John-Paul Birgenheier, a 41-year-old White man, died on December 5, 2018, after a shooting in east Cheyenne, Wyoming. That afternoon, police were called to a residence on Belaire Avenue, where he was found outside near an RV/camper on the property; paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
Investigators said Birgenheier had been staying on the property and had gotten into a heated dispute with the homeowner, Charles Samuel Richmond.
Accounts presented later in court described a troubled relationship between the two men, culminating in a fight inside the house over money and a missing smoking pipe. In the struggle, Birgenheier was described as physically overpowering Richmond—pushing him down repeatedly and threatening him—before leaving the house and returning to the nearby camper.
Not long after, according to testimony summarized by the Wyoming Supreme Court, Birgenheier stepped outside the camper, and his companion heard three shotgun blasts followed by his screams. A passing neighbor reported seeing Richmond walk out with a shotgun, move behind the camper, and then return toward the house after the shots; the neighbor called 911. When an officer arrived, Birgenheier was found gravely wounded, and Richmond emerged with his hands raised, apologizing as he was taken into custody.
Richmond was arrested and initially faced a first-degree murder charge. Police statements and court records described him telling investigators that Birgenheier had been using methamphetamine and that the conflict spiraled from the argument and physical fight into a fatal confrontation outside, where Richmond said Birgenheier turned and charged at him. An autopsy later described multiple gunshot wounds from a 12-gauge shotgun, with the medical examiner concluding one of the shots was fatal.
The case proceeded with Richmond as the sole identified suspect, and the dispute centered on whether the shooting was justified as self-defense. In July 2019, a Laramie County jury acquitted him of first-degree murder but found him guilty of the lesser included offense of second-degree murder, concluding prosecutors had not proved premeditation even as they established criminal responsibility for the killing.
Richmond was sentenced to 25 to 28 years in prison, and he later challenged the outcome, arguing his counsel was ineffective and raising issues connected to his decision not to testify. In an opinion issued October 13, 2021, the Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the conviction, leaving the sentence intact.
