CASPER — A 72-year-old Casper man accused of stabbing two people asked a judge for another chance Monday after pleading guilty to stabbing another man in his apartment in January. The judge said no, giving him three to six years in prison.
Another charge for stabbing a woman was dismissed.
Paul Allen Hilburn stood next to his attorney Timothy Cotton on Monday for his Natrona County District Court sentencing before Judge Joshua Eames. He wore an orange jail jumpsuit and leaned on a cane with his left hand.
He asked the judge to allow him to walk out of the courtroom on probation.
“Give me one more chance to prove myself,” Hilburn told the judge. “Everything I have is gone.”
Under a plea deal with Natrona County Assistant District Attorney Jeff Meyer, Hilburn entered an Alford plea to one count of aggravated assault and battery involving the stabbing of a 41-year-old man at his apartment on Jan. 12.
An Alford plea is not an admission of guilt, but concedes the prosecution has enough evidence to get a conviction.
In exchange, a second aggravated assault and battery charge related to Hilburn’s stabbing of a 35-year-old woman and domestic battery charge also involving the woman were dismissed.
Eames accepted the plea deal Monday as Cotton and Hilburn asked the judge for leniency.
Cotton said his client has accepted responsibility for his conduct and thatHilburn felt as if he was defending his home when the stabbings happened.
He also pointed out Hilburn had “23 years” where he was not involved in the criminal justice system.
“He is concerned about going to the penitentiary at his age,” Cotton said. “He would ask the court to consider a suspended term.”
In a letter addressed to the court, Hilburn asked the judge to remove the “aggravated” part of his charge citing lost teeth, a cracked rib and lower back pain that he said stemmed from incident in his apartment.
Cracked Ribs
Hilburn repeated some of that in court Monday, telling the judge that the 41-year-old male victim “cracked two of my ribs.”
“I should have called the police,” he said. “I’m asking you to give me a chance.”
Meyer told the judge that he agreed there was a period where it appears Hilburn was not involved with the criminal justice system, but that he had five felony convictions in 1993.
And starting in 2016, Hilburn was arrested on some misdemeanor issues.
“This is a crime of violence,” Meyer said.
Eames agreed that Hilburn had a significant criminal history and then had several years where he had no contact with the court system.
He said Hilburn’s Alford plea showed he admitted guilt, but in his statements on Monday, Hilburn did not show any accountability for his actions.
Instead, he suggested he acted in self-defense, Eames said.
“I have considered probation and your age and all the issues you have stated,” the judge said. “Probation is not appropriate.”
Eames then sentenced Hilburn to three to six years in prison.
Affidavit
The affidavit in the case 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, 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.”
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, according to the affidavit.
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.
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
