The trial for a 2023 triple homicide case in Custer County kicked off Thursday with new evidence presented to the court, the latest in a series of twists and turns for a case that took three years to come to fruition.

Hanme Clark, 47, is accused of shooting and killing three of his neighbors — Rob Geers, his wife, Beth Wade Geers, and James Daulton — over what authorities suspect was a land dispute in November 2023. Daulton’s wife, Patty, survived the shooting but sustained serious injuries, The Gazette previously reported.

Jury selection for the widely anticipated three-week trial started Monday, and Thursday morning was supposed kick off with opening statements after the jury was finalized. However, defense attorney Janene McGabe brought forth to the court a 911 call about a neighbor claiming that another man, James Adams, was responsible for the killings.  

Clean-shaven and dressed in a blue suit and tie, Clark was identified as the shooter by Patty Daulton during her testimony despite the introduction of an alternate suspect.

She told the jury that Adams, whom she had expressed fears of to authorities before the shooting, wasn’t involved.

Prior to Daulton’s testimony and the start of the trial, McGabe said that Adams said that he would admit to being the shooter if called to testify and expressed hopes that Clark would be cleared of his charges.

Fighting through tears, Daulton recalled the exact moment Clark allegedly pulled out the gun and fired three consecutive shots, with the last one being at her.

“He just shot us like we were tin cans,” she said before telling the jury she fell to the ground once she was struck in the chin. “I heard my husband say, ‘Please just stop.’ And then more gunfire.”

Daulton testiftied that the shooting took place on the Geers’ property, which is in a secluded Rock Ridge Road neighborhood near the Fremont County border.

She claims Clark came out of a treeline, accused the four of trespassing, and suddenly pulled out a gun and fired.

Daulton described a tense relationship with Clark and his girlfriend, Nancy Medina-Kochis, after meeting them with her husband when they moved to the neighborhood in early 2020.

During that interaction, she claimed Clark was holding a rifle, though she noted he wasn’t pointing it at anyone.

Ever since, the two parties avoided each other, but tensions grew once Clark started accusing the couple of trespassing on his property, Daulton said.

The situation escalated further after Rob Geers allegedly presented evidence that a company Clark was part of, Herbal Garden Wellness (which owned Clark’s property), was making profiles of neighbors, according to Clark.

CASE TOOK THREE YEARS TO GO TO TRIAL

Clark’s case took a turn once he was arrested after apparently having fled to New Mexico in November 2023, Custer County authorities said at the time.

In June 2025, 11th Judicial District Judge Lauren Swan granted a change-of-venue request from Custer to Fremont County, court records show. That was the start of a long journey to trial. It was also made clear that the court would need to broaden its jury selection, as the close-knit community in Custer County was too familiar with the case.

Delays began after the introduction of evidence following discovery by the prosecution. Discovery is a formal process by which both the defense and prosecution exchange all of the evidence gathered, so neither party is blindsided during trial.

Another violation happened after the Custer County Sheriff’s Office Undersheriff Susan Barnes erred by ordering two deputies to search Clark’s property a second time without a warrant, according to reporting from the Wet Mountain Tribune.

Discovery issues continued, according to previous Gazette reporting, in mid-2025 when the defense did the same thing, pushing the trial from September to February.

McGabe brought up more discovery issues to the court Thursday morning, telling Swan that her office wasn’t made aware of the 911 call until Wednesday night.

“This is trial by ambush,” McGabe told Swan.

McGabe said the violation goes against the basic tenets of due process and asked Swan to dismiss the case, but the request was denied.

Prosecutor Stacey Turner argued that the defendant and his attorney were given the 911 call service logs on a hard drive in early 2024, which they said they no longer had access to.

“It is concerning to me that there is a very real possibility that, ultimately, this 911 call was not disclosed,” Swan said.

The impact of an alternate suspect was not made abundantly clear on Thursday. However, Swan authorized McGabe to use the 911 call in court, so long as the jury is given limited instruction explaining the purpose for presenting the evidence to them. She also said she would consider a mistrial if other complications happened.

McGabe told the courtroom that Adams, the alternate suspect, also lived in the neighborhood and is still “extremely” angry with the Daultons. The continued animosity led Daulton to consider filing a restraining order against him.

Medina-Kochis, 52, was arrested in November 2023. She was later charged with five counts of being an accessory to a crime, all lower-level felonies. She pleaded not guilty to all five counts, court records show. Her jury trial is slated for April.

Clark is being held in the Fremont County jail on a $2 million bond, court records show. His trial will resume on Friday at 8:30 a.m.