George Skylar Cloud Sentenced to Life for Murder, Gun Crimes

A 22-year-old White Swan man shot a woman in the leg to steal her Chrysler in March 2016, then murdered 31-year-old Felina Metsker weeks later in a calculated cover-up that sent her body into the remote brush of the Yakama Nation. George Skylar Cloud, an enrolled member of the Confederated Bands and Tribes of the Yakama Nation, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stanley A. Bastian to life in federal prison for first-degree murder and two consecutive 10-year terms for discharging a firearm during separate crimes of violence.

Cloud’s spree began when he was a passenger in a Chrysler owned by a woman who stopped near the Yakamart in Toppenish, Washington. In early to mid-March 2016, Cloud pulled a gun, shot the owner in the leg, and drove off with the vehicle. The victim, fearing retaliation, never reported the carjacking or sought medical care. But community members came forward after Cloud bragged about the shooting and theft, tipping off federal investigators.

By late March 2016, Cloud and an accomplice believed Felina Metsker had informed or planned to inform law enforcement about the carjacking. Retribution followed swiftly. Cloud entered Metsker’s residence and shot her in the head. He and another individual wrapped her body in bedding, dragged it across the floor, and loaded her into the stolen Chrysler. The vehicle was later abandoned in rural Yakama Nation land, while Cloud returned to Metsker’s home and enlisted family members to help sanitize the crime scene.

On April 1, 2016, a citizen alerted Yakama Nation Police to blood inside Metsker’s home. She had already been reported missing. FBI agents secured the scene, obtained a search warrant, and found dried blood on the ceiling, walls, and floor—along with what appeared to be fragments of human brain matter behind a bed. Investigators concluded the body had been wrapped and moved. In May 2016, decomposed human remains, including a skull, were discovered in a remote area of the reservation. Animal activity had disturbed the site, complicating recovery.

Forensic breakthroughs turned the tide. The FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, matched blood at the crime scene to Metsker. DNA traces found in the trunk of the stolen Chrysler linked Cloud to the vehicle. An FBI metallurgist recovered low-zinc brass and lead fragments embedded in the remains, consistent with the firearm used in the murder. Evidence mounted over 21 grueling months of investigation, culminating in Cloud’s conviction after a four-day jury trial in January 2019.

Cloud had already pleaded guilty on February 21, 2018, to one count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence tied to the carjacking. The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, Joseph H. Harrington, confirmed the sentencing: life for first-degree murder, plus two consecutive 10-year terms for the firearm charges. The verdict delivers justice for Metsker and sends a hard message—on tribal and federal land, cold-blooded violence won’t vanish into the trees.