GOSHEN COUNTY – The Honorable Eighth Judicial District Court Judge, Edward Buchanan, announced court was in session for criminal docket 2024-17, the State of Wyoming versus Gaige Zook on the morning of Wednesday, April 9. 

Zook, a 21-year-old Pinedale, Wyoming resident was ordered to appear for a sentencing hearing after entering a guilty plea to involuntary manslaughter for the shotgun death of a 19-year-old Minnesota man, Maurizio Justiniano Dadin (Marz). The incident took place near the junction of Wyoming State Highway 156 and County Road 37, outside of Torrington om January 20, 2024, according to court documents where Zook, Dadin and another hunter headed to the North Platte River, duck hunting. 

Zook’s firearm, a 20-gauge shot gun, misfired at one point during the morning hunt and Zook placed his gun against a fallen tree, to inspect at a later time. After firing a shot at a duck and missing, Zook retrieve his gun and in an attempt to evaluate the firearm. The gun misfired again, shooting Dadin and killing him. 

Zook appeared with his counsel, Kenna Blaney, and the State of Wyoming was represented by Goshen County Attorney, Eric Boyer. A representative of Wyoming probation and parole was also in attendance. Court proceedings began with the standard preliminary questions from Buchanan.

“Are you under the influence of any medications, alcohol or drugs? Is there any other condition I need to be aware of that could make it difficult for you to understand today’s proceedings or to otherwise participate or communicate with the court?” the judge asked Zook.

“No, Your Honor,” Zook responded. 

Next, Buchanan asked both attorney’s if they had received Zook’s pre-sentencing investigation (PSI) report within the required time and if either party had any corrections which needed to be made.

“I would suggest a little bit on number page four of the PSI, under the description of the plea agreement, says in part, that the defendant will plead guilty and request unsupervised probation for up to 36 months,” Boyer said. “The parties agree to argue whether or not that the probation should be supervised. Supervision was not part of the agreement. So, I am planning to argue that point.”

Blaney concurred, stating Boyer’s account was accurate. 

With no additional information to present to the judge, Buchanan opened the floor to Blaney. 

“Thank you, Your Honor. This plea agreement is made pursuant to Wyoming Rules of Criminal Procedure 11-A2 and E-1C. The A2 plea allows Mr. Zook to appeal the motion to dismiss that we filed with this court to the Wyoming Supreme Court and the E1C plea would allow him to withdraw his plea in the event that the court did reject the plea agreement during this sentencing hearing,” Blaney said. “As a factual basis, we submit Mr. Zook’s written statement to law enforcement that we also played the video of in a prior hearing in this court. The state has agreed to give its statutory consent under Wyoming Statute 7-13-301, recommending first offender treatment.”

Blaney noted, the binding plea agreement was pursuant to Wyoming Rules of Criminal Procedure 11E2.

“We would ask the court to continue to go along with this binding plea agreement. There was no alcohol or drugs or any type of horseplay in the facts that issue nor was there any criminal intent by Mr. Zook. In fact, it was a terrible accident and as Mr. Zook had referenced in his recorded a statement to the sheriff, we played that in court, which certainly captures Mr. Zook’s remorse over the death of his friend,” Blaney said.

Continuing on, Blaney further noted Zook was a 21-year-old prior student at the University of Wyoming with no criminal history, no drug or alcohol use and a strong family support system. Blaney also explained, during the court’s proceedings, Zook remained employed.

“The PSI correctly reflects he has appropriately sought and received counseling for him to deal with his own mental health issues related to this incident,” Blaney said. “The PSI found him to be a low risk for recidivism and every indication that he will be successful on probation. In light of the above, we would respectfully request that the court accept the plea agreement and place Mr. Zook on unsupervised probation for a period of 12 months.”

“We would question whether supervision is truly necessary for Mr. Zook. And further, he has been on bond in this matter for nearly a year now. An additional 12 months of supervision out of a possible 36 months we don’t think is appropriate under the circumstances. And so, we would ask the court for an unsupervised probation of 12 months,” Blaney continued, standing for the courts question.

Zook then made a statement.

“Your Honor, I would first like to thank my parents and family for supporting me through these proceedings. I’m truly blessed to have their support and love, as I know lots of people may not have this luxury,” Zook said. “Second, I want the family of Marz to know that I would never intentionally hurt Marz. Marz had become one of my best friends and had supported me through a rather tough time during college. After a year’s passed from this terrible accident, the pain from losing one of my best friends is still fresh and there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t see a picture of him on my phone.” 

“I had an incredible amount of time to think about what happened. I hope you have watched my recorded statement to law enforcement at the sheriff’s office. That statement truly captures my incredible sadness and the loss of my friend. I truly hope that one day we all will be able to heal from these wounds,” Zook said.

Boyer then had the opportunity to speak where he convened with Blaney, pointing out a few corrections in her arguments. Boyer noted Zook was not presently enrolled in the University of Wyoming and Blaney noted Zook had the intention of returning to school after the court proceedings. 

“I suggest, from my point of view, the elephant in the room is the utter horrific gravity of this case and the effect that it has had on Mr. Zook and his family, obviously, but more importantly, on Marz, Maurizio. He went by Maurizio Justiniano Dadin,” Boyer said. “And none of those folks are present. We had had the family here for Minnesota for several court proceedings. They have not responded to us, being my office and Crime Victim’s Advocate’s Office for Goshen County since, I believe, January 8 or 9, but we shared some emails. And I say that because this is the kind of case where lives are shattered and irreparably,” Boyer paused. “Marz is dead.”

“Marz lived for a good 20 minutes in horrific agony. I agree with Ms. Blaney, that the state, in this context, has not only consented to but agreed as part of a binding plea agreement to recommend it to the 7-13-301. I, wholeheartedly, plan to live up to that agreement and deem that to be appropriate for reasons I’ll get into, in perhaps, excruciate in detail. My point being, the flip side of this is this is a perfect case, I suggest, to talk about the merits of justice. What justice looks like, to talk about the whole process of why we have in this country open free public courts like this with elected prosecutors, such as myself, who the people who if don’t like the type of plea agreements I engage in, cannot choose to re-elect me next time,” Boyer said. “All these kinds of factors play into this and I suggest that as Ms. Blaney said, this obviously, was a terrible accident. Mr. Zook was charged with involuntary manslaughter meaning obviously that there’s no allegation that he (Zook) intended to cause the death of Maurizio or rather involuntary but recklessly and unlawfully killed Marz. I suggest it’s relevant, to me, to think it’s somewhat incomplete to just say this was a terrible accident.”

Boyer again stated he had not had any contact with the victim’s family. He also presented the court with the requested restitution amount of $3,420.

“It is critical in cases like this to consider mitigating and aggravating factors. In Mr. Zook’s favor, mitigation factors obviously include his very young age, his lack of any prior criminal history or any kind of known substance abuse or mental health history or anything else. There are no alleged past circumstances that would otherwise indicate that this is a higher risk of reoffending or otherwise,” Boyer noted. “There are no circumstances at the time of the events indicating provocation or stress or emotional issues such that this might not have been an accident. I suggest as part of the equation from a victim’s family, I believe, and again I don’t want to speak with that, but I believe that there is some speculation in the back of people’s mind, honestly, in cases like this, this wasn’t an accident.”

“But rather just to point out the very horrific nature of how this kind of case plays out for the rest of the lives for the family and the victims in this case. I’m harping on that point because it was my job to seek justice in this case. I want to be crystal clear that I’ve taken a long hard look at this and this is a case where Marz’s life ended and shouldn’t have. It did in a very miserable way,” Boyer explained. “But the flip side is, Mr. Zook took responsibility for his actions and there’s no need to end Mr. Zook’s life in an eye for an eye kind of retribution.”

Boyer addressed the recommended probationary terms for Zook noting the first recommendation in the PSI report indicated Zook should comply with all conditions and directives of the probation and parole community supervision agreement. Boyer stated the State of Wyoming agreed. The second recommendation stated Zook would submit to a mental health evaluation and complete any recommended counseling at his own expense. The recommendations also state Zooks shall not use or possess drugs, alcohol or controlled substances or associate with anyone who does. The recommendations also specified Zook would submit himself to substance abuse evaluations and/or treatment. The sixth recommendation stated Zook was not to enter any establishment where alcohol was the main source of income. Recommendations also required Zook to utilize one doctor, one pharmacy, one dentist and sign a release of information for the probation agent. The last term of recommendation stated Zook would make payments toward restitution and reprise as ordered by the court. 

“Just for the record, I did also want to make sure that if Mr. Zook does successfully complete the probation, should the court accept the agreement, his charges would then be dismissed. Just to make that clear,” Blaney said.

After more argument, Buchanan explained he had the file, the PSI, recent documentation received from either party as well as the document regarding restitution. Buchanan also noted there was no longer an objection between the state and the defense regarding restitution. Buchanan further explained the court takes multiple factors into account prior to sentencing. He also explained, legally, he cannot refer to the Dadin’s death an accident but it was indeed a tragedy. Buchanan also stated he was aware it was not Zook’s intention to kill his friend, Dadin.

Under a deferred prosecution, Zook will pay no fine but rather a $500 assessment charge for the compensation fund. Zook will also pay $40 to the court foundation fund and $10 to Indigent Legal Services. Zook was also ordered to reimburse the state for his PSI. He was also ordered to pay restitution of $3,420. 

“So, let’s talk about probation. Now, I’m going to go back to the aggravating portion for this, okay? It’s a serious, serious event and you will have the opportunity to consultation with a probation agent to ask the court if everything is going well. I’m not projecting, the court’s inclination on what it would do, but it is not beyond the realm that the department of corrections, probation and parole will petition the court at some point in time and say, ‘This young man is doing everything he’s supposed to do. Everything has been paid. He has not had any violations whatsoever. We’d like to discharge him from probation,’” Buchanan said. 

Buchanan further noted, with a deferred prosecution, the defendant needs to show the court he is worthy of the treatment and Zook will do what he has been ordered to do. 

“You’re going to pay the fines, the fees, the restitution. You’re not going to have any violations of law. You’re going to complete the counseling and do all of those things,” Buchanan said. “That is why today, I will, as part of the sentencing, include three years supervised probation.” 

Court stood in recess after a short explanation of the terms of Zook’s probation.