CASPER — A 71-year-old Casper man pleaded not guilty Friday in Natrona County District Court to three charges involving the stabbing of a 35-year-old woman and 41-year-old man.
Paul Allen Hilburn faces two counts of aggravated assault and battery and one count of domestic battery.
Court documents show charges stem from an altercation that began Jan. 11 between Hilburn and the woman and then escalated the afternoon of Jan. 12 into a wrestling match with her.
Casper police say Hilburn allegedly stabbed her in the arm on the bed of his apartment in the 300 block of North Center Street. The male victim tried to intervene and was stabbed as well, police said.
During his initial appearance in Casper Circuit Court in January Hilburn told the court that he was “losing my apartment because they were there.”
On Friday, Hilburn stood in jail garb and chains with a cane in his left hand next to his attorney Timothy Scott as Judge Joshua Eames reviewed the charges with him and asked him for his plea.
“Not guilty,” Hilburn said.
Scott then asked the judge to consider reducing Hilburn’s bond, initially set at $30,000 cash or surety at his arrest and reduced to $15,000 cash or surety during his preliminary examination hearing.
‘Health Issues’
“He’d like to be put on bond, he’s struggling with health issues,” Scott said. Scott said because of his health issues, Hilburn was in a solitary confinement cell at the jail, and he asked the judge to consider lowering his bond to $3,000 cash or surety.
Hilburn told the judge that he was having trouble with his teeth and with the sciatica nerve in his leg.
Assistant District Attorney Jeff Meyer argued that Hilburn’s bond was appropriate for the charges against him.
“The defendant had quite a bit of criminal history in the 1900s,” Meyer said. He said Hilburn also had a fraudulent check charge in 2016.
Eames agreed that bond was “appropriately set.”
An arrest affidavit filed in the case states Hilburn and the female victim have known each other since the woman was a child. In 2024, they began a romantic relationship that broke off, but the pair would occasionally get back together with her staying off and on in his apartment.
On Jan. 11, the woman was at the apartment. She had brought the 41-year-old male victim over with her, police said. Hilburn became upset about the man’s presence and hit the woman with his fist, striking her on the left side of the neck, according to the arrest affidavit.
The pair then left Hilburn in his apartment and went their separate ways. The woman told police Hilburn texted her about 7 a.m. on Jan. 12 and told her to come back to his apartment and stop with “nasty words.”
Argument And Stabbing
The woman told police she returned to the apartment at 1 p.m. on Jan. 12, went to the bedroom, and sat on the bed because she had a headache. At some point later she heard Hilburn and the 41-year-old man arguing. She said she had been unaware that the man had returned to Hilburn’s apartment.
The woman then started recording the incident and told Hilburn and the other male she did not want to be involved in their argument and that “it was not involving her.”
“A subject she identified as (the male victim) was heard on the recording talking. She could be heard telling him to leave and that Hilburn was a ‘pussy,’” the affidavit states.
“Hilburn yelled he was going to ‘cut’ (the woman), then the sound of a scuffle was heard on the recording and (the woman) is heard frantically screaming for (Hilburn) to get off of her,” the affidavit states. “(The woman) eventually screamed ‘you stabbed me, you stabbed me for no reason,’” the affidavit states.
The woman told police she ran from the apartment following the stabbing. Hilburn attempted to follow her and tried to apologize, the affidavit states. She called police.
When Casper police arrived, the woman was transported to Banner Wyoming Medical Center. An apartment manager confirmed to police that the victim had run from the apartment yelling that Hilburn stabbed her.
Hilburn told police the stabbing was not intended, and that the woman was staying with him on and off and they would sleep together. He said he had a 4-inch knife and was cleaning his shoes when the incident occurred.
A ‘Tussle’
According to the affidavit, after telling the man to leave while holding the knife, Hilburn said the man grabbed at him and the woman became “argumentative” and tried to hit and kick him and that he “tussled” with them both.
He said he “tussled” with the woman without striking her and that while stretching the knife away from his body, while wrestling, he fell on top of the woman and “accidentally” stabbed her. He said he followed her out of his apartment to render aid and threw his knife on the floor.
The 41-year-old man tried to check himself into a Casper treatment center the following day and staff noted he had stab wounds to his face and abdomen. He was transported to the hospital for treatment.
The man told police that he had attempted to wrestle the knife from Hilburn because he heard the female victim screaming in the bedroom.
He told police he entered the bedroom and saw Hilburn holding the knife. He said he attempted to wrestle the knife away from Hilburn and got stabbed before getting control of the knife. He told investigators he threw it in the living room and fled the scene.
The affidavit states police also found a wound on the female victim consistent with her statement of being struck by Hilburn.
Both aggravated assault and battery charges carry a penalty of up to 10 years in prison. The domestic battery charge is punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $750.
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
