Three men accused of beating their roommate and dumping him in a desolate and freezing stretch of Campbell County with no shoes or shirt Sunday are Mexican nationals who have attracted the interest of immigration officials, the local sheriff says.
Adrian Gonzalez-Oviedo, 41, Adan Oviedo-Rivera, 43, and Juan Gonzalez-Rendon, 37, all have been charged with attempted first-degree murder and kidnapping in Gillette Circuit Court.
Campbell County Attorney Nathan Henkes filed the charges against them Monday. Each man could face life in prison if convicted.
Whether they’re convicted and sentenced or acquitted, the three men will transfer into the custody of Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) when their cases and potential sentences are complete, Campbell County Sheriff Scott Matheny told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday.
None of the men had the trappings of citizenship, such as a green card, though they’ve been working and living in Campbell County, Matheny added.
They all reported they’re from Mexico.
Something Wrong With This Car
The investigation started at 1:48 a.m. Sunday, when the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office received a call of an abandoned vehicle near Little Powder River and Hannum roads.
Sgt. Martin Spencer and Deputy Jeremy Hatcher went to the area and found a tan 2005 Chevy Malibu in the ditch, its windows broken out and interior drizzled with bloodstains, says an evidentiary affidavit written by Cpl. Josh Knittel.
The vehicle’s owner was a Hispanic man known to live in Gillette, the investigators learned. They went to that man’s home and he wasn’t there.
Instead, they found Rivera-Oviedo, Gonzalez-Rendon and Gonzalez-Oviedo, says the document.
The Malibu’s owner had plans of leaving town and had left that night, someone at the home told investigators, according to the affidavit.
“Deputies had difficulty speaking with the individuals due to the language barrier,” Knittel observed.
The deputies left the home.
Airport Calling
At 4:14 a.m., someone at the Northeast Wyoming Regional Airport in Gillette called in a welfare check regarding a man sleeping in the airport’s entryway, says the affidavit.
Authorities later identified the sleeping man as the Malibu’s missing owner. He was barefoot with no shirt or coat, the document says.
Sgt. Martin Spencer and Cpl. Kyle Borgialli went to the airport and met with the man, who did not speak English. The affidavit says they noticed his left eye had a large bruise and he had other injuries. He was taken to the hospital, and later released.
At The Sheriff’s Office
The man later went to the sheriff’s office for an interview with Knittel. Translator Samanta Dorado communicated between the two.
He said he works with Rivera-Oviedo, Gonzalez-Rendon and Gonzalez-Oviedo. He’s also been living at their home for four weeks since moving to Gillette from Florida, the man said.
The man said all four of them spent the prior night drinking alcohol.
Gonzalez-Oviedo tried giving the man his paycheck for work he’d done, but the man said he’d rather Gonzalez-Oviedo give it to their boss “to hold onto,” the affidavit relates from the man’s interview.
The man and Gonzalez-Oviedo got into an argument
The man went outside, while the other three followed him.
Gonzalez-Rendon retrieved a large, black-handled chef’s knife from the kitchen, the affidavit relates from the victim’s interview.
Gonzalez-Oviedo and the man had a shoving and wrestling match. The man put Gonzalez-Oviedo into a headlock, but while the man was bent over, Gonzalez-Rendon kicked him in the face, knocking him down, the document says.
The other three men started kicking and punching him on his body and face, the affidavit continues, adding that the man’s shoes “were removed” during the attack.
It’s unclear what happened to the victim’s shoes. The victim also said others took his phone and wallet, but police did not find those items in any suspects’ possession, the document says.
Into The Malibu
The victim said the other men loaded him into his Malibu and drove north.
Later when interviewed separately, all three suspects said the victim got into the car of his own will.
“While they were driving north, Juan told (the victim) they were going to kill him (and) leave him in a ditch, and showed him the chef’s knife,” Knittel related from the victim’s interview.
The others also punched the victim sporadically throughout the drive, the victim told Knittel.
This was another point the suspects denied when interviewed.
The men drove 20-30 minutes.
The victim fled the vehicle once it stopped or slowed, jumped to the ground running as the other three chased him, according to his interview.
The chase tapered, and the victim heard the others say something like, “Just let him go, he’s going to die out here,” the affidavit says.
Alone, Out Here
The victim started walking. He was able to find train tracks and walked along them for nearly an hour, he told Knittel. Sometimes he stopped and lay down because he was injured and cold, he added.
Knittel noted that overnight temperatures plunged to 19 degrees with the windchill.
By investigators’ reckoning, this desolate place was between the Dry Fork Station power plant and the Eagle Butte Coal Mine, near the Campbell County Landfill.
The man walked about 5 miles, he recalled.
Deputies secured and executed a search warrant on the men’s shared home. They also brought the alleged victim home and arrested the other three men.
A fifth man who’d been in the home said he’d tried to stop the fighting overnight Saturday and Sunday, but was told to go inside or he’d be attacked as well, so he went to his bedroom, the affidavit relates.
First Suspect Interview
Agents interviewed Rivera-Oviedo. He said he lives at the home, and he watched Gonzalez-Oviedo and the alleged victim get into a fistfight outside that night.
Then the victim got into the front passenger seat of his Malibu by his own will, said Rivera-Ovideo, according to the affidavit.
Gonzalez-Oviedo got into the driver’s seat; the other two men got in the back, and they drove away. At some point, the victim “got out,” said Rivera-Oviedo, according to the document.
Second Suspect Interview
Next, agents interviewed Gonzalez-Rendon.
He said the victim was drunk and verbally confrontational that night. He and Gonzalez-Oviedo decided to fight outside. Gonzalez-Rendon tried to stop the fight, he said, according to the document.
Then the victim got into his own vehicle, and the men drove away.
Gonzalez-Rendon believed they were going to alert law enforcement, but they drove away from town, he said. He also said the victim was swinging his arms around in the car, hitting the others.
The affidavit says Gonzlez-Oviedo stopped driving, and the victim got out and ran away.
An agent asked Gonzalex-Rendon why none of them told law enforcement that the victim was out in the cold alone. He said he was scared and didn’t know what to say, and couldn’t explain why they didn’t call police, though that was his intention, the affidavit relates.
“Juan denied there ever being a plan to kill (the victim), but admitted leaving (him) out in the cold weather without shirt or shoes and injured could have killed him,” Knittel wrote.
Third Suspect Interview
Agents interviewed Gonzalez-Oviedo.
He said the alleged victim drinks every day and wants to fight everyone in the house when he’s drunk, Knittel related from that interview.
Overnight Saturday and Sunday, Gonzalez-Oviedo fought the man, then the man got into his Malibu by his own will, Gonzalez-Oviedo told investigators, according to the affidavit.
Gonzalez-Oviedo said he wanted to get the man far away from the home so the man would “get lost” and wouldn’t find his way back, the document says.
Then later, Rivera-Oviedo bashed the man’s car with a wooden stick, breaking out the windows, the affidavit adds.
The Tally
Gonzalez-Rendon faces one count of conspiracy attempt to commit first-degree murder, punishable by a term of life in prison and up to $10,000 in fines, plus two counts of kidnapping (one for conspiracy) each punishable by up to 20 years in prison and $10,000 in fines, and a fourth count of aggravated assault, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
Gonzalez-Oviedo is charged with the same four counts.
Oviedo-Rivera is charged with those same four counts, plus a fifth of felony property destruction, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
All three men are in the Campbell County Detention Center on a $500,000 cash or surety bond. They have a preliminary hearing set for Dec. 3 in Gillette Circuit Court.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
