A judge ordered the records sealed of the 2014 disappearance of Kristi Richardson and the 2015 death of Mick McMurry during a hearing Monday morning.

However, Natrona County District Court Judge Thomas Sullins allowed Sheridan businessman Kim Love and his attorney, and only them, permission to receive copies of indexes of those files.

In October, Sullins ordered the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation to make those records available to him for a private "in camera" review.

Sullins said Monday he completed the "in camera" review of the Richardson case documents, which were on an external hard drive, and the McMurry documents, which were on a recordable disk.

Those records will remain confidential, Sullins said.

The 41-page index, or log, of the documents of the Richardson disappearance and the five-page index to the records of the McMurry death are under a protective order, meaning only Love and Moats will be able to review them, Sullins said.

Moats told the court Sullins' decision struck a fair balance in keeping the investigation secret, but allowing him and Love to review the outlines of the investigations. "We can come back to the court for what documents should be released," Moats said.

But Wyoming Assistant Attorney General John Brodie, speaking to the court by telephone, objected to the release of the indexes, saying the McMurry and Richardson investigations remain open and any public statements could damage the work of law enforcement.

UW photo service
UW photo service
loading...

"It is not in the public interest to release that information at this time," Brodie said.

Sullins, Moats and Brodie agreed to hold a half-day hearing about what Lovcom wants from the indexes on June. 1.

Lovcom sued the city in June, questioning whether it and the police department did all it could to investigate Richardson's disappearance and McMurry's death.

Releasing information about both cases will allow the public to have information about crime in the community, the performance of authorities investigating the case, and the possibility that more leads may surface "that may finally allow the Richardson family to know what happened to their loved one," according to the lawsuit.

The Richardson family has offered a reward of $250,000 for information leading to the conviction of persons or persons involved in her disappearance.

Anyone with any information about the Richardson case is urged to call Casper police at 235-8202.

More From Y95 Country