Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Ex-rodeo champ killed in ranch shooting

|
|
 
  
Published: Oct. 26, 2009 at 3:55 PM

GRANTS, N.M., Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Legendary New Mexico rodeo cowboy Sonny Jim has been slain in a shooting incident that erupted over an argument about a fence, police say.

Jim, a Navajo Indian in his 70s who won world championships as a rodeo star in the 1980s, was shot to death Friday along with his friend, Wayne Johnson, near Grants, N.M., allegedly by the owner of a neighboring ranch who had been arguing with Johnson over property lines, KOAT-TV, Albuquerque, reported.

The neighbor, Danny Stanfield, faces charges of murder, aggravated assault and tampering with communications because he allegedly kicked a cellphone out of the hands of one the victims as he attempted to call for help.

Stanfield remained jailed without bond at the Cibola County, N.M., Detention Center.

KOAT reported that Sonny Jim was remembered Sunday at the International Indian Rodeo Finals in Farmington, N.M., where fans and fellow cowboys lauded the toughness, character and charisma he brought to the sport.

Topics: Wayne Johnson
© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
The Tibetan Moniam Festival in China Super Bowl XLVI ticker tape victory parade The making of the Oscars
The Chicago Auto Show The Most Desirable Women of 2012 Tu Bishvat Migron settlement
Additional U.S. News Stories
1 of 19
Tiger Woods plays Spyglass Hill in the AT&T Pro-Am in Pebble Beach, California
View Caption
fark
National Geographic misrepresented 'Doomsday Prepper' Megan Hurwitt. Producer even offered her $1,000...
Saudi Arabia would like you all to know that if Iran tests a nuke, they want one too...and they...
More than $500,000 rare jewels stolen in a jewelry store heist. It involved burrowing through a...
What is your favorite euphemism for the deed? Subby likes 'bumping uglies'
Worker Pepper Sprayed In Buffalo Wild Wings Robbery. Victim quoted as saying "OW OW OW"
Vietnamese police trying to force farmer off his land find out the hard way that the war wasn't...