Editor’s Note: This story contains court testimonies and language regarding allegations of sexual assault and rape. 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.
Day 7 of Lyndreth Wall’s Durango trial marked a shift in the prosecution’s case from emotional witness testimony to recounting the investigative work behind it.
A sixth woman testified in the morning, describing abuse she said she suffered at Wall’s hands, before the afternoon turned legally technical. Wall, a former Ute Mountain Ute tribal councilman, faces 20 felony counts of sexual assault and sexual contact in a federal court.
The government moved to establish jurisdiction, Wall’s tribal identity and outline the FBI’s investigation.
The court heard from two employees from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, as prosecutors intend to show federal authority to prosecute.
One employee discussed the land status of where the allegations took place, while the other certified Wall’s identity as a Ute Mountain Ute tribal member. Under the Major Crimes Act of 1885, federal prosecutors have jurisdiction over certain offenses, including sexual assault, when an alleged offender is Native American and the location of the crimes is on Native land.
Scott Crowley, a 17-year FBI agent, then outlined the jurisdiction process, mapping of locations and the case’s history.
He said he can confirm that multiple locations in the case are within reservation boundaries, including Wall’s home, his father’s trailer, Mike Wash Road and home of the fifth women to testify about alleged assaults.
He also described inheriting the case in 2020 conducting roughly 100 interviews after other agents retired.
Crowley said on the stand he learned about Native American spiritual practices, or healers, and interviewed six different women over the course of this trial, their family members and tribal council members.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Josh Player asked whether the investigator ever found evidence of independent, third-party witnesses to the assaults.
Crowley replied: “Not to my knowledge, no. They only occurred when Mr. Wall was by himself.”
Jurors heard a 2018 FBI interview with Wall, in which Wall distinguished between “healer” and “medicine man” and denied any sexual touching during blessings.
Crowley’s testimony conveyed that the federal case passed through different investigative hands over several years and why at least one allegation was excluded when not confirmed on Native land.
The trial continued in the morning with testimony from the government’s sixth and last woman in their case accusing Wall. The woman testified to two alleged assaults by Wall during what she described as a vulnerable time in her life, when she believed he was treating her alcoholism.
Player began questioning her shortly after 8 a.m., with the woman’s testimony taking most of the morning – roughly half the time of the other five women who have testified.
She told jurors she is now married and living in another state. But back in 2017, she described a turbulent year. It was marked by probation, relapse, and the wearing of an ankle-monitoring bracelet as she lived under court supervision rules and with another witness in the case – the fifth woman who testified Tuesday about her own alleged abuse.
She said it was through that housemate she met Wall and was encouraged to seek his healing for addiction. During what she thought was a blessing, Wall “pulled (her) close,” groped her body while trying to give her “energy,” and pressed her chest against his. She said it felt sexual, not spiritual.
In a second encounter, calling it an “alcohol ceremony,” she testified that Wall reached down her pants in his truck and assaulted her while saying he was “blowing away” negative energy.
She cried on the stand, telling jurors Wall told her the ceremony was “for me and me alone” and that she should not talk about it, she said.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Laura Suelau focused on the woman’s difficulty recalling specific details from her 2017 police interview. The woman acknowledged she had listened to her recorded statement twice and read the transcript once in preparation for the trial.
“Do you remember telling agent Crowley you have trouble remembering certain details of your 2017 interview?” Suelau asked.
“Yeah, so I have trouble remembering specific details. … Well yeah, there are things that I have trouble remembering, there’s things I don’t want to remember,” the witness replied.
Defense attorneys also questioned her about her criminal history, noting she was on probation for an assault charge and wearing an ankle-monitoring bracelet at the time of the allegations. The witness agreed that law enforcement never collected data from her monitor.
“No one spoke with your probation officer?” Suelau asked.
“Yes,” the witness said.
Suelau brought up the woman’s experience with other medicine men, suggesting that some physical contact could occur in traditional ceremonies.
The woman testified she had attended a few ceremonies before meeting Wall – one where touching to the neck occurred. But, she said she didn’t feel educated about the customs, and previous healers had not made her feel uncomfortable or violated.
On Wednesday, the defense is expected to continue cross-examining Crowley.
