Douglas Mark Smith Arrested in 2015 Cheyenne Double Murder Case

An affidavit of probable cause filed to get an arrest warrant for Douglas Mark Smith, 68, on two counts of first-degree murder for allegedly killing two people during a brazen 2015 daytime robbery in downtown Cheyenne says Smith broke the yearslong cold case himself by telling inconsistent stories about his alleged alibi.

CHEYENNE — An affidavit of probable cause filed to get an arrest warrant for Douglas Mark Smith, 68, on two counts of first-degree murder for allegedly killing two people during a brazen 2015 daytime robbery in downtown Cheyenne says Smith broke the yearslong cold case himself by telling inconsistent stories about his alleged alibi.

Smith was arrested on Tuesday in California for allegedly shooting and killing George Manley, 76, and Dwight Brockman, 67, while robbing The Coin Shop in downtown Cheyenne. No prior arrests had taken place in the case.

Police officers had targeted Smith as a key witness throughout their investigation, but an affidavit submitted with the arrest warrant signed off by Laramie County Circuit Court Judge Antoinette Williams on Tuesday shows that investigators had narrowed their focus to Smith as a suspect by May 2023.

During two separate interviews Smith gave to officers at that time, his story about where and what he saw on the day of the murders had changed significantly, the affidavit says. This followed on the heels of other inconsistent statements Smith had given throughout the investigation.

“The information provided by Smith distracted and diverted Cheyenne Police Department resources during the early stages of the police investigation,” Police Detective James Pendleton writes in the affidavit.

The Mysterious Man With The Neck Tattoo

It was Smith who initially called 911 to report the shootings at The Coin Shop.

Smith at the time told police that he had walked in on a murder suspect at the business after Manley and Brockman had been killed, the affidavit says. Smith said the person was “pilfering” a safe located behind the counter.

Smith said the suspect pointed a .45-caliber handgun at him and told him to leave the store. It was then that Smith ran out and called 911.

In their investigation, detectives discovered Smith had owned multiple .45-caliber handguns during his life, the affidavit said.

Smith had told dispatchers, “They shot people in there,” but shortly after claimed to officers that he had never seen Brockman’s body.

Police analyzed nearby surveillance cameras covering every direction surrounding the shop, the affidavit says. There was no evidence of any suspect other than Smith leaving the business at the time of the crime.

Smith had told 911 operators he would try to get a photo of the suspect when they left the building but never saw anyone leave westbound from the store, which only had one exit. Nearby witnesses who had heard a muffled gunshot also saw no one leave the store or running from the area.

Officers arrived at the scene shortly after and also saw no suspects leaving the scene.

“There would have been surveillance video or Smith’s vision showing a fleeing suspect in all directions,” Pendleton wrote in the affidavit.

Smith later picked out a man with a large tattoo on his neck from a suspect lineup with 97% confidence, according to the affidavit. Previously, Smith had never mentioned the suspect having any kind of tattoo on his neck.

He explained away this inconsistency in a late-night email sent to former Detective John Pederson four days after the murder, where he speculated that the man must have been wearing makeup to cover up the tattoo while committing the crime. Smith also jumped to other conclusions about the suspect, who he referred to as “our guy,” saying the man “has done this in the past,” the affidavit says.

When asked about the email in 2023, Smith said he didn’t remember sending it. During an in-person interview conducted May 9, 2023, Smith said he was certain the suspect was someone else and denied ever looking at photo lineups, the affidavit says.

Smith also originally told authorities he had seen Manley laying on the ground dead with his head “against the counter or against the west wall” of the business. However, in subsequent interviews with police in 2023, Smith said he had never seen Manley’s head.

Using crime scene photos and other images of the building, officers determined that based on the location Smith said he was at in the shop near its entrance, he would not have been able to see Manley’s head, the affidavit says.

Timing Doesn't Add Up

During a May 3, 2023, phone interview with investigators, Smith said he had been in the store for around 15-20 seconds. However, in his initial interview, Smith told Pederson that two to three minutes had passed from the time he entered the store until he called 911.

In an unpublished recount Smith submitted to the Wyoming Tribune Eagle newspaper, Smith said he only observed the suspect for three seconds. The affidavit doesn’t say when Smith submitted that to the newspaper.

Police studied the records of phone calls made to the business on the morning of the crime, and Smith had claimed he had called The Coin Shop shortly before going over to the business to make sure it was open, but there