Riverton man accused of beating friend for…

A 30-year-old Riverton man pleaded not guilty to manslaughter Thursday in Lander, while the parents of the young man he is accused of killing cried and held a framed photo of their son.

Nicholas Joren Blackburn sat next to his defense attorney, Valerie Schoneberger, in Fremont County District Court during an arraignment hearing Thursday. He wore black-rimmed glasses, an ill-fitting orange jumpsuit, and chains.

“I plead not guilty, your honor,” Blackburn told Judge Jason Conder.

Conder set Blackburn’s trial for March 17.

Schoneberger also urged Conder to reduce Blackburn’s bail from $50,000 cash-only to $10,000 cash or surety.

The prosecutor, Fremont County District Attorney Patrick LeBrun, countered, saying $50,000 was appropriate given the violence Blackburn is accused of, as well as his history of domestic battery.

Conder agreed and left the bond at the higher amount.

Tighten the frame

The mother and stepfather of Pete Ouray, 29, sat in tears in the front row of the courtroom during the prosecutor’s side of the arraignment.

Rudy Apodaca, the stepfather, wrapped his arm around the shoulders of Alvina Ouray, Pete Ouray’s mother. Ouray cried and held a framed photo of her son.

After court, the parents walked out to their car.

At the same time, Fremont County sheriff’s deputies escorted Blackburn to the jail transport van. Blackburn walked alongside other defendants who were attending their own arraignments that morning.

Alvina Ouray and Rudy Apodaca watched Blackburn while speaking with Cowboy State Daily.

“When the trial begins, I want to have the support of everyone who was victimized by Nicholas,” said Alvina Ouray, referring to Blackburn’s past battery, domestic battery and accusations of violence against police . “I will be their voice for them.”

Alvina burst into tears again.

Cousins ​​and friends

The affidavit says Blackburn and Pete Ouray were “cousins ​​and friends.” Blackburn came to the Riverton home shared by Pete, his mother and stepfather on the evening of March 14.

Family members who took Blackburn to his friend’s house that evening reportedly confirmed this to investigators.

Alvina went to bed that night listening to the two men talk. She woke up around midnight to the sound of their argument, she told Fremont County sheriff’s investigators.

“Calm down and stop,” Pete Ouray told Blackburn, according to Alvina’s recollection.

But it wasn’t uncommon for the two men to argue, she told investigators.

She was getting ready for work the next morning, March 15, around 6:30 a.m. when she noticed Blackburn asleep on the couch, the document continues.

Blackburn told him he was going to check on Ouray.

Alvina left for work.

Stepfather Reminders

Apodaca told investigators he heard the two men arguing in Pete’s bedroom around 2 a.m.

At 5:45 a.m., Apodaca went to the kitchen to make coffee for Alvina and saw Blackburn sleeping on the living room couch, the affidavit states.

After Alvina left for work and after Blackburn went to check on Pete Ouray, Apodaca again heard the men arguing in the bedroom, he told investigators.

Pete was reportedly yelling at Blackburn to leave him alone.

Apodaca also remembers hearing a struggle in the room and then seeing Blackburn leave angry and agitated.

Apodaca asked Blackburn what it was about. Blackburn threw Pete Ouray’s car key at Apodaca and said that if the stepfather wanted to know, he “should go ask Pete,” the document says.

And Blackburn stormed out of the car, got into a black four-door passenger car and drove off.

Blackburn’s mother later confirmed to investigators that she had picked him up from the Ouray home that morning, March 15.

Hidden face

The affidavit says Alvina Ouray came home from work on the afternoon of March 15 and went to Pete’s room to check on him. She found him face down on his bedroom floor, which was not unusual, she told investigators.

In the early morning hours of March 17 – a Sunday – she checked on her son again and found him face down in the same position. She realized he might be dead and called 911, the document states.

She was hysterical on the phone, Fremont County Sheriff’s Detective Anthony Armstrong noted in the affidavit.

Deputy Megan Lee responded and found Pete Ouray face down, deceased, with blood stains on his bedding and signs of being dead for “several days,” the document states.

Fremont County Sheriff’s and Coroner’s staff documented case evidence with agents from the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation. They could not identify the cause of death at this time, but noted that blood had pooled under Pete Ouray’s body and appeared to be coming from his mouth and nose.

Her outer clothing was turned inside out as if torn from her body, but the sleeves were still on her wrists, the affidavit states.

He had a bite mark on his torso that he could not have given himself, Armstrong noted in the document.

Blunt force

Forensic pathologist Dr. Randall Frost conducted an autopsy on March 20 and made a preliminary conclusion that Ouray died from blunt force trauma causing a brain hemorrhage in a homicide.

The blow to his head could have been a punch, Frost reportedly added.

Armstrong conducted a follow-up interview with Apodaca on September 23. Apodaca said he heard a “thud” around 6:20 a.m. on the morning of March 15, like a “punching bag sound,” the detective noted in the affidavit.

In the nearly two days after Blackburn left the house, no one except Alvina Ouray, Apodaca and Pete Ouray was present in the house, Apodaca told Armstrong.

Blackburn was charged with manslaughter, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, on October 4. His case was moved to Fremont County District Court on the criminal level the following week.

Claire McFarland can be reached at [email protected].