RIVERTON — Charged earlier this year with possessing a firearm despite being a felon, Seth Blackburn now could face life in prison for first-degree murder – along with Peter Joseph Blackburn, also known as Homer Blackburn, and Brent Jordan Gould.
The three are charged with kidnapping, assaulting and murdering Victor Dale Addison on the Wind River Indian Reservation on Aug. 4.
Court documents state that Gould and the Blackburns knowingly seized, confined, and carried away Victor Dale Addison to intimidate, assault, and murder him by shooting him in the head.
It is further alleged that the three showed “premeditation and malice” in the act.
The men pleaded not guilty to all charges, on Dec. 10 in Lander. They are in custody and ineligible for bond: the three are scheduled for trial Feb. 4.
The case was unsealed Dec. 27 by federal authorities.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Michael A. Burson performed an autopsy on Addison. Burson determined Addison’s death was due to a gunshot wound to the head, after the manner of homicide.
The examiner also discovered other blunt-force injuries on Addison’s body.
The presence of toxins in Addison’s body at the time of his death was alcohol- and chemical-heavy: Peripheral blood sources showed a blood-alcohol concentration of .229 percent, an amphetamine level of 56 ng/mL, and a methamphetamine level of 180 ng/mL.
Seth Blackburn, of Arapahoe, was arrested by federal agents Aug. 6 – two days after the reported murder date – after several witnesses in the Casper area said he pointed a rifle at them while driving away from Outlet Liquor and Tobacco in Casper.
Witnesses claimed Blackburn’s girlfriend stole a bottle of liquor, and when the witnesses pursued the pair, Blackburn pointed a rifle at them.
Blackburn was found sleeping in the bushes near a walking path in Casper later that day.
When police came to speak to him, he jumped into the North Platte River and tried to swim away. Officers walked downstream until Blackburn swam to the bank, then arrested him for warrants and for witness reports that he had been pointing a rifle at people.
Court documents do not clarify whether the warrants for which Blackburn was arrested at the time were for murder.
Because he’d been convicted in February 2009 on a federal charge of aggravated assault and battery, Blackburn was forbidden the use of firearms.
