Plea agreement reached in homicide case

A plea agreement has been reached in the case of a Taylor County man accused of killing his roommate in a Gilman area mental health facility.

On Tuesday, District Attorney Kristi Tlusty informed the court during a status hearing that a pre agreement had been reached. This avoids a trial and allows the case to go into sentencing A plea and sentencing hearing will be held on August 22 at 2:30 p.m. at the Taylor County Courthouse before judge Ann Knox-Bauer.

Cory Carlson, 38, faces life in prison for one count of first degree homicide and a

count of strangulation and suffocation in the death of Joseph Bonney, 61.

The two men were roommates at Almost Home Again, a mental health and AODA treatment facility located at N3531 Elder Dr in the town of Aurora. Bonney was found dead in his bed at the facility. Autopsy results indicated Bonney’s injuries were consistent with asphyxiation related to strangulation.

According to the criminal complaint, on January 14, at about 1:47 p.m., the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a staff member of Almost Home Again residential mental health facility. The staff member was requesting an ambulance for an unconscious and unresponsive subject. Gilman Ambulance were dispatched to the location along with Deputies Dylan Lindsley and Logan Swiantek. While deputies were responding, Gilman Ambulance arrived on scene at about 1:55 p.m. At approximately

2:09 p.m. Gilman Ambulance advised Taylor County Dispatch to notify a coroner to respond to the scene for deceased subject.

Sheriff’s Detective Chad Kowalczyk’s report indicated the detective saw evidence of death by asphyxiation including recent bruising in a linear pattern near Bonney’s lower neck as well as similar, smaller bruises on the upper portion of the neck extending to the bottom of the chin where there was a recent abrasion. Pieces of red licorice, including one that appeared partly chewed were near Bonney with staff members telling the detective that a piece was removed from Bonney’s lips when they attempted to perform CPR.

In his report, the detective raised suspicion that Bonney’s body had been staged to make it appear he died in a natural or

See PLEA REACHED on page 3 accidental manner. Carlson was the only other person who had access to the room at the time Bonney was killed.

During the investigation, Det. Kowalczyk interviewed Carlson asking him if he did something to Bonney. According to the complaint “He replied no, but then stated possibly. Cory repeatedly stated that he really couldn’t remember details about it. Detective Kowalczyk asked Cory if he felt remorse. He stated he did and then asked if he could tell Detective Kowalczyk the truth. Detective Kowalczyk told him yes. He said he was hearing voices. He couldn’t believe he listened to them but he did.

Detective Kowalczyk asked what they were telling him. He replied they were telling him to do stupid s##t. He said he didn’t remember exactly what he did though. He said he was a Schizophrenic and was having delusions at the time and didn’t know what was going on. He stated that then he realized he was really doing “that shit.” Detective Kowalczyk asked what he did and if it involved Joe. He stated possibly but he didn’t remember. Cory stated that if he did it, then he didn’t realize that he did it.”