Game Warden Wilson Conley Elms

As a US Forest Service LEO on the Boise National Forest in the early 1980's, I knew Conley and his brother Mike. Conley was a big teddy bear of a guy...one of the nicest people you would ever want to know. He usually had his loyal black lab with him in his pickup when he was on patrol. Like everyone else, I was shocked when I heard then news, as I had seen and chatted with him just a week or so before it happened. Even more shocking was the relatively light sentence that this Dallas character received from the State of Idaho. This was a straight forward execution style killing of both Elms and Pogh. As a back country USFS LEO on the Boise National Forest, it was an eye-opener as to the number of deranged, unstable, anti-government survivalist types like Claude Dallas, living off the land in our nation's back country areas. Before I retired, I used to mentor younger LEOs with a basic piece of advice: Always assume that these types are armed with more than one weapon, and NEVER turn your back on them.
RIP Conley and Bill!

Walt Tegge, Forest Service LEO (retired)
U.S. Forest Service, Boise National Forest

October 9, 2018