CASPER — A 40-year-old Casper man who police allege stabbed another man multiple times for paying off a drug debt with counterfeit money faces up to 10 years in prison.
William Tyler Midgett had his initial appearance Friday on a charge of aggravated assault and battery. He was given a $100,000 cash bond and set for an as-yet unscheduled preliminary hearing, according to court documents made available Monday.
Court records show the investigation began when the Casper Police Department was called to Banner Wyoming Medical Center at 3 p.m. on April 11 after a man was brought in with multiple stab wounds.
The inside of the Cadillac that transported him to the hospital was covered with blood, and police also found a rolled up counterfeit $100 bill in a cup holder of the car.
When police arrived, the stabbing victim was being attended to by emergency room medical personnel and told an officer that he did not know who stabbed him and “did not know who would know,” according to an affidavit of probable caused filed in Midgett’s case.
Investigation Unfolds
The investigation led police to an apartment complex in the city and a parking lot where the stabbing is alleged to have happened. The apartment complex was not identified in the affidavit.
A video from a Ring camera at an apartment in the complex showed the victim and another man walking into the parking lot from the north and Midgett approaching from the south.
The affidavit states that children were playing in the area, walking around and riding scooters.
Once the victim and another man walked in together casually from the north, Midgett appeared from the south of the parking lot and took on a fighting stance.
Midgett and the victim started fighting, and the video showed Midgett trying to swing in a way that indicated he had a weapon in his hand, the affidavit says.
The video showed Midgett fall to the ground and the victim jump on top of him and they rolled on the ground.
“Midgett stabbed (the victim) in his left side with his right hand multiple times,” the affidavit states the video showed. “There was a pause while Midgett was on top of (the victim) and then Midgett’s left hand moved up and down indicating he stabbed (the victim) multiple times again.”
The video showed three other men get Midgett to stand up and after that the victim stood also.
Midgett walked to the south out of the video frame and the victim and a woman got into the silver Cadillac and drove away, the affidavit states.
Unnamed Sources
“Unnamed sources” told officers that the stabbing was the result of a more than $50,000 drug debt that the victim owed.
The victim had put his Cadillac up for collateral “and then paid the debt in counterfeit money,” the affidavit states.
One informant told police that the victim’s girlfriend owned the Cadillac, but the victim stated it was his.
“It was believed (the victim) won’t talk to police because it makes everything square and his debt would be erased,” the affidavit states.
Another unnamed informant told police that there are messages and photographs from the victim’s phone showing black-and-white Canon printers used to print the money and photographs of different denominations of suspected fake bills, the affidavit states.
One of the messages supplied to police allegedly sent to the victim’s phone stated that the man had put up the car for collateral and that “we did this because you said you were good for it.”
“Bruh you owe me $54 bands,” the sender allegedly wrote the victim. “I know things are hot but I don’t want some greasy Mexicans showing up on top of it.”
A Casper police investigator interpreted the message that the victim owed the sender $54,000 and the sender was worried that “a Hispanic male would come to collect if they did not pay him back,” the affidavit states.
On April 28, Casper investigators obtained a search warrant for the victim’s phone, and a forensic download of it revealed a message from the phone on March 26 to a woman complaining about the “fake money.”
On April 3, several photos of $20 bills were sent to the victim’s phone by a female contact.
Police also found a message from the victim to a phone number on March 26 that stated a woman had just brought him the money and to let him know when the person was outside.
“I’ll come grab it if it’s there so I can get and go,” the message stated.
Other messages police recovered from the victim’s phone were between the victim and Midgett arguing about the weight of something put in a bag.
‘I’m Going To Kill You'
During an interview with Midgett on April 11, he denied stabbing the victim.
A warrant allowed police to collect swabs from what appeared to be blood spots on his jeans and on the back of the sleeve of his shirt.
When Midgett took off his shirt, police saw “a large cut on the back of his left arm near his triceps” with fat and muscle exposed.
Police obtained search warrants for the Cadillac that transported the victim to the hospital and for Midgett’s Dodge Avenger.
In the Avenger, they found a knife with a blade on both ends and a handle in the middle. The knife had blood on it, the affidavit states.
A witness to the stabbing told police that he went to the apartment complex to visit his mom and after the visit found Midgett standing near his car.
He knew Midgett from having worked with him.
He told police that as he was saying “what’s up” that Midgett handed him his glasses and hat.
The witness told police that Midgett asked the victim: “What are we going to do?” And then started fighting him.
“(The witness) saw Midgett with a knife, and Midgett stabbed (the victim) multiple times in the side of the ribs,” the affidavit states. “Then Midgett stabbed (the victim) in the chest multiple times.
"That was when Midgett put a knife to (the victim’s) throat and started saying, ‘I’m going to kill you …”
The witness told police another man grabbed Midgett to try and get him away from the victim, while he (the witness) questioned Midgett about what he was doing.
The aggravated assault and battery charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Midgett remains in the Natrona County Jail. A preliminary hearing date has not yet been set.
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
