Authorities in Campbell County had to drop attempted murder charges against three Mexican nationals when their alleged victim vanished, court documents say.
Adrian Gonzalez-Oviedo, 42; Adan Oviedo-Rivera, 44; and Juan Gonzalez-Rendon, 38, were released to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) once their case was dropped, Campbell County Undersheriff Quentin Reynolds told Cowboy State Daily on Monday.
The sheriff’s office notified ICE that it was releasing the three defendants, and ICE picked up each of the three men within two days, Reynolds added.
They were accused of beating their roommate and dumping him in a desolate and freezing stretch of Campbell County with no shoes or shirt in November of last year.
ICE Says It Doesn’t Have Victim
A trio of matching motions to dismiss that Campbell County Attorney Nathan Henkes filed at different times in each case say that the men’s alleged victim had vanished.
“Though contact had been previously made with the alleged victim during the pendency of the case, the last several instances of contact have been unsuccessful,” wrote Henkes.
Officials had attempted emails, phone calls, voicemails, and had been checking other law enforcement and immigration databases.
When they went to the victim’s home, law enforcement officers learned that the man was no longer there and a new family had moved in, the motion says.
ICE doesn’t have the victim, Louis Garcia Aimenez, an agency spokesman said Friday.
“ICE has no contact with this individual,” says the spokesman’s Friday email.
Henkes filed the first motion to dismiss in the case of Gonzalez-Rendon on July 7, just as trial was set to begin, and the judge granted the motion hours later.
The prosecutor waited until mid-August to request dismissals in the cases of Gonzalez-Oviedo and Oviedo-Rivera, as both their trials were set for Aug. 25, the court files show.
The judge granted both of those requests on Aug. 11 and 14, respectively.
Something Wrong With This Car
The investigation started at 1:48 a.m. Nov. 24, 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, Garcia Aimenez. 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
Garcia Aimenez later went to the sheriff’s office for an interview with Knittel. Translator Samanta Dorado communicated between the two.
Garcia Aimenez said he works with Rivera-Oviedo, Gonzalez-Rendon and Gonzalez-Oviedo. He’d also been living at their home for four weeks since moving to Gillette from Florida, he said.
He said all four of them spent the prior night drinking alcohol.
Gonzalez-Oviedo tried giving Garcia Aimenez his paycheck for work he’d done, but Garcia Aimenez said he’d rather Gonzalez-Oviedo give it to their boss “to hold onto,” the affidavit relates from his interview.
Garcia Aimenez and Gonzalez-Oviedo got into an argument
The former 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 alleged victim’s interview.
Gonzalez-Oviedo and the man had a shoving and wrestling match.
Garcia Aimenez put Gonzalez-Oviedo into a headlock, and while Garcia Aimenez 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 Garcia Aimenez’s shoes “were removed” during the attack.
It’s unclear what happened to the Garcia Aimenez’s shoes. He said others took his phone and wallet, but police did not find those items in any suspects’ possession, the document says.
Into The Malibu
Garcia Aimenez 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 Garcia Aimenez sporadically throughout the drive, he told Knittel.
This was another point the suspects denied when interviewed.
The men drove 20-30 minutes.
Garcia Aimenez 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 Garcia Aimenez heard the others say something like, “Just let him go, he’s going to die out here,” the affidavit says.
Alone, Out Here
Garcia Aimenez 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.
Garcia Aimenez 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 that night, 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 Garcia Aimenez get into a fistfight outside that night.
Then Garcia Aimenez 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 Garcia Aimenez 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 Garcia Aimenez 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 Garcia Aimenez 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, 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 also interviewed Gonzalez-Oviedo.
He said Garcia Aimenez drinks every day and wants to fight everyone in the house when he’s drunk, Knittel related from that interview.
Overnight that Saturday and Sunday, Gonzalez-Oviedo fought Garcia Aimenez, then Garcia Aimenez got into his Malibu by his own will, Gonzalez-Oviedo told investigators, according to the affidavit.
Gonzalez-Oviedo said he wanted to get Garcia Aimenez 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 had faced 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 was charged with the same four counts.
Oviedo-Rivera was 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.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
