One of the youngest women ever sent to Montana State Prison: On September 11, 1951, Evelyn Donges, then age sixteen, lured John Hoffman into an alley where he was beaten and robbed by two other teenagers. Hoffman died four days after the attack. After the robbery, the three teens picked up another friend and left town in a stolen car, initiating a manhunt that stretched as far as Texas. One of the four left the others in Smithfield, Utah, and hitchhiked back to his home in Laurel. The other three were arrested September 23 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Donges and another of the attackers,
Tom LaFave, were charged with first degree murder. The third teenager involved in the attack was too young to charge. Both Donges and LaFave were eventually paroled.
One of the youngest women ever sent to Montana State Prison: On September 11, 1951, Evelyn Donges, then age sixteen, lured John Hoffman into an alley where he was beaten and robbed by two other teenagers. Hoffman died four days after the attack. After the robbery, the three teens picked up another friend and left town in a stolen car, initiating a manhunt that stretched as far as Texas. One of the four left the others in Smithfield, Utah, and hitchhiked back to his home in Laurel. The other three were arrested September 23 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Donges and another of the attackers,
Tom LaFave, were charged with first degree murder. The third teenager involved in the attack was too young to charge. Both Donges and LaFave were eventually paroled.