KAUK CONVICTED ON THREE FELONY COUNTS

This article was originally published in the April 26 Issue.

Professional climber Lonnie Kauk was convicted Friday afternoon in Mono County Superior Court on three felony counts and one misdemeanor stemming from a domestic violence incident involving his ex-girlfriend, Riley Hancock, in June 2023.

The five-day jury trial concluded with guilty verdicts on felony charges of strangulation, criminal threats, and vandalism. A fourth charge, originally charged as a felony for an injury to Hancock’s lip, was downgraded to a misdemeanor by the jury. The Sheet published an initial report on the trial in last week’s issue on April 19.

Kauk is a prominent Yosemite climber and the son of famed climber Ron Kauk.

He now faces a potential sentence of up to 8 years and 4 months in state prison. Judge Gerald Mohun, who presided over the case, will determine the sentence at a hearing scheduled for June.

The prosecution, led by Mono County’s Deputy District Attorney Lauren Ryerson, first brought Hancock to the stand, followed by a series of witnesses to the event and an expert witness.

The incident began when Kauk picked Hancock up from her place of work, the Double Eagle Resort Restaurant in June Lake. Once inside, the couple drank, and Kauk got in a physical altercation with Hancock’s former co-worker (and future boyfriend).

Hancock said Kauk was still angry about the dispute as she drove herself and Kauk home from the Double Eagle. Wearing cowboy boots, Kauk kicked the windshield of her car, causing a spider-web crack, then jumped out of the vehicle.

Driving alongside Kauk, Hancock rolled down the window to talk to him. He came to the driver’s side door, put his hands on the window, pulled, and shattered it. A shard of glass cut Hancock’s lip.

In the trial, Ryerson displayed a screenshot of a Venmo payment from Kauk to Hancock to pay for the damages to her car as proof of guilt. She also had a receipt for the driver’s side window repair and gave a verbal estimate of the windshield repair. Because the total damage to the car was estimated to cost over $400, it was considered a felony.

After the window broke, Hancock drove away and returned to the room where she said they both resided in Kauk’s family home. His half-brother, Quincy Parker, was also in the house.

Kauk arrived home after Hancock. When he got there, he and Hancock got into a verbal argument, and she testified that he began pushing her around and throwing her belongings out the window. 

Then, Kauk allegedly began making threats, she said. Threats are charged as felonies in cases where they involve serious harm.

He gestured to a knife and said he’d kill her dog in front of her, then kill her. He also said he would find and kill her father, who was in the hospital at the time. Finally, he raised his thumbs and said he’d gouge her eyes out so the last thing she’d see was his face.

When Ryerson asked if she believed Kauk could carry these threats out, Hancock said yes.

Then, Hancock fell to her knees, and Kauk put his hand around her neck and strangled her, she said. 

Hancock said she could not speak while his hand was on her neck, and her peripheral vision closed in until she could not see at all. She believed she had lost consciousness.

“I just remember how tight it felt, how you really cannot breathe,” she said. “I didn’t know if that was going to be the last thing I saw – his face”

The strangulation ultimately ended because she fell on her back and he let go. The prosecution showed three images of Hancock’s neck to the Jury. Each picture showed a bruise shaped like a handprint on her neck. The next day, Hancock said she vomited and her voice was raspy. She wore a turtleneck to work to hide the bruise because makeup didn’t cover it well enough and would rub off.

Parker, who was present in the house, testified on behalf of the defense. He said he came up to the room when he heard a thud. From there, his and Hancock’s testimonies diverge, and he said he thought she’d had a seizure.

In cross-examination, the prosecution showed body-cam footage of Mono County Sheriff Officers arriving at Kauk’s home before his arrest. Parker told them Kauk was not around, but that he “obviously knew why” they were there. 

He said on the video that he was not present on the weekend of the incident.

In the months after the incident, Parker did not respond to the District Attorney Investigator’s attempts to reach him by phone or in person. He said he assumed the charges were for the incident at the Double Eagle. He repeatedly said he was “confused.” 

Also, in the evidence submitted to the Court, the prosecution presented a recording of a phone call between Kauk and Hancock on October 1, 2023.

Hancock asked Kauk, “Why did you put your hands around my neck?” several times on the call. Kauk did not address the question. 

He responded instead by telling her he “Has to deal with this [the charges] now,” and asked her repeatedly, “Do you want me to go to prison for a long time?” He said the charges were “psycho,” and that her police report was full of “lies.”

Kauk did not testify during the trial.

…

The Sheet’s initial  reporting on the trial inaccurately reported that Kauk had previously testified against another climber, Charles Barrett, in a separate domestic violence case. 

This according to the victim in that case, Bonnie Hedlund. 

Hedlund told the Sheet that Kauk never testified in court or worked with authorities, despite witnessing the attack and being quoted on it publicly.