have turned left, I turned right, and got stuck in between bison for about 20-minutes. So they’re just liking the RV, checking the tires. It was interesting with two pups in the car,” Calfa said.
Seeing the country during a milestone anniversary is a family tradition for many visitors to South Dakota.
“When it was the 200th anniversary, I remember that one when we were kids. We’ve always taken road trips with our family, so that’s what we like to do, we like to drive,” Sasha Wilmes of St. Louis said.
Walking is good, too. We found these couples checking out the sites in downtown Sioux Falls.
“Yesterday, we did the southern part of the Phillips Avenue SculptureWalk, and that was great. Really nice shops. We both grew up in central Illinois, and it reminds me a lot of some of the towns in central Illinois,” Dave Massanari of Shapleigh, ME, said.
These first-time visitors shared their first impressions of South Dakota.
“It’s pretty flat, so far, on this end of South Dakota. It’s the old sea bottom, right,” Bruce Bagley of Overland Park, KS said.
The people we spoke with say there’s something about seeing America, and South Dakota in particular, from behind the wheel of a car, that you just don’t get flying in a plane from airport to airport.
“It’s a better view than from 30,000 feet. It’s much more interesting, you see different types of buildings and architecture and geography, much better than you would from the air,” Bagley said.
“You can just experience the landscape. You can stop when you want to if you see something interesting, you can get out,” Corinna Warren of Omaha, NE said.
The Great American Road Trip promotion is expected to draw more visitors to South Dakota during the crucial summer tourism season.
“Fingers are crossed that we’re going to have a better year than we did last year. Last year was a little flat. So we’re really hoping that our numbers are going to go up,” Experience Sioux Falls CEO Teri Schmidt said.
Visitors to the state say they haven’t been sidetracked by high gas prices or inflation.
“We kind of had that planned ahead of time, and we are going, so we have a Vrbo, we have a home base, and then we’re going to go out to different places from there. So that’s kind of how we’re going to do it. So we travel pretty economically anyway, so it’s fine,” Wilmes said.
“Some people have said we’re going to travel anyway, regardless of gas prices. Others have said we’re going to go on a 5-day trip, not a 10-day trip. And if they go on those shorter trips, Sioux Falls is perfect for that,” Schmidt said.
That’s why visitors from as far away as Canada are willing to go the extra mile and then some to come here.
“Most of the time, you hear about the East and the West, California, New York, or Florida. But you don’t really get to know the middle of the country. But there are so many beautiful places,” Calfa said.
And travelers say there’s no better time to soak in all that scenery than during America’s 250th anniversary.
“We grew up in the East, where it all began, where the Revolution was taking place, and there are historical markers everywhere,” said Anne Bagley of Overland Park, KS.
The nation’s past provides a roadmap to the present and future whenever people pull off and explore the vistas along their journey.
The South Dakota Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at June 17, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from June 17 drawing
03-26-49-53-61, Powerball: 12, Power Play: 2
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Lotto America numbers from June 17 drawing
11-16-18-33-51, Star Ball: 09, ASB: 05
Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Dakota Cash numbers from June 17 drawing
08-11-12-25-26
Check Dakota Cash payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from June 17 drawing
02-04-07-16-21, Bonus: 03
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize
- Prizes of $100 or less: Can be claimed at any South Dakota Lottery retailer.
- Prizes of $101 or more: Must be claimed from the Lottery. By mail, send a claim form and a signed winning ticket to the Lottery at 711 E. Wells Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501.
- Any jackpot-winning ticket for Dakota Cash or Lotto America, top prize-winning ticket for Lucky for Life, or for the second prizes for Powerball and Mega Millions must be presented in person at a Lottery office. A jackpot-winning Powerball or Mega Millions ticket must be presented in person at the Lottery office in Pierre.
When are the South Dakota Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky for Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
- Lotto America: 9:15 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Dakota Cash: 9 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 10:15 p.m. CT daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a South Dakota editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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