Editor’s Note: This story contains court testimonies and language regarding allegations of sexual assault and rape. Please use caution when reading. If you or someone you may know has experienced an assault or rape and would like help, please call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at (800) 656-4673 or contact SASO Durango, the Sexual Assault Services Organization offers a 24-hour, confidential support line at 970-247-5400. For more resources online, please visit the National Sexual Violence Resource Center at https://www.nsvrc.org/survivors/
In a federal court Thursday, more women testified how ceremonies led by Lyndreth Wall were meant to clear negative energy with feathers, crystals, sage and fire, and instead, it turned into abuse that some stayed silent about for several years.
“I wanted healing, and I thought you had to go through pain to be healed,” one woman testified in a U.S. District Court in Durango.
Testimonies continued Thursday as the government’s case moves forward against the former Ute Mountain Ute Tribal councilman. One carried over from the previous day and two were from new witnesses.
Each of the women testified they turned to him for spiritual healing. Instead, they say they faced abuse by someone they viewed as a reputable medicine man. Walls faces 20 felonies under the Major Crimes Act related to sexual assault and contact, and his trial is on the fourth day.
His defense team worked to question the women’s credibility, pointing to inconsistencies in statements and the time that passed before they reported the allegations to police. Wall’s attorneys argue he is innocent and that some encounters with the women were romantic affairs.
His attorneys have asserted the case is partly politically motivated, stemming from divisions within tribe politics and have argued the allegations surfaced as a way to push Wall off the council.
Still, it is the government’s turn to put on their case, with defense following once they rest.
The accounts from three witnesses spanned years and generations: a young woman said her abuse took place when she was a child, while one woman testified the ceremonies were supposed to heal her depression. Another said she fled a blessing taking place in a dimly lit trailer near Wall’s Towaoc property.
In the morning, the witness from Wednesday returned to the stand for cross-examination. She grew emotional at times, saying she didn’t remember some details of the abuse that started when she was 13 years old. Defense attorney Laura Suelau questioned her memory and any potential outside influencers, such as her mother, and whether they collaborated on their statements when they went to make official reports in 2017.
The defense further brought up the plausibility of the woman’s timeline, noting that one of Wall’s daughters she said she was babysitting when the abuse occurred hadn’t been born yet.
“So your statement that you were babysitting … when you were 13, that can’t be true, can it?” Suelau asked the witness.
“Apparently so,” she replied.
Another woman took the stand Thursday to say she met Wall through her boyfriend’s family, who gave her his reference as a medicine man. She initially sought help from Wall, thinking through ceremonies that used feathers, sage and fires, she might heal her from depression.
“After a few times, I wasn’t getting better. I was willing to go through pain to get it over with. I didn’t want a dark cloud in my head anymore,” she testified.
In the beginning, she attended sessions with her boyfriend, who hoped to address some knee pain, and she paid Wall roughly $100 for initial visits that remained “fine” and appropriate.
Only she said Wall later insisted he “check” on her alone. The following visits led to groping and sex abuse, she testified. She left feeling “unpleasant, uncomfortable, miserable,” but continued and believed she was practicing a genuine spiritual practice.
“Why didn’t you leave?” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Graves asked the witness.
“I wanted healing, and I thought you had to go through pain to be healed. I thought that was how it worked,” she said.
A third woman gave testimony that said she fled a trailer after a blessing turned into unwanted sexual touching. She described being taken to another house, asked to sit on an old mattress and touched under her shirt as Wall spoke in Ute and tried to suck air from her mouth. “I felt violated,” she said. “I left as fast as I could.”
The woman explained she came forward in 2025 after reading The Journal’s story about Wall that listed where to contact law enforcement to report any information.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Summer Woods pushed the witness on her delay in reporting:
“You did not call law enforcement until 2025 — that’s nine years later,” Woods said. Woods suggested the motive for coming forward was tied to recent events rather than the alleged incident.
“You saw an article that there was all this turmoil over there getting him off council? Is it your testimony that there was all the turmoil over there getting him off council?” She asked.
“I wasn’t aware, I don’t get up with Ute Mountain Ute politics,” the witness said.
Court starts first thing Friday morning with Woods’ continued cross-examination of the woman.
The court plans to adjourn slightly early Friday to allow jurors and witnesses to travel home through mountain passes before dusk.
U.S. District Judge Gordon Gallagher also noted an ongoing issue with a subpoena for former Ute Mountain Ute tribal leader Manuel Heart. According to the defense, Heart explicitly told their team Thursday he would not be testifying when served with the subpoena.
Gallagher said the matter would be addressed Monday if necessary.
