But she wasn't killed during the commission of that felony. She was killed prior to it. I didn't intend to make this complicated. Sorry about that. Maybe this will clarify it better. Murder is a felony that requires intent. BL can try to argue there was "no intent to kill" and seek a lesser charge (manslaughter, depraved heart, whatever). But, there are certain felonies (violent, mostly) where if you are committing them and someone unintentionally ends up dead, it doesn't matter if you intended to kill them or not. You can get charged with murder. Not manslaughter - voluntary or involuntary, or depraved heart, etc. The crime you were in the process of committing is enough to capture it as murder. That's "Felony-Murder" (an unintentional killing occurring during the commission of a separate, violent, felony). Not sure if that makes sense. BL won't be on hook for felony murder because GP was not killed in the commission of those felonies and those felonies are likely not of the class for which felony murder would apply anyway. If he is charged he will be charged with some degree of murder - which is a felony, and where it goes from there is anyone's guess at this point. MOO JMO IMO
Oh - well then, you haven't been reading the speculation here. Yes, people are speculating that her death was more or less an accident - an unintended outcome of some other, less serious crime.
As for how big something has to be, to be a felony. in Wyoming (whose laws also matter here, as Federal Jurisdiction may include crimes not specifically in Federal statutes, as long as they are state statutes in the place where the crime was committed).
I really have no clue if Wyoming has a felony murder rule.
But I am very much intending to address the issue of Gabby not being fully strangled (woke up later, then dies of something else or is killed by someone else), or Gabby's death is unintentional (she's pushed down by BL and the rocks that hit each side of her neck are somehow wedged against her arteries; thereby he didn't really murder her).
Indeed, in some jurisdictions, attempting to strangle someone or assaulting them in a manner such as to cause serious injury is itself a felony. Often a pretty serious felony.
So even if, as some claim, BL walked off toward Colter Bay not knowing that Gabby was dead, having merely intended to push/shove/smoosh her again...I think he's got a felony in there somewhere.
I can't really discuss my theories about what frame of mind (in BL's mind) could produce any such outcome, hopefully the patient reader will think of those, as it is interesting to do that exercise.
I also don't believe she was unconscious in 10 seconds, but that's a different post.