Evil in the Heartland: The Story of Mark Hopkinson, the Mobster of Wyoming, and the Necessity of the Death Penalty

Located in the heartland of rural America, the state of Wyoming is well known for its beautiful Rocky Mountains, popular ski slopes, its buffalo herds, and its magnificent deserts, prairies, and plains.

One thing it is not known for, however, is crime. Wyoming is a sparsely populated state. Its largest city has less than 100,000 people, and the state itself has a little over half a million residents. With such a small, spread-out population, violent crime is practically unheard of in Wyoming.

So when Mark Hopkinson, a charismatic, charming young psychopath with a huge ego and a grudge against the law, launched a terrifying campaign of violence against the people of Bridger Valley, Wyoming, it left the entire state in shock. The leader of a small collection of violent thugs, Hopkinson stopped at nothing to obtain what he wanted, even if it meant killing innocent people or members of his own gang.

And even when he was locked up in prison, Hopkinson continued to strike out against those who stood in his way. No one was safe from his reach, and it would take the hard, skillful work of a renown lawyer, the unrelenting efforts of Wyoming's law enforcement divisions, and a rare, difficult decision by Wyoming's governor to end Mark Hopkinson's reign of terror for good.

Mark Hopkinson: The Charming Criminal

Mark Allen Hopkinson began life like most others in rural Bridger Valley, Wyoming, just outside the city of Evanston. Born in the tiny town of Fort Bridger, Wyoming, on October 8, 1949, to Joe and Norma Jean Hopkinson, Mark, who had three siblings, grew up on a small ranch and subscribed to the Mormon religion. He prayed daily, attended church, and was well liked among the small community.

From an early age, Mark Hopkinson showed himself to be a very intelligent person, but also extremely cunning and manipulative. Although his father was often abusive, Hopkinson himself rarely bore the brunt of the abuse. He was always able to charm his way out of a beating, even if he really deserved it. Additionally, Hopkinson was able to manipulate his parents and grandparents into overlooking practically anything he did, whether it was stealing, bullying, or cheating on a test. In Mark Hopkinson's mind, he was above the rules. He didn't have to abide by restrictions. Rules were beneath him, he thought, and he deserved to get everything he wanted.

In high school, Mark Hopkinson became a very popular athlete. He was handsome, tall, smart, well-built, and, most of all, incredibly charming. Hopkinson was the star of the high school, a role model for boys and the subject of attention and affection for the girls. Teachers gave him special treatment and adored him. Hopkinson was always polite, always friendly, always easygoing, and always talkative and entertaining.

18-year-old Mark Hopkinson (grabbing ball) plays basketball for Mountain View High School.
Hopkinson was a handsome, tall, and well-built athlete, and he was greatly admired by his schoolmates and teachers alike.

But Hopkinson also had a dark side. Beneath the superficial charm Hopkinson displayed to others, there lurked an evil, sadistic, manipulative, self-serving man who possessed a huge ego, a disregard for the well-being of others, and a penchant for violence. Hopkinson was often a troublemaker in school, and he used his charming personality and smooth talk to avoid any disciplinary punishment.

Hopkinson often cheated in his athletic games, or convinced his fellow players to cheat. He didn't care about the rules of the game he was playing, nor did he care about the ethical issues of playing dishonestly. All that mattered to him was winning. Hopkinson was a very poor sport, losing his temper whenever he lost a game. 

Most frightening, however, was Hopkinson's penchant for sexual sadism and animal cruelty; traits that are very common among psychopaths. If nothing else, Mark Hopkinson was a bona-fide psychopath, a charming, pathological liar who was manipulative and narcissistic to an extreme level and a man who derived pleasure from inflicting pain on others and manipulating people to do what he wanted.

As a young man, Hopkinson allegedly had a habit of using his charming personality and his good looks to lure unsuspecting young teenage girls into his trailer park. There he would drug them, strip them naked, sexually abuse them, take pornographic pictures of them, and then sell the photos to potential buyers or, alternatively, use it against the girls as blackmail.

Hopkinson also had a love of firearms and hunting. While it was not unusual for young boys in rural Wyoming to own a gun, Mark Hopkinson was not content with simply shooting rocks and beer cans. Instead, he shot small, helpless animals like jackrabbits, prairie dogs, and chipmunks. On one occasion, Hopkinson shot and killed a deer that was walking along the side of the road. He didn't kill it for food or even for its antlers. He shot the animal just for the fun of it, and left its body lying in the open to rot away.

It wasn't long before Hopkinson also began committing petty crimes. At the age of 17, Hopkinson burglarized several of his neighbors' houses, including those of his best friends, and stole a large amount of guns and truck tires. When he was arrested for the crime, Hopkinson used his charm and manipulation to talk his way out of a harsh sentence. He promised that he wouldn't do it again, and he told the judge that it was just a silly teenage prank.

His charming personality and faux apology fooled the judge, and Hopkinson was released without going to prison. He even managed to win back the trust of his neighbors and friends, who openly welcomed him back into the same homes he had previously robbed.

In his senior year of high school, Hopkinson became the star of Bridger Valley's football team, earning an athlete's scholarship to the University of Arizona.

Abruptly, Hopkinson dropped out of the university in the early 1970s, and he would later surface in New Hampshire in 1972, when he was arrested for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.
He pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to five years in prison on April 19, 1973.

As usual, Hopkinson eventually charmed his way into having his sentence commuted to just three years. After serving his sentence, Hopkinson was released on parole in 1975, and he moved back to Bridger Valley, Wyoming, with his new wife, Judy.

A young Mark Hopkinson is shown here at his wedding

No one knew it yet, but the stage had already been set for Mark Hopkinson to carry out the worst crime spree ever seen in modern Wyoming history.

Water Trouble

Back in Bridger Valley, Mark Hopkinson's father had become involved in a legal battle with neighbors regarding water and property rights. In 1974, Joe Hopkinson had been doing ground work to build a new trailer complex on his property. However, in the process of this work, Joe Hopkinson had filled in a nearby water trench with dirt. That specific trench provided the neighboring Roitz family with their water supply, and when they confronted Joe Hopkinson about this he refused to do anything.

As a result, the Roitz family took the Hopkinsons to court for water and land violations, eventually winning a judgement against Joe Hopkinson in 1974.

While the case was being appealed, Mark Hopkinson returned to Bridger Valley. Learning of the dispute, Hopkinson became infuriated by what he felt was a personal attack on him and his family. Immediately, Mark Hopkinson established control over his father's trailer development, and he vowed to get even with the Roitzes for messing with his family.
Mark Hopkinson saw the judgement against his family as a personal attack against his ego, and he was not about to let the Roitz family get away with it.

In April of 1976, Mark Hopkinson personally visited the Roitz family. He concealed his anger against the Roitz family by acting very polite and charming. He told the Roitzes that he was willing to come to a settlement, but he insisted that he be allowed to continue filling in the water ditch with dirt.

But the Roitz family wouldn't agree to Mark's terms. They rejected his offer. Immediately, Hopkinson became furious. He began threatening the Roitz family, telling them that he could very easily "inconvenience" them if they didn't comply with his demands.

But the Roitz family stood firm. They would not give in to Mark Hopkinson's bullying. They decided to take their case to the Fort Bridger Water Board and force a judgement against the Hopkinson family.
Mark Hopkinson left the meeting in a huff, fuming with rage and vowing revenge.

The attack on Frank Roitz

On the rainy day of May 6, 1976, Frank Roitz and his daughter, Arlene Sweat, were having lunch inside their trailer when they noticed Mark Hopkinson circling their property in his car. Frank decided to confront Hopkinson. He was fed up with being harassed, and he wanted to put an end to Hopkinson's shenanigans.

Walking outside, Roitz met Hopkinson face-to-face.

"When are you moving that son of a bitch?", yelled Mark, angrily pointing to the Roitz trailer.

"That's none of your damn business!", replied Frank.

Mark was furious. "Get that goddamn trailer off of my property!", he snarled. "I'm a mean son-of-a-bitch when I'm mad!"

Frank didn't give in. "So am I!", he defiantly sneered into Hopkinson's face. "Bring it on, pal!"

Itching for a fight, Hopkinson continued his "tough guy" approach. "You mess with me", he growled, "and you'll find out for yourself!"

"Oh, I'm not scared!", Roitz egged Hopkinson on. "Come and get me!"

At that moment, Hopkinson's father, Joe, came up from behind, brandished a hammer, and struck Frank on the head. As the man fell, stunned, to the ground, Mark Hopkinson leaned over Roitz and continued to beat him.

Seeing her father lying helplessly on the ground, Arlene grabbed a shovel and raced outside. The small, pregnant woman bravely confronted the 6'1"-tall Hopkinson and swung a shovel at him, but Hopkinson simply punched her in the stomach, knocking her over. She got up and fought back, distracting Hopkinson long enough for Frank Roitz to scramble away and call for help.

As Joe Hopkinson scampered back to the trailer park, Mark  Hopkinson began to unleash his rage on the pregnant Arlene, brutally beating her across the face, mouth, arm, back, and abdomen. After he was done, he strode off the property, loudly swearing and screaming insults at the battered woman.

Both Arlene and Frank tried to file charges against Mark Hopkinson for assault, but the county attorney, Jim Phillips, was a friend of Hopkinson, and he refused to press the charges. Even worse, Phillips refused to take their side on the water trench lawsuit that had started the whole mess.

Water Board Wrangling

After Phillips refused to assist the Roitzes, Hopkinson believed that he now had free reign to do as he wanted with the disputed land and finish building his trailer park. As part of that plan, he wanted to hook up all of the sewer lines in the area up to his own district. 

But there was a problem. Many of the sewer lines Hopkinson wanted to connect to were located in a separate sewer district, one that the Hopkinson family did not own. No big deal, thought Hopkinson. He would simply buy the property and integrate it into his own district.

But Frank Roitz wanted to make sure that someone would put a stop to Mark Hopkinson's behavior. Without the backing of the county attorney, Roitz turned to local lawyer Vincent Vehar for help.

Vincent Vehar knew all about Mark Hopkinson. He had prosecuted both him and his father in the past, and Vehar knew that Mark Hopkinson was an aggressive, egotistical, and vindictive psychopath who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. Someone had to put a stop to his actions.

Vehar took the Roitzes' legal complaint to the Fort Bridger Water Board, along with a public petition to stop Mark Hopkinson from integrating the sewer district. After extensive negotiations between Hopkinson and Vehar, the board ruled that Mark Hopkinson could buy and integrate the district, but it would cost him three times the normal hookup fee to do so. Hopkinson was upset over the potential cost but reluctantly agreed to the settlement.

The issue could have ended there, but, of course, Hopkinson couldn't help but cause more trouble.

The Plot

After the settlement, Mark Hopkinson went ahead with integrating the sewer district, hooking up the sewer lines to his new trailer park, but, in direct violation of the agreement, he openly refused to pay the $12,300 hookup fee once the construction work was finished. As usual, Hopkinson's ego had gotten the better of him. He felt the rule of law was beneath him, and that he didn't have to comply with the town's demands.

But the Water Board had had enough of Hopkinson. They were not going to let the violent young man usurp the law again. They pressed the matter, warning Hopkinson that he would face legal action if he didn't pay the money he owed. 

However, the Water Board underestimated just how far Hopkinson would go to get what he wanted.

Soon, both the Roitzes and the members of the water board began receiving death threats and were constantly harassed by Hopkinson. Hopkinson followed board members in his car and stalked them day in and day out. When board members would return home, they often found that someone had shot holes in their house windows with a BB gun. Others opened their doors to find threatening notes on their doorsteps.

Finally, after enduring weeks of harassment, the members of the board filed a lawsuit against Mark Hopkinson on January 28, 1977. Representing the plaintiffs was Hopkinson's old arch-nemesis, attorney Vincent Vehar. The lawsuit sought to force Mark Hopkinson to pay the $12,300 he owed, plus another $50,000 dollars for harassing the Roitz family and the members of the water board.

Vehar demonstrated that he had no intent of relenting in his action against Hopkinson, even in the face of threats. Vehar vowed that he would ensure that Mark Hopkinson never crossed the law again.

But Mark Hopkinson had no intention of giving in. After trying, and failing, to have the lawsuit against him dismissed, Hopkinson began plotting a much more nefarious scheme. If he couldn't stop Vincent Vehar in court, then he would end the lawyer's career for good.

Hopkinson soon began planning to murder Vincent Vehar in order to destroy the lawsuit against him. Hopkinson was convinced that without the assistance of a bulldog lawyer like Vehar, the water board's case against him would fall apart.

However, Mark Hopkinson knew very well that it would look very suspicious if the attorney who was pressing charges against him would suddenly turn up dead. Hopkinson had to make sure he would not be considered a suspect. If Vince Vehar was to die, Hopkinson knew he couldn't personally kill him. He needed an alibi for the time of the murders.

Jeff Green

But Hopkinson had a plan. A master manipulator and charmer, he calculated that he could hire one of his goons to carry out the murder of Vehar.

Hopkinson turned to one of his employees, a 21-year-old man named Jeffrey Lynn Green, to carry out the job. Green was a troubled, impressionable young man; the perfect bait for a manipulative psychopath like Mark Hopkinson. Green, who had grown up as a social outcast, regarded Mark Hopkinson as his best friend, and trusted him like a brother. He had no compunction about following Hopkinson's orders.

Hopkinson also consulted with two of Green's friends: Mike Hickey and Jamey Hysell, two local drunkards who had criminal records for petty crimes such as theft and drug dealing.

Mike Hickey was already an experienced killer. Earlier, he had kidnapped, raped, murdered, and sexually mutilated a 15-year-old girl named Kelly Wyckhuyse in 1976 on Hysell's orders after Wyckhuyse threatened to tell police about a drug ring Hysell was running.

15-year-old Kelly Wyckhuyse met a violent death
at the hands of one of Mark Hopkinson's thugs 

Together, Hopkinson, Green, Hysell, and Hickey plotted to kill Vincent Vehar. The plan was to plant a dynamite bomb in the basement of the Vehar home in Evanston, Wyoming, in the middle of the night and detonate it, killing the entire Vehar family in a large explosion.

The group hoped the explosion would be blamed on a gas line accident, and that the police would be sidetracked for months before they could ever tie the crime to Hopkinson. While the police were distracted, Hopkinson thought, the water board's case against him would fail,  and then he could use his connections within the government to cover his tracks.

In return for helping construct the dynamite bomb, Hopkinson promised to pay Hysell, Hickey, and Green $2,000 each, and he also promised to help Hysell and Hickey cover up their involvement in the murder of the 15-year-old girl, whose body had still not been found at that point. Because Hickey was an experienced killer, he was chosen by Hopkinson to plant the bomb at the Vehar home.

The Vehar house in Evanston, Wyoming, pictured before the 1977 bombing

On August 1, 1977, Hopkinson was informed that he was to be deposed by Vehar in court in eight days as part of the Water Board's lawsuit against him. Five days later, on the night of August 6, 1977, Hopkinson met with Mike Hickey at a local bar. It was time, he said, to carry out the murders. He ordered Hickey to blow up the Vehar house that night.

That same night, Hickey drove from Fort Bridger to Evanston, bringing with him a large bomb made out of thirty sticks of dynamite. The bomb was crude, but powerful, and contained enough explosive material to demolish an entire building.

At about 3:30 AM in the morning on August 7, 1977, Hickey arrived at the Vehar family's home at 430 12th Street in Evanston, Wyoming. Inside the house slept Vincent Vehar, his wife Beverly Vehar, and his two sons, 18-year-old John and 20-year-old Tony.

Walking around to the back of the brick home, Hickey waited for a minute or two to ensure no one was watching him. Then, he lit a 1-minute fuse on the bomb and dropped it through the open window of the house's basement. Hickey then got into his car and sped off into the night.

Explosion in Evanston

At about 3:35 AM on August 7th, 1977, a loud, deafening, fiery explosion blasted through the quiet suburb of Evanston, Wyoming, shattering the tranquility of the night and jolting sleeping residents awake. Windows on several nearby houses shattered and pieces of timber ripped through neighboring bedrooms.

No one knew what had just happened, Some thought that an earthquake had occurred. Others assumed that there had been a car or gas accident.

Evanston resident Jim Dean, who lived just around the corner from the Vehar home, later recalled that he had been lying awake at night when he saw a bright flash and felt his entire house shake. Rushing outside, Dean saw a cloud of black smoke shrouding the area where the Vehar house used to be. When the smoke cleared, the young boy could hardly believe what he was seeing. The Vehar house had been completely leveled and blasted to shreds. In Dean's words, the home looked as if "someone had picked it up and turned it inside out".

Police and emergency services arrived within minutes to the scene. A suffocating cloud of hot ash, smoke, and pulverized insulation still hung in the air, choking those who came nearby.

Evanston police officer Randy Hodson was among the first to arrive at the scene. Examining the blast site, he could hardly believe his eyes. The entire house had been blown to pieces. Not one wall remained standing. The only recognizable piece of the house was a smoldering chair that lay atop a pile of rubble. There was no way anyone could have survived the blast, he thought. There was literally nothing left.

So Hodson was very surprised to hear a muffled voice calling out for help from beneath the smoking rubble. "Hey! I'm over here! Here I am over here!", yelled the voice.

The voice belonged to Vincent Vehar's oldest son, Tony. Incredibly, he had not only survived the explosion, but it wasn't even the deafening blast that had woken Tony Vehar up; it was the smoke. Tony had woken up coughing as smoke filled his lungs, and only then did he realize that his entire house had collapsed. Tony felt a stinging pain in his arm and smelled the metallic, copper-like odor of blood, but he had no idea how badly he was injured.

Officer Hodson scrambled over the rubble to find Tony. "Hang on, fella!", he yelled. "I'm coming!".

He found Tony pinned under the rubble, unable to move. "Are you hurt?", he asked.

"I think so. I'm bleeding badly", moaned Tony.

Hodson needed to know if anyone else needed rescue. "Was anyone else in the home?", he asked. 

"Yeah", replied Tony. "The rest of the family."

Police scanned the rubble for Vincent Vehar, Beverly Vehar, and John Vehar, but they couldn't find any trace of them. Finding the rest of the missing family would have to wait. The priority now was to get Tony Vehar out of the rubble and administer medical treatment. Rescue workers spent 45 minutes sawing through rubble and moving aside pieces of debris before Tony finally could be extracted. He was badly bruised and cut, and had suffered eardrum damage, glass cuts to his eyes, burns over his body, lung and throat damage from smoke inhalation, and was in a state of shock. Although gravely injured, Tony Vehar would survive his wounds and he eventually made a full recovery.

The Vehar home lies in ruins following the bombing

As they continued to search the ruined house, police found the Vehar's dog and cat, petrified and badly shaken, but alive. They, too, were removed from the scene and survived, but no one else from the family would be so lucky.

Vincent Vehar, Beverly Vehar, and John Vehar never made it out of the house alive. They all died instantly when the bomb exploded. Only sheer luck had prevented Tony from joining them.

Mark Hopkinson had just committed his first known murders.
Ironically, Hopkinson ended up stiffing his own hitman. In the end, Mike Hickey never received the $2,000 he was promised for carrying out the bombing.

The Arrests

While Hopkinson probably thought the bombing would save him from legal consequence, the actual result was much different.

Hopkinson's hopes that the explosion in Evanston would be ruled accidental were soon dashed. Within a day, ATF investigators determined that the blast at the Vehar home was caused by a bomb, and police soon learned of Vincent Vehar's connection to the Hopkinson case in Fort Bridger. As a result, Mark Hopkinson quickly became the prime suspect in the bombing. 

Seeking to avoid police scrutiny, Mike Hickey hightailed it to California, where he hoped to wait for the police activity to die down. Hopkinson, however, was confident that the authorities would be unable to tie him to the murder. He remained in Wyoming, eager to prove to police that he was not involved in the death of Vincent Vehar and his family. 

Unfortunately, Hopkinson's tight-knit crime ring soon began to unravel. Weeks after the bombing, James Hysell was arrested on an unrelated charge of larceny and burglary. Seeking legal leverage, Hysell told police about the murder of 15-year-old Kelly Wyckhuyse, telling them he could lead authorities to her body. He further confessed that Mike Hickey had been the murderer.

Hysell was promptly arrested and charged with the girl's murder. When Hickey returned to Wyoming from California, he, too, was arrested and charged with the same crime.

Hopkinson was worried that, should Hickey go to trial, Hickey would more than likely implicate Hopkinson in the murder of the Vehar family in order to gain legal leverage.
To prevent this, Hopkinson met with Hickey in prison. If Hickey kept quiet, Hopkinson would arrange perjured statements from him and Jeff Green in order pin the girl's murder all on Hysell and get Hickey off the hook.

At first, the ploy worked, and the murder charges against Hickey were eventually dropped. For almost a year, Hopkinson and Hickey remained free, with police unaware that they were connected to the Vehar murders. 

But all of that would change once Jamey Hysell would go to trial. Haunted by a guilty conscience, and knowing his friend faced the gas chamber for the murder, Jeff Green would soon spill the beans on Mark Hopkinson. It was the beginning of the end for the young, psychopathic crime boss.

Betrayal: Jeff Green Turns on Hopkinson

In July, 1978, Jamey Hysell went on trial for the murder of Kelly Wyckhuyse. Knowing his friend faced a potential death sentence, Jeff Green finally broke down and told police that he, Hopkinson, and Hickey had lied in their testimony to implicate Hysell in the murder. He told police that it was, in fact, Mike Hickey who murdered the girl.

Furthermore, Green told police that he knew who had carried out the murder of the Vehar family the previous year. He told police that Mark Hopkinson had approached him and Mike Hickey about carrying out the bombing, but that it was Hickey who actually did the deed. Although Green couldn't provide evidence that Mark Hopkinson had actually ordered the bombing of the Vehar home, Green did tell police that Hopkinson had personally asked him to plant a bomb in the car of George Mariscal, a lawyer who owed Hopkinson $10,000. Green had actually been arrested in Arizona for carrying that bomb to kill Mariscal in 1976, but had been bailed out of jail by Hopkinson before he could talk to police.

As a result of Green's testimony, Hickey was arrested again and charged with first-degree murder for killing Kellie Wyckhuyse. Additionally, Mark Hopkinson was also arrested on charges of ordering the failed car bombing attempt on George Mariscal.

Mugshot taken of Hopkinson following his 1978 arrest

In 1978, after Jeff Green testified against him, Mark Hopkinson was convicted of conspiracy for the attempted bombing, and was sentenced to a maximum of forty years in federal prison. Police also were preparing to charge Mark Hopkinson with ordering the murder of the Vehar family, and Green was to testify against Hopkinson in that trial as well.

Mark Hopkinson was sent to a federal prison in Lompoc, California, following his conviction. He knew that his legal troubles were far from over, and that it was highly likely that he would face the death penalty for the Vehar family bombing.

But Hopkinson was by no means finished. Even while incarcerated, he would continue to strike terror into the hearts of those who stood in his way.

Furious over Jeff Green's betrayal, Mark Hopkinson decided to silence the young man once and for all.

The Murder of Jeff Green

On the morning of May 20, 1979, a man stopped his car off of a desolate road in Evanston, Wyoming, to walk his dog. As he examined the area, the man came upon a horrifying sight. A nude, bloody, battered, mutilated corpse of a young man lay just off the road, face-down in the dirt, dead from a single gunshot wound to the back of the head. In addition, his genitals had been mutilated by what appeared to be a hot poker, and he had been slashed across the chest and arms with a knife.

Jeff Green's high school yearbook photo

Forensic examiners discovered well over 150 burn marks all over the body of the young man, probably caused by a lit cigarette being pressed against the skin. The burn marks, which had seared through the skin and into the muscles below, had all been made hours before the young man died and had been intended to cause excruciating agony. 

There were deep burns on the tender skin behind the man's ears and along the bridge of his nose, burns all over the forehead and scalp, third-degree burns on the skin of the elbows (likely caused by a soldering iron), and burns on the knuckle joints and the webbing of the hands. 

The victim had also been blinded with a hot branding iron before he died - his left eye was completely burned out and his right eye had suffered severe damage. 

Severe rope burns around the man's wrists showed he had been tied to a chair during the torture and had desperately struggled for his life for hours.

The killers had also left a message with the burns. They were all in the shape of letter "T" - for "traitor".

This was no ordinary murder: this was a ritualistic, gruesome killing that had involved extensive torture. Whoever had killed this man had wanted him to suffer greatly before he died, increasing the severity of the torture over a period of several hours. It had all the hallmarks of a Mafia-style execution.

Police soon identified the man as none other than Jeff Green, the man who had decided to talk to police about Mark Hopkinson, and who had been missing for the past two days. Coincidentally, Green had been found dead just two days before he was to testify before a grand jury about Mark Hopkinson's connection to the Vehar bombing. Police couldn't help but wonder if Mark Hopkinson had something to do with Jeff Green's death.

There was a problem, however. Mark Hopkinson couldn't have committed the actual crime. He had been locked up in prison in California at the time of the murder. If he had anything to do with Green's death, he would have had to have ordered the murder from prison, where all communication with the outside world is heavily monitored.

If Mark Hopkinson was behind Green's murder, he was able to not only order the hit on Green, but was able to tell them what he looked like, where he was located, and that they should torture him in a specific way before killing him. Police knew they would have to do a lot of digging to find evidence to tie Hopkinson to the brutal crime.

Upgraded Charges

Police soon discovered that Mark Hopkinson had been making frequent calls from prison in the weeks before Jeff Green's murder. Over a 51-day period from April to May, 1979, Mark Hopkinson had made 114 calls from prison, several of them to Alvin "Hap" Russell, a roommate of his from Salt Lake City, Utah.

Russell visited Hopkinson in prison soon afterwards. No one knows exactly what they discussed. Russell later claimed that Hopkinson had asked him to procure perjured statements from witnesses for the upcoming Vehar trial, but police believe that Hopkinson discussed killing Jeff Green and had asked his former roommate if he knew of anyone who could carry out the job.

Alvin "Hap" Russell is believed to have acted as a middle man relaying information between Mark Hopkinson and the killers of Jeff Green

Soon afterwards, Hopkinson began calling Jennifer Larchick, an old high school friend of Jeff Green. He began asking her to send a picture of Jeff Green to him from her high school yearbook.

Larchick was puzzled. Why would Hopkinson need a picture of Jeff Green? She refused his request.

Soon afterwards, Hap Russell met Larchick at her home in person, and asked her to give him Green's yearbook photo. Reluctantly, Larchick agreed, and she sent a cut-out picture of Green to Hopkinson's roommate.

Jennifer Larchick's high school yearbook,
with Jeff Green's picture missing.
Ironically, Mike Hickey's picture is two spaces right of the missing photo.

Early in May, 1979, Hopkinson called his old girlfriend, Kristie King, and asked her if she could hide some money away in a bank account for him. She was puzzled as to why Hopkinson wanted to use her account, but she nevertheless agreed.

Then came the most damning part of the story. On May 16, 1979, just four days before Jeff Green's body was found, Hopkinson called Larchick again, and asked her if she knew where Green was. She replied that she didn't, but that he was probably out of state.
The next day Hopkinson called her again and asked the same question. Larchick told Hopkinson that Green was in Iowa attending a funeral, but that he would be home the following day, on May 18.

The same day that Green returned to Wyoming from Iowa, he disappeared, last seen in the company of two other people. That was the last time anyone saw Jeff Green alive.

And then came the final nail in the coffin. On May 21, 1979, just one day after Jeff Green's body was found, Kristie King received $15,000 dollars in her bank account, which Mark Hopkinson asked her to hold on to for a while. The money had been sent to her from none other than Scott Hopkinson, Mark Hopkinson's brother.

Police now suspected that Hopkinson had ordered the murder of Jeff Green from prison, and had used Kristie King's bank account as a front to pay off the hitmen who carried out the killing. Although the evidence against Hopkinson was circumstantial, it was incredibly damning. The timing of the murder, Green's betrayal of Hopkinson, the money-changing, the phone calls, the yearbook photo, the mysterious meeting with the roommate... everything pointed to Mark Hopkinson. Police were convinced that he had ordered the murder of his best friend as part of a ploy to save his own neck.

The one thing police didn't have was the two murderers. To this day, the hitmen who carried out the actual kidnapping, torture, and murder of Jeff Green have never been found.

Police sketches of the two men seen with Jeff Green the day he disappeared. They have never been identified.

After hearing about the murder of Jeff Green, Mike Hickey immediately broke down and decided to talk to police. Frightened that Hopkinson would kill him, too, Hickey confessed to murdering Kelly Wyckhuyse and to bombing the Vehar house. He told the police that he would testify against Hopkinson in exchange for a lesser sentence.

With this evidence, prosecutors charged Mark Hopkinson with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy for the murder of the Vehar family. In addition, prosecutors charged Hopkinson with the murder of Jeff Green. Mark Hopkinson's criminal network was finally crumbling.

But there would be a long, hard fight ahead.

The Trial

On September 3, 1979, Mark Hopkinson finally went on trial for the Vehar murders and the Green murder. Despite the circumstantial evidence against him, Hopkinson had pleaded not guilty to all charges, and steadfastly maintained his innocence.

In court, Hopkinson faced off against Gerry Spence, a world-famous and well-experienced lawyer who, to this very day, has never lost a single case in court. For Spence, this case was personal. He had personally known the Vehar family, and Vincent Vehar had been one of his closest friends.
Spence intended to throw the metaphorical book at Hopkinson. He not only wanted to see Hopkinson convicted of all four murders, he wanted to make sure the young crime boss would be sent to Wyoming's gas chamber.

Famed lawyer Gerry Spence (right) and his co-counsel Ed Moriarity (left) were appointed special prosecutors in the case against Mark Hopkinson

Hopkinson, however, was like no other defendant Spence had ever seen. Even today, Spence considers Hopkinson to be the most disturbing man he has ever prosecuted, calling him "the epitome of evil".

Hopkinson, a pathological liar, committed perjury numerous times during the trial, and showed utter contempt and disregard for the court. He also showed a vicious hatred of Gerry Spence, calling him a "lying piece of shit" and a "charlatan", and referring to his case as "manufactured bullshit". 

Hopkinson also claimed that Mike Hickey was a liar, and that he was trying to frame him to save his own skin. In addition, Hopkinson insisted that, unless the prosecution could find the actual killers of Jeff Green, there was no evidence that he had ordered the murder of his best friend.

The prosecution had 27 witnesses and over 300 pieces of evidence in their case against Hopkinson. Among these pieces of evidence was Jennifer Larchick's high school yearbook, with the picture of Jeff Green cut out of one of the pages. Gerry Spence told the jury that the evidence against Hopkinson was, in fact circumstantial, but that all they had to do was follow the money, put together the pieces, and they would all see that it was Mark Hopkinson who had ordered all of the killings.

However, once the prosecution rested their case, Hopkinson chose not to offer any defense. He claimed he had said all that he needed to say, and remarked "the State hasn't proven anything".

But the jury felt differently. On September 25, 1979, after seven and a half hours of deliberation the jury convicted Mark Hopkinson of two counts of conspiracy and all four counts of murder. Hopkinson said nothing as each guilty verdict was read. He simply stared at the floor, silent and stone-faced.

Next, the jury would deliberate whether to sentence Hopkinson to life in prison or death in the gas chamber. Charged with four counts of first degree murder, Hopkinson could get the death penalty on each count.

Hopkinson's defense was short. "I pled not guilty.", he said, maintaining his innocence. "Whether or not they give me the death sentence, that's where I stand."

During the penalty phase of the trial, Gerry Spence showed the jury pictures of the mutilated, tortured body of Jeff Green. He described in excruciating detail the torture that the young man had gone through before being murdered. 

Spence's co-counsel, Ed Moriarity, also told the jury that Hopkinson had his chance at redemption, but he had proven that he posed too much of a danger to other people to be kept alive.

"There comes a time", Moriarity said, "when rehabilitation is not effective, when it will not do any good." He guestered to Hopkinson and continued: "And we submit to you that, under the facts and circumstances of this case, Mr. Hopkinson has had his chance, not only once but twice proven, and the results have been disaster. Sometimes, someplace, society has to defend itself."

He closed by saying, "If this case is not a proper case for the death penalty, then there are no proper cases for the death penalty anywhere in the world".

On September 27, 1979, after deliberating for nine and a half hours, the jury reached a verdict.

For the murders of Vincent Vehar, Beverly Vehar, and John Vehar, Mark Hopkinson was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

For the murder of Jeff Green, the jury sentenced Mark Hopkinson to death in Wyoming's gas chamber. Hopkinson became the first person to be sentenced to death in Wyoming since the death penalty was reinstated just two years earlier.

Hopkinson listens as he is sentenced to death 

After dismissing the jury, the judge set Mark Hopkinson's execution date for midnight on October 27, 1979. The date, however, was just a formality. Few expected Hopkinson to be put to death anytime soon.

Mark Hopkinson was led from the courtroom, whistling a tune and joking with the guards, to be sent to death row at Wyoming State Penitentiary in Rawlins.

Outside, when confronted by TV cameras, Hopkinson maintained his innocence. Referring to Jeff Green by a vile name, Hopkinson told reporters "Whether I die or not, I'll never be a whore. I'm innocent in this trial."

Hopkinson talks to reporters outside the courthouse

Hap Russell, Hopkinson's old roommate, was later convicted for his role in ordering the Green murder, although authorities didn't believe he carried out the killing himself. Russell was sentenced to life in prison and died from a heart attack while awaiting a retrial.

As for Mike Hickey, who had confessed to carrying out the Vehar murders and the murder of Kelly Wyckhuyse, he was spared both the death penalty and life in prison. Hickey received a twenty-year sentence, was released in 1999, and, when last interviewed in 2011, he lived under an assumed name on a small ranch in the tiny town of Lonetree, Wyoming.

A Second Trial and Endless Appeals

As predicted, Hopkinson's October 27 execution date was automatically stayed to allow him to file appeals of his conviction. Hopkinson's appeal cited, among other things, the alleged unfairness of him being on death row while the actual hitman, Mike Hickey, was serving only twenty years in prison.

Hopkinson also maintained his innocence, claiming that the authorities had to find the actual killers of Jeff Green before they could accuse him of committing the murder.

Despite proclaiming his innocence, Hopkinson showed little regard for the horrifying circumstances in which Green was killed. His demeanor was typical of a remorseless psychopath.

"It didn't even bother me that the kid got killed", Hopkinson said in a death row interview. "I can give you a list of people who would want to kill Jeff Green."

In yet another display of self-pity typical of a psychopath, Hopkinson continued: "I just wish he wouldn't have gotten killed when he did. That looked bad for me."

Hopkinson talks to a reporter during a prison interview in the 1980s

Hopkinson remained convinced that his innocence would eventually be proven.

"I'll beat this case. I'll bet anything on it.", he said. "They won't see the day when I'll have to die in the gas chamber. The trial was a total joke."

Hopkinson also continued to show a hatred of Gerry Spence, the prosecutor who helped convict him. "Everybody thinks I hate Gerry Spence. I don't", said Hopkinson in another interview. "I like somebody beyond reach."

Hopkinson's comment may not have been a joke. There is ample evidence suggesting that, even while on death row, Hopkinson attempted to order the murder of Gerry Spence, Frank Roitz, and other people he deemed a threat. While on death row, Hopkinson also mailed dozens of menacing letters to Spence, in which he threatened to have the lawyer and his wife skinned alive.

In 1981, it was further revealed that Hopkinson had offered a fellow prisoner, who was about to be released, over $800 dollars to kill the entire Roitz family and burn down their house. The plot was thwarted only when the prisoner, haunted by a guilty conscience, decided to tell police about Hopkinson's offer.

Even while incarcerated, it was clear that Mark Hopkinson still posed a menace to society.

In 1981, Hopkinson's appeal was heard by the Wyoming Supreme Court. In an unprecedented decision, the court ruled that Hopkinson's defense team had inadequately supported him by not stepping in to offer their own arguments during the penalty phase.

As a result, the court overturned Hopkinson's death sentence in the Green murder, and remanded the case back for a new sentencing hearing. This time, Hopkinson's attorneys presented their own argument to the jury in an attempt to have Hopkinson's death sentence reduced to life.

But, yet again, the jury reached the same verdict. On May 27, 1982, after twelve hours of deliberation, they again sentenced Mark Hopkinson to death.

However, there was a problem. The state penitentiary in Rawlins had closed down the previous year, and along with it the only gas chamber in the entire state. There was now, in effect, no way for the state to carry out Hopkinson's execution, and the new penitentiary had no execution chamber. Because of this, Hopkinson avoided yet another execution date set for him that same year.

Finally, in 1983, the Wyoming State Legislature approved the use of lethal injection as a means of execution. Mark Hopkinson's third execution date was set for June 18, 1984, but that date was stayed to allow Hopkinson to file further appeals. Two more execution dates were set the following year, but Hopkinson would avoid those as well.

By this time, the public of Wyoming was fed up with the endless appeals and hearings. They wanted to put the whole horrible case behind them and put Hopkinson to death.

Even Gerry Spence, who had prosecuted Hopkinson, became fed up. He told the court that if they weren't going to execute Hopkinson, then they should just commute his sentence to life and spare the costs of the appeals.

Endgame: Justice Catches Up to Mark Hopkinson

Between 1986 and 1990, Mark Hopkinson had four or five more execution dates set for him, but he would successfully avoid all of them (in one case he won a stay barely 48 hours before he was to die). Hopkinson continued to maintain his innocence and his attorneys worked tirelessly to file appeals and request a new trial.

Hopkinson rails against Gerry Spence
during a 1992 press conference

Finally, after more than a decade of appeals, failed execution dates, and attempts at a new trial, Mark Hopkinson's final request for a new trial was denied. On December 18, 1991, Mark Hopkinson received his final execution date. He was to die by lethal injection on January 22, 1992, in what would be Wyoming's first execution since 1965 and the state's first ever use of lethal injection.

Shortly afterwards, in early January of 1992, Hopkinson appeared at a press conference at the Wyoming State Penitentiary. Talking in his characteristically smooth, charming manner, Hopkinson spent most of the interview showering himself in self-pity and accusing Gerry Spence of fabricating the case against him to satisfy some sort of blood lust. Hopkinson told the reporters that, regardless of what happened, his innocence would one day be proven, whether he lived or not.

However, despite his arrogant and overconfident attitude, it appeared that even Hopkinson was beginning to lose hope that he would ever avoid execution.
"What I hope and I pray for is that I have the courage to die with dignity if it comes to it", Hopkinson told reporters.

Mark Hopkinson's last hope was for the governor to commute his sentence. Backed by anti-death-penalty groups like Amnesty International, Hopkinson submitted a petition to Wyoming Governor Mike Sullivan, requesting clemency.

Sullivan received letters from all over the world demanding that he commute Hopkinson's sentence. They called the death penalty immoral, inhuman, and archaic, urging Sullivan to grant mercy to the psychopathic, remorseless killer. Even if Hopkinson was guilty, they argued, executing him would be ethically wrong.

But Sullivan knew this case had dragged on long enough. Mark Hopkinson's time was up, and it was time to put an end to the danger he posed to the world. Sullivan refused to commute Hopkinson's sentence, and gave the go-ahead for the execution to proceed.

Hopkinson's Last Day

On the afternoon of January 21, 1992, Mark Hopkinson was transferred to a holding cell in an unknown location inside Wyoming State Penitentiary. His time was finally running out.

Unlike most death row inmates, who are usually somber and silent prior to their execution, Hopkinson was energetic, restless, and chatty. When the guards asked Hopkinson if they could get him anything, he responded, jokingly: "Yeah, you can get me a blonde and a helicopter!"

At 2:30 PM, Hopkinson met with four clergymen, and prayed together with them. At 3:30, he ordered his last meal, a pizza and a fruit plate, and shared the meal with members of his family.

After meeting with his family, Hopkinson decided to set some more personal matters into place. Hopkinson asked prison officials to ensure that his body was cremated after death, and requested that his ashes be scattered on Gerry Spence's driveway.

Outside the prison, a crowd of anti-death-penalty protesters from Amnesty International gathered to oppose the execution, holding wooden crosses and singing Christian hymns. They were met by about a dozen death penalty supporters. Police were called in to supervise the protests, but no violence developed.

Death penalty opponents from Amnesty International gather outside Wyoming State Penitentiary to protest Hopkinson's execution

At 9:30 PM, Hopkinson played checkers with one of the guards, and at 10:30 he cheerfully played a game of pool with the warden, Duane Shillinger, who barely maintained his composure. Throughout the thirteen years that Hopkinson had been on death row, the warden had grown close to the condemned man and considered him a close friend. Far from Hopkinson's cheerful attitude, Shillinger barely managed to choke back tears while they played the game.

Mark Hopkinson spent his final hours in this room playing pool with prison warden Duane Shillinger

Finally, at 12:10 AM on January 22, 1992, Hopkinson left his holding cell for the last time. As he walked, Hopkinson asked warden Shillinger to keep his hand on his shoulder. Turning to one of the guards, Hopkinson remarked "Hey, I'm sorry to put you through this."

The team brought Hopkinson to the penitentiary's execution chamber at 12:18 AM. The chamber was a converted holding cell, shaped like a triangle and illuminated by bright fluorescent lights. On one side, a glass window covered by a bluish-black curtain let witnesses see into the chamber. On the other side, perpendicular to the glass window, was a cement wall. The third side contained a grill-like mesh, behind which the executioners would administer the lethal drugs.

Just in front of the mesh wall was a crude gurney, built by prison inmates, on which Hopkinson was to die.

The state of Wyoming utilized this makeshift chamber (seen to the right) for the execution of Mark Hopkinson. Today, it sits in an abandoned part of the penitentiary.

Hopkinson hopped up on the gurney and lay down as the guards strapped his left arm to an extending armboard and secured his body to the bed. Hopkinson was cooperative, and he even helped the guards apply the restraints.

As he lay on the gurney, with a sheet pulled up to his chin, Hopkinson looked up at the warden and began speaking rapidly.

"You know, Spence should be on this gurney instead of me.", Hopkinson rambled. "Spence once said I could kill him from the grave; so you know he's going to have something to worry about. You've got the wrong guy."

As two medical technicians inserted two IV tubes into Hopkinson's left arm, he declared "They have killed an innocent man!"

Although Hopkinson had selected several witnesses for his execution, he changed his mind at the last minute, so there were no official witnesses present when he was put to death. Hopkinson had, however, written a final statement that he wanted to be read to the witnesses. 

"Gerry Spence is a lying manipulative peace [sic] of shit.", read the statement. "I feel sorry for the Vehar family but you got the wrong man."

Hopkinson's hastily written last statement

Just before he was to die, Hopkinson managed to crack another joke. "You know, warden, we need a faster way to do this. I think I'd rather be shot. That's it, let someone shoot me", he remarked.

Hopkinson then looked up at Shillinger, who was standing over him."You tell the press what my last words were", said Hopkinson. The warden's eyes filled with tears. "Hey, don't get weak on me, warden. I'm holding up good here. If you start, I know I will.", said Hopkinson. "You let the whole damn world and all those news people know that Mark Hopkinson was strong and tight to the last. Help me do this, warden."

At 12:35 AM, an executioner administered the first drug, sodium thiopental, to sedate Hopkinson. The drugs began to flow down the long, clear IV tube into Hopkinson's left arm. The effect was immediate. Hopkinson leaned his head back and stared up at the lights on the ceiling. "Well, warden, I feel it in my system.", said Hopkinson, still strapped to the gurney. "I'll see...". He suddenly stopped mid-sentence as the sedative took effect. Hopkinson closed his eyes, exhaled once, and went completely still.

Five minutes after Hopkinson was sedated, the executioner administered the second drug, pancuronium bromide, to collapse Hopkinson's lungs. The murderer's lips turned the slightest tinge of blue as his breathing slowed. His face turned a crimson red color as his body became rigid.

Finally, at 12:44 AM, the third drug, potassium chloride, was administered to stop the heart. Hopkinson lay still as his face turned from a bright red color into a deathly ashen grey. The medical machine monitoring his heart rate flatlined.

At 12:57 AM, on January 22, 1992, Mark Allen Hopkinson was formally pronounced dead. To date, he remains the last person executed by the state of Wyoming.

Afterword: Why the Hopkinson Case Shows we Need the Death Penalty

For the people of Bridger Valley, Wyoming, there will never be full closure. Mark Hopkinson left a legacy of fear and terror that the people of Wyoming had never before seen in their lives. For years afterwards, residents were terrified that the murderers of Jeff Green, who still have never been found, would one day strike again. People who used to never own guns soon began carrying weapons with them. People who once left their doors unlocked at night soon became too frightened to leave their houses unsecured.

Mark Hopkinson's trailer complex in Fort Bridger still exists today. It is now known as the "Mark III Mobile Home Park"

Hopkinson's case might seem obscure to some, but it should, in fact, serve as a dire warning. What garnered my attention about this case was the fact that Mark Hopkinson, being a charming, manipulative psychopath, was able to continue his reign of terror while being locked behind bars. People like Mark Hopkinson are a primary reason as to why I support the death penalty. 

While I could go into the emotional reasons why I support capital punishment, I will instead focus on the practical reasons for my position, and I will cite this case as a primary example of why I support the death penalty.

I have often heard death penalty opponents say that imprisoning someone for life will do just as much to protect society as executing someone. Life in prison, they say, is not only a more humane and moral sentence to hand out, but it is just as effective in preventing crime.

But this is where they are wrong. Imprisoning someone for life by no means removes the danger they can pose to society. Other prisoners and guards can and have been killed by incarcerated inmates serving life without parole. And, as Hopkinson shows, even people on the outside can be hurt.

Hopkinson was locked away in federal prison when he ordered the murder of Jeff Green. He was supposed to be in a place where the rest of the world was safe and secure from his deadly influence. 

But that was not the case. Despite being locked up, Hopkinson still managed to arrange and carry out the gruesome, torturous murder of his best friend while incarcerated in the very place that was supposed to prevent him from harming other people.

And even if death penalty opponents point to the fact that Hopkinson, during his years on death row, never ordered another murder from behind bars, that proves nothing other than the fact that Hopkinson's attempts to order another murder were not successful. There is ample evidence to suggest that Hopkinson put out contracts on the lives of not only Mike Hickey and Jamey Hysell but also Frank Roitz, the homeowner who had filed the original lawsuit against him, and Gerry Spence, the lawyer who had prosecuted him.

The only other people who posed a significant threat to Hopkinson, Mike Hickey and Jamey Hysell, were already in prison under witness protection. Had they not been under witness protection, it is very likely that Hopkinson, who was well known for his resourcefulness, could have found out where they were incarcerated and arranged their murders, too.

Additionally, by ordering the Green murder, Hopkinson demonstrated that even the high security of a federal prison was not enough to stop him from killing innocent people. It proved that no one could guarantee that he would not hurt another person again. Hopkinson had his chance to prove to the world that he would never hurt another person again, but he showed everybody the exact opposite. Every minute Hopkinson was alive, he posed a significant threat to the livelihood of all others who crossed him. Nobody was safe from his wrath. The extreme danger Hopkinson posed to the world ended only with his death.

So, to the anti-death penalty crowd and groups like Amnesty International, I must ask: What is society's last refuge? What can we do with dangerous people like Mark Hopkinson? How can we make absolutely sure, beyond any reasonable doubt, that they will never hurt another person again? 

Could we try solitary confinement? Maybe, but groups like Amnesty International are working to get rid of that punishment as well! Plus, solitary confinement by no means removes an inmate's ability to contact the outside world. Inmates held in solitary confinement can still send and receive mail.

Could we cut off a prisoner's access to the outside world? We could try that, but there is no guarantee that could stop a master manipulator like Hopkinson. Plus, groups like Amnesty International and the ACLU would claim that such seclusion would constitute a violation of a prisoner's human rights.

Could we scrutinize every call and every letter that leaves the prison walls? Sure, but prisoners are known to be very, very resourceful. After all, they have all day to think of ways to sneak messages out of prison. Prisoners have developed complex codes, languages, and methods of getting secret messages out of even the most high-security prison facilities. Hopkinson was no different. In the end, he was able to order the kidnapping, torture, and murder of Jeff Green with little more than a series of cryptic phone calls and a girl's high school yearbook.

So really, in the end, for evil, manipulative, and dangerous people like Mark Hopkinson, there really is only one solution that will guarantee that they will never hurt anyone again. That solution is putting them to death, permanently ending the danger that they pose to the world. It is the only way to make good on a promise that criminals, especially crime bosses like Mark Hopkinson, will never, ever kill again.

As Ed Moriarity said during the Hopkinson trial: "Sometimes, someplace, society has to defend itself."