A former Wyoming journalist accused of perjury and forging documents faces a new interference charge after Laramie County authorities say they needed to use chemical irritant projectiles to take her into custody on an outstanding warrant.
April Morganroth, formerly known in Wyoming by her alias Marie Hamilton, was arrested Tuesday following an altercation at her residence that involved Laramie County Sheriff’s deputies firing chemical irritants to compel her to surrender. Morganroth was wanted for allegedly forging documents to enroll her child in Laramie County School District 1 and obtain special education services.
That charge was in addition to 20 other forgery and perjury charges Morganroth faces in Platte County. The 41-year-old has pleaded not guilty to those charges. Her attorney in those matters has requested that the criminal cases against her be suspended while she undergoes a mental evaluation.
Morganroth worked as a journalist in multiple states including Nebraska, Colorado and Wyoming. The Denver Post reported she was fired by the Boulder Daily Camera in 2021 after editors there acknowledged in a retraction that she fabricated quotes in a story about local residents reflecting on the Sept. 11 terrorism attacks.
Morganroth moved to Wyoming and worked as a reporter for the Platte County Record-Times, the Guernsey Gazette, the Torrington Telegram and the Newcastle News Letter Journal. She later launched her own publication, 307 Wyoming Sentinel, and also freelanced for Oil City News.
Following Tuesday’s altercation, Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Douglas Weaver requested that the court revoke Morganroth’s $20,000 “personal recognizance” bond, which allowed her to remain free as long as she appeared in court and didn’t violate any law.
An affidavit connected with the request details the Tuesday law enforcement encounter that ended in Morganroth’s arrest. The document, written by Laramie County Sheriff’s Office Det. Ryan Mershon, describes his efforts to locate Morganroth. He had previously contacted Morganroth’s attorney and requested that she turn herself in.
“Her public defenders in Platte County advised me that she would not turn herself in and would be unlikely to comply with us,” Mershon wrote. Another detective, Keith Huebner, had also tried to contact Morganroth, but “she became uncooperative with him and hung up.”
Mershon “searched for local contacts” for April’s husband and found a call from a family member who was concerned about the husband’s well-being and had provided a Cheyenne address for the family, the detective wrote.
Huebner asked Det. Miles DePrimo to go to the address and conduct surveillance. Shortly after he arrived, DePrimo saw Morganroth and a child arrive in a Ford pickup, park in the address’s driveway and enter the home.
Mershon and Huebner arrived at the address. Mershon knocked on the door while Huebner and DePrimo watched the side yard and back of the residence. The child answered the door. Mershon asked the juvenile if Morganroth was home. He said she wasn’t. Mershon told him that a detective had seen her enter the house. The minor “began to lie and stated it was his older sister who was thirty years old,” Mershon wrote.
“Detective Huebner stated that would mean your mother gave birth to your ‘sister’ at ten years old,” Mershon narrates. “The minor did not have an answer for this factual inaccuracy.”
Mershon told the boy to “tell his mother that she needs to come outside.” When he returned, the boy stated that Morganroth “was inside, but wouldn’t come out.”
“We asked the minor to step outside and confirmed that now his mother April Morganroth, was the only one in the home and that they reside at the residence,” the affidavit states.
The child was “temporarily secured” in a patrol vehicle “to keep him safe and away from the residence while attempting to contact April.” The detectives announced their presence, yelling “April Morganroth this is the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office with an arrest warrant, step outside with your hands up now.” But Morganroth didn’t comply, authorities say.
DePrimo requested support. Mershon moved his truck to the front lawn and turned on his emergency lights. He made “several announcements” with a loudspeaker commanding April to come out of the house. “It was loud enough to bring most of the neighbors out of their house to investigate,” Mershon wrote.
Mershon then turned on his siren, stating again over the loudspeaker, “April Morganroth this is the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office with an arrest warrant, exit the residence with your hands up and empty, failure to comply with my orders may result in the use of force, deployment of chemical agents, less lethal munitions or being bit by a police k-9.” He repeated the command three times “with no response from April,” according to the affidavit.
Cheyenne police officer Benjamin Vapenik and his K-9 arrived at the residence. Vapenik “gave three rounds of announcements at the front door ordering April to come out with her hands up.” She didn’t comply.
After about 30 minutes “of commands being given to April with no response,” the officers decided to enter the house. Huebner entered the rear living room door, removing dogs from the house to the backyard “where they were secured.” Vapenik, Huebner, DePrimo and Mershon entered the first floor “while announcing our presence as law enforcement.”
The officers “cleared the first floor and did not encounter April.” They say they found a ballistic plate carrier and a loaded AR rifle in the bedroom.
DePrimo “heard movement coming from the basement.” The basement had a 90-degree turn at the bottom of the stairs, and the officers determined that “moving down the stairs to encounter April would be unsafe, especially given the new information that she may be armed,” the affidavit states.
Huebner “gave April commands to come upstairs with her hands up” and informed her that she had a felony arrest warrant. She didn’t comply, authorities say. He then fired about five rounds of chemical irritant at the basement floor. “The rounds caused April to begin to cough from the basement,” Mershon wrote.
After waiting about 10 minutes and continuing to order April to come out of the basement, DePrimo gave her a “loud warning.” She still didn’t comply, the affidavit states.
Mershon put on a gas mask and deployed a chemical irritant grenade into the basement, which dispersed a chemical powder. He then “transitioned” to his taser, but never fired it. Huebner yelled to Morganroth that the powder wouldn’t go away, and that she needed to “come upstairs to decontaminate.”
“After several minutes, April began crawling up the basement stairs,” the affidavit states.
The officers moved April to clean air. The detectives took her into custody, placing handcuffs on her. They moved her outside, where medics assessed her.
Morganroth was booked into the Laramie County Detention Center. The criminal cases against her are ongoing, and she has not yet been formally convicted of any crimes.
