Case Against Yosemite Shooting Suspect Fades

Nevada officials said Tuesday that a murder suspect in their state could not have been the gunman who shot and wounded a ranger in Yosemite National Park a week ago. Their announcement cut down the number of leads in the shooting that forced the closure and evacuation of a popular Yosemite backpacking area.

James Steven Robinson, 36, was arrested Sunday on suspicion of killing his ex-wife’s boyfriend in Gardnerville, Nev., a week ago.

Robinson was considered a possible suspect in the assault later the same day on ranger Kim Aufhauser, 37.

The two crimes were committed with the same caliber weapon, Robinson was familiar with the national park and he was on the run, officials said during last week’s manhunt for Aufhauser’s assailant.

But Wednesday, Douglas County Sheriff’s Sgt. Lance Modispacher said: “Mr. Robinson has nothing to do with Yosemite. He didn’t have time to be there, for one.”

Robinson had been cooperating in the murder investigation. He had allegedly stolen two vehicles far from the Yosemite area, Modispacher said. He was arrested in Nevada, several hundred miles from the park.

Ranger Kris Fister, a Yosemite spokeswoman, said that although Robinson has not been entirely ruled out as a suspect in Aufhauser’s assault, “it doesn’t seem like we can pin it on him.” The investigation continues, Fister said.