A Casper man charged with aggravated assault and threatening people with a gun at a bar earlier this month now faces a charge of attempted second degree murder, a Natrona County Circuit Court judge said Thursday.

John Knox, 29, heard the charge against him during what was supposed to be a preliminary hearing on the first two counts during his appearance before Judge Brian Christensen.

However, the third charge resulted in the rescheduling of the preliminary hearing, during which the state presents evidence to show probable cause that a crime was committed and the accused committed it. If a judge agrees, the case is bound over to Natrona County District Court for trial.

Knox was in custody on a $25,000 bond, but Assistant District Attorney Dan Itzen asked Christensen to raise it to $75,000 because of the new charge. On the night of the alleged other crimes, Knox was out of custody on $10,000 and $15,000 bonds related to other charges, and he had failed to report for drug testing, Itzen said.

But Public Defender Kurt Infanger to keep the current $25,000 bond, saying Knox showed he was willing to cooperate when he surrendered, and he is a lifelong Casper resident, so the current bond plus the previous ones were enough to guarantee his appearance in court., Infanger said.

Christensen set Knox's bond at $50,000 on the new charge.

The case began early Jan. 9, when Natrona County sheriff's deputies responded to a call at Rack’s Gentlemen’s Club in Mills about a fight inside the bar, after which Knox was ejected from the building and returned with a handgun.

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