A Riverton, Wyoming, man who pleaded guilty to killing his girlfriend by “recklessly” spilling a mix of oil and gasoline throughout his home and lighting a match as she lay in bed was sentenced Friday to between 15 and 20 years in prison.
The attorney representing 56-year-old Vurnon Doney asked for a prison sentence of between six and 12 years in prison, while the prosecutor asked for 13-20.
As for Doney, he pleaded with Fremont County District Court Judge Jason Conder not to impose a lengthy sentence, saying it would not honor his victim’s memory to throw the rest of his life away.
Eve Newton, 49, died in a fire in Doney’s Riverton home April 26 after she was unable to escape a fire he started at the foot of the bed in which she lay at about 2 a.m.
Newton and Doney had been arguing that night. It started when Newton was “pretty mean” to a friend who was visiting with them, Doney told the court when he pleaded guilty in June.
He started mixing gasoline with two-stroke oil and brought the gasoline into the house. He spilled gas on himself, around himself and everything, Doney had told the court.
Later, “standing at the foot of her bed,” Doney lit a cigarette, caught himself on fire. He then took his flaming jacket and shirt off, starting the house on fire, according to his account.
“She died,” Doney had added at his June hearing.
Judge Conder recited these words with some incredulity Friday, saying “this was not an accident.”
If he were to make a judicial finding on mixing up a batch of two-stroke oil, he’d find that it’s not that messy, the judge said.
“There shouldn’t be gas flinging and flailing and splishing and splashing all over the place,” said Conder. “One does not usually take gasoline inside a home and splish it and splash it around, even in an accidental fashion.”
Conder noted that Doney pleaded to the charge of manslaughter on a theory he recklessly killed Newton, in exchange for the prosecutor, Fremont County Attorney Patrick LeBrun, not charging something worse.
Manslaughter is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, so Conder’s sentence approaches or, depending on Doney’s behavior in prison, meets the maximum allowed by law.
Fires
Fires plagued Doney’s childhood too, according to court testimony.
His aunt told the court that Doney’s father kidnapped him shortly after his birth and ran away with him until the pair broke down, and Doney was found dehydrated and in need of medical care.
She said Doney was taken from his mother when her vehicle caught fire and child protective services intervened.
And Doney’s mother’s other three children died in a trailer fire for which she was ultimately convicted of arson and imprisoned, Doney’s aunt added.
Bad Day
Conder called Doney’s life story one of the saddest things he’d ever heard.
While it may explain his behavior, it does not excuse it, the judge said.
Conder listed Doney’s criminal history, which stems back to a 1990 DUI and continues through the 1990s and to 2019 with property damage, drug, interference, public intoxication and other charges — plus a felony aggravated assault charge for attacking a pregnant woman in about 2003.
But, Conder said, the most concerning among these are the slew of attacks on women. He listed the assault charge and multiple battery charges and convictions. The tally reflects a pattern, said the judge.
“And I say all that not to pile on, Mr. Doney. I don’t believe anyone is truly bad or truly good. People have good days and bad days,” Conder said. “But the rest of the community doesn’t have to sit around and have Mr. Doney have bad day after bad day — and people are getting beat up and killed.”
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
