CASPER — A 72-year-old man who told police that one of the two people he’s accused of stabbing was an accident pleaded guilty Friday to the one that wasn’t.
Paul Allen Hilburn pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and battery for stabbing a 41-year-old man in his apartment in an incident that also involved a woman he was wrestling with while holding a knife.
In exchange for his guilty plea, Natrona County District Attorney Jeff Meyer agreed to drop a second aggravated assault and battery charge that involved Hilburn also stabbing the 35-year-old woman.
A domestic battery charge was dropped as well.
Hilburn appeared in court in an orange jumpsuit and stood shakily with a cane beside his defense attorney, Timothy Scott. Unlike other defendants brought in the from the Natrona County jail, he had no handcuffs or shackles.
Scott said his client would enter an Alford plea to the charge against him, which means the prosecution would provide the factual basis for the guilty plea. He said the court could use the police affidavit in the case as a basis for the plea.
Meyer had agreed to a six-year cap on any final sentence and that the defense would argue for less, Scott said.
Judge Joshua Eames went through the agreement with Hilburn and asked him if he understood the plea.
“Yes sir,” Hilburn said.
“I’ll wait to read the ASI (addiction screening) and PSI (pre-sentence investigation) before making a determination of whether to accept this plea agreement,” Eames said.
Hilburn then pleaded guilty to the charge and after checking with Meyer, the judge accepted the plea using information from the affidavit as a basis for his guilt.
Affidavit Evidence
The affidavit shows that Hilburn on Jan. 11 had an altercation with the woman and the man in his apartment in the 300 block of North Center Street because she had brought the man to the apartment with her.
He attempted to head-butt the woman and hit her on the left side of her neck with his fist, then the pair left Hilburn’s apartment according to the affidavit.
The next day, Jan. 12, the woman received a text from Hilburn telling her to “come back to the apartment” by herself and to “stop with the nasty words.”
She returned to the apartment at 1 p.m. and was in the bedroom when she heard Hilburn arguing with the 41-year-old man who later told police he returned to the apartment to “smoke and get high.”
The woman, who said she occasionally had a sexual relationship with Hilburn, provided police with a recording of her telling the 41-year-old to leave and her calling Hilburn a “pussy.”
‘You Stabbed Me’
The affidavit states the recording provided by the woman has Hilburn saying he is going to “cut” the woman and then the sound of the woman screaming “you stabbed me, you stabbed me.”
The man told police he tried to intervene and was stabbed by Hilburn in the face and abdomen before getting control of a knife being held by Hilburn and throwing it in the living room.
He then left the apartment, and the next day tried to go to a behavioral health treatment center and was sent by staff to the hospital when they saw his wounds.
After being stabbed, the woman fled the apartment and called 911.
Hilburn told police that his stabbing of the woman “was an accident, I had my knife out.”
He said he had “tussled” with the woman which he defined as wrestling but not striking.
In court Friday after the guilty plea, Scott asked the judge to consider reducing Hilburn’s $15,000 bond.
“Mr. Hilburn is 72 years old, and he has significant medical issues as the court sees,” Scott said. “The jail struggles to help with his medical needs.”
Scott asked the court to consider a $15,000 personal recognizance bond or to reduce it to something like $1,500 cash or surety because Hilburn’s only income is a Social Security check.
He said his client would do a daily reporting requirement if necessary.
Meyer argued that the bond had already been reduced from $30,000 and that Hilburn has a “significant criminal history.”
“I don’t know if he currently has a residence or not,” Meyer said.
Eames ruled the current bond is “sufficient” and denied the request.
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
