Jury convicts Iowa man of carjacking Cheyenne resident

Lee Morgan, 41, was found guilty of kidnapping and carjacking with intent to cause serious bodily injury.

Morgan and another man were accused of kidnapping Frank Klein, 21, of Cheyenne, after approaching him at a Cheyenne truck stop on Dec. 19 for help jump-starting their car.

Klein was giving one of them a lift to the car when he was threatened with a knife and told to drive west on Interstate 80, authorities said. The men took him through Utah and Nevada, at times forcing him into the car's trunk, beating and stabbing him and slitting his throat.

Klein was eventually kicked down a ravine and buried in snow near a rest stop at Beowawe, Nev. He managed to crawl out of the ravine and flag down a snowplow driver. The men were arrested shortly afterward.

The jury in Reno, Nev., reached its verdict Thursday following a two-week trial. Codefendant Billy Johnson, 45, of Ames, Iowa, pleaded guilty to similar charges earlier this month. The men could face up to life in prison.

Klein, who testified during trial, plans to testify again during sentencing on Oct. 18.

"I'm going to recommend they get life so they can't hurt anyone else," Klein said. "I believe they are a danger to society. If they were to get out they could easily do this again to someone else. And that person may not be as lucky as I am."

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