HOBART – The Kiowa County cattleman accused in the savage beating of a nearby landowner 30 years older than him was sentenced Wednesday.
On his “blind” plea of guilty to an amended charge of maiming, Ethan Patrick Treadwell was sentenced Wednesday by District Judge Rafe Hall to 10 years in state prison and 15 years suspended. Afterward, Treadwell was remanded to the custody of the Kiowa County Sheriff pending transfer to a state penal institution.
Additionally, a restitution hearing was scheduled for 9 a.m. Oct. 7.
Treadwell, 43, was charged initially with aggravated assault and battery on William Halbert “Junior” Hicks, 74, on Jan. 31, 2024. Both men live outside of Mountain Park on the same rural road; one resides two miles east of town and the other lives a mile west of town.
An affidavit relates that Kiowa County Sheriff Joe Janz told Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Daniel Perkins that on Jan. 30, 2024, Treadwell and his ex-wife, Kendall Elaine Cross, were culling her cattle on property in the vicinity of County Road 1620 and County Road 2290, near Snyder, that’s owned by Hicks and leased by Treadwell.
“Hicks approached Treadwell’s vehicle” and confronted him about money he was owed for the lease. Treadwell was sitting in his pickup at the time and allegedly had been drinking.
The affidavit further claims: Treadwell got out of the truck and hit Hicks, knocking him to the ground. While Hicks was down, Treadwell hit and kicked him, causing Hicks to lose consciousness. Cross later said Treadwell hit Hicks “10 to 15 times and kicked his face repeatedly…” Cross called 911and an ambulance arrived and transported Hicks to Comanche County Memorial Hospital in Lawton.
From there he was airlifted by mediflight to the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences medical center in Oklahoma City.
Hicks was placed on a ventilator for several hours and underwent facial surgery.
His injuries reportedly included traumatic brain injury, loss of 15 of his 32 teeth, an orbital “blowout” of his right eye that required installation of a metal plate in his eye socket, a broken nose and a fractured skull, has a brace on one leg and limited use of his left arm.
Subsequently, because the metal plate was causing him pain, Hicks underwent surgery where harvested bone was used to repair his eye socket. While in recovery from that operation he had a stroke and has been confined to a wheelchair since.
A state statute defines maiming as, “Every person who, with premeditated design to injure another, inflicts upon his person any injury which disfigures his personal appearance or disables any member or organ of his body or seriously diminishes his physical vigor, is guilty of maiming.” Under state law, the sentence for maiming another person is up to life in prison and/or a fine of up to $1,000.
Janz said Treadwell “told him he was involved in a fight with Hicks” over a debt and “Hicks came at him with a pair of pliers,” so Treadwell felt he “had to defend himself…” Evidence presented in court showed Hicks was holding a mobile telephone, not a pair of pliers.
Treadwell pleaded guilty on June 3.
When asked whether his attorney, Dennis Smith of Clinton, had “effectively assisted you in this case” and whether he was “satisfied with his advice,” Treadwell answered “yes.” He also acknowledged that he will be required to serve at least half of his prison sentence before he can be eligible for “state correctional earned credits toward completion of your sentence or eligibility for parole.”
‘If it weren’t for bad luck…’
Treadwell has had financial problems, domestic issues, his reality TV career went bust, and now he has a felony criminal record. Farmers Cooperative Association in Snyder won a default judgment in Tillman County District Court against Ethan Treadwell, Micah Treadwell of Frederick, plus Treadwell& Treadwell Joint Venture, in February 2024.
The amount was $104,420 unpaid for “goods” acquired from the co-op, interest at the rate of 1.5% per month, $655 in court costs, and $4,110 in attorney fees. The case was dropped March 27, 2025, after Farmers Cooperative Association acknowledged “receipt … of payment in full … as and for” the judgment.
Farm Credit Services of America sued Ethan Patrick Treadwell and Treadwell Land & Cattle Co. in May 2023 in Tillman County District Court, and was awarded $58,851, “together with interest at the rate of 10.99%,” along with $4,806 in attorney fees and $782 in court costs. FCS acknowledged “complete satisfaction of the judgment obtained” in the case on March 31, 2025.
Agrifund sued Treadwell and Luna Y Estrellas in October 2023 for failure to pay $44,535 plus per diem at the rate of $14.54. “For good and valuable consideration paid” by the defendants, Agrifund acknowledged in September 2024 that “said sum has been received and accepted in full payment and satisfaction” of the debt.
Ethan Treadwell and Kendall Cross were married in May 2022 in Weatherford, Texas, and were divorced in January 2024 in Kiowa County, Oklahoma, on the grounds of incompatibility. She now lives in Valley View, Texas.
Treadwell’s first marriage also ended in divorce. He married Lindsey Gayle Linney in Carter County in January 2008 and the couple divorced in April 2017 in Tillman County, court records reflect.
Treadwell appeared in the first season of the TV reality series Ultimate Cowboy Showdown, which aired for four seasons. In that show, contestants competed in a variety of areas, such as wrangling and sorting cattle, roping and horsemanship skills. Treadwell was voted off the show after the first season.
Ultimate Cowboy Showdown has been broadcast in the United States on INSP and streaming platforms YouTube, Prime and Peacock. It first aired in October 2019 and is hosted by singer/actor Trace Adkins.
On the show’s website, Treadwell claimed in his biography that he “ran 15 to 20 thousand head of cattle for his family’s operation.”