Man sentenced to prison after he’s convicted of assault

A Cody man was also arrested Jan. 7 as an accessory to the crime after he lied to police about witnessing the assault.

Troy J. Kincheloe, 58 of Havre, Mont., — not the owner of Kincheloe Plumbing in Cody — committed the offense in April of last year when he entered the victim’s residence and assaulted him, leaving the victim with “significant injuries on the left side of his face,” the affidavit said.

Those injuries included a swollen left eye and blood pooling around his nostrils and mouth.

According to the affidavit, Kincheloe told officers he and the victim had known each other since 1981 and were “good friends.”

And, at the time of the assault, Kincheloe was fixing up and purchasing a camper from the victim’s parents, the affidavit said.

When Cody Police officers responded to the incident, the victim told police he suspected Kincheloe had assaulted him because Kincheloe did not approve of the way he lived, the affidavit said.

Though the victim told the police Kincheloe entered his residence to assault him, Kincheloe told a different story.

He told officers that on the day of the assault, Kincheloe was working on the camper in the victim’s garage, and “without warning,” the victim came into the garage holding an ax with a leather sheath on it.

Kincheloe said the victim then raised the ax to shoulder level and advanced towards Kincheloe, who responded by striking the victim in the face twice with an open hand and knocking him to the ground, the affidavit said.

However, officers wrote in the affidavit that the victim’s injuries were not consistent with Kincheloe’s version of events.

“[The victim’s] injuries were significant and could not have been caused by two open hand strikes,” the affidavit said.

When officers told Kincheloe the extent of the victim’s injuries, he said “he did not know how [the victim] was injured to such an extent,” the affidavit said.

Kincheloe then told the officers he had a friend named “Robert” who had witnessed the altercation.

This friend turned out to be Robert Thad Jones III, 35 of Cody.

During the investigation, Jones called Kincheloe and told officers what he allegedly saw.

“[Jones] informed us that he witnessed Kincheloe grinding a piece of metal when [the victim] came out of the residence ‘swinging an ax,’” the affidavit said.

But, based on the Cody Police detectives’ investigation, “it became clear that the injuries that [the victim] sustained were not consistent with self-defense, but constituted a battery of their own,” the affidavit said.

The detectives later confirmed the assault had also occurred inside the victim’s residence rather than the garage as Kincheloe told police, the affidavit said.

With these findings, officers began to question the statement Jones gave on behalf of Kincheloe.

“Upon review, I found that Robert Jones’ account of witnessing [the victim] with an ax was now dubious,” the affidavit said.

Detectives were able to get in contact with Jones, who later admitted he was not at the victim’s house when the battery occurred but was working up the South Fork Highway at the time.

“I again confirmed with Jones, he never saw [the victim] come out of the house with a hatchet and threaten Kincheloe, as he had previously stated over the phone,” the affidavit said. “Jones said that was correct and again said he was not there.”

Jones later admitted Kincheloe had asked him to tell police he witnessed the incident.

“Jones did verify that Kincheloe called him and asked him to call back and tell law enforcement a story,” the affidavit said. “At that time, I found Kincheloe’s account of what had occurred entirely unfounded.”

Jones was subsequently charged with accessory after the fact, which is a felony punishable by imprisonment for no more than three years, a fine of no more than $3,000 or both.

Jones’ case was transferred to Park County District Court on Jan. 19, where he will be arraigned and face further proceedings.