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Robbery cited as motive in triple Wyo. killing

Posted: 1:49 PM Mar 5, 2013
Reporter: Associated Press

CODY, Wyo. (AP) -- Two teens charged in a triple homicide in a small Wyoming town near the Montana border will be held in jail without bail.

Nineteen-year-old Stephen Hammer and 18-year-old Tanner Vanpelt, both of Cody, made their first court appearance Tuesday morning in Cody.

Each is charged with 11 felony counts, including premeditated murder, use of a deadly weapon and robbery.

A judge ordered the two teens held without bond. The judge also appointed public defenders for the defendants, who said little during the hearing except to answer the judge's questions.

According to court documents, the teens told investigators they stole handguns from a Cody gun store and went to a house they knew to steal a black Audi SUV so they could escape to Denver.