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Wyoming Man convicted for murdering his disabled landlord

homesafetytechpros — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 21:07:31 +0000

The property Burdick Nelson Seminole rented from Michael Standing Elk (Google Maps).

A Wyoming man was found guilty of murdering his wheelchair-bound landlord after he tried to evict him from his rental property.

Burdick Nelson Seminole was convicted on all counts by a jury on Friday after being indicted for the first-degree murder of Michael Standing Elk. He was also found guilty of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, and causing death with a firearm during a crime of violence. The verdict came after a four-day trial.

The confrontation between tenant and landlord occurred on Aug. 8, 2023 after Standing Elk evicted Seminole from the property he was renting on the Wind River Indian Reservation because, according to court filings from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Seminole was “using drugs and bringing young females to the residence to get them high.”

Once Seminole was gone, Standing Elk started renting the property to other people, but Seminole returned to confront his former landlord for “talking smack.” According to witnesses who spoke to police, Seminole reportedly entered Standing Elk’s property, where he was in bed asleep, and started slapping him in the head, telling him to “talk s— now.” As the argument between the two men heated up, Standing Elk’s partner called 911. Standing Elk was able to get out of bed and into his wheelchair, and the verbal fight continued in the living room.

But Standing Elk had a gun of his own. In his interview with police, Seminole said that he taunted Standing Elk, saying, “You better make sure it’s loaded,” and “Better make sure you got f—–‘ ammo.” He then “pistol-whipped” Standing Elk, then “turned around and heard a boom, but he didn’t know what hit him,” according to the affidavit.

After Standing Elk failed to fire at Seminole because his gun jammed, he reportedly said, “Okay, I’m done. You win, Burdick.” That was when witnesses testified that Seminole shot Standing Elk. Another tenant rushed into the room and fired a shot at Seminole, hitting him. Seminole told police that his “memory blacked out” during this period.

In his statement to police, Seminole said he went back to the house to confront Standing Elk for “talking smack,” claiming that “Standing Elk was threatening his daughter,” according to Cowboy State Daily.

Seminole was arrested at Wind River Family and Community Health Care clinic, where he drove himself after being shot by one of the tenants in the house. The affidavit said that was where police recovered “a black Springfield XDS gun from the front passenger seat of Seminole’s vehicle.” An agent at the scene reportedly overheard Seminole say, “I shouldn’t have picked up that gun.”

Seminole will be sentenced on Feb. 6. He faces a life sentence.

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Tenant sentenced for killing landlord with hammer

homesafetytechpros — Sat, 28 Sep 2024 15:58:09 +0000

Cesar Jeff Cervantes-Montoya (Minnesota Department of Corrections).

A Minnesota man was sentenced to 40 years for killing his 68-year-old landlord with a hammer after an argument.

Cesar Jeff Cervantes-Montoya, 27, learned his fate in the death of the victim identified in court documents as “BRB.” He pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree intentional murder.

The bloodshed happened on Jan. 5, 2022, in Elko New Market, 30 miles south of Minneapolis. Officers were dispatched that morning to a residence on Main Street after Cervantes-Montoya called 911, admitting to striking his neighbor with a hammer, prosecutors said in a news release.

At the home, then-Elko New Market police chief Brady Juell asked the defendant what he was doing there, according to a probable cause statement.

“Ah, I hit him and he’s, I don’t think he’s conscious,” the defendant replied before he was taken into custody.

The chief and deputies entered the residence and found a man with a bloody head, no pulse, who was cold to the touch and with extremities not bendable, lying face down at the bottom of steps leading to the basement.

A hammer was found on a coffee table.

Paramedics arrived and found that the victim had no signs of life. His body was taken to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s office.

The defendant told investigators he had lived in the basement with his girlfriend for three years.

He said his neighbor had verbally abused him regarding “landlord issues” and made racial comments, court documents said. He believed his neighbor had been beating his dog.

The defendant told investigators the series of events leading to the hammer attack began when he decided to confront his neighbor about him hitting his dog, the complaint said. Things got heated, and Cervantes-Montoya pushed his neighbor, who pushed him back.

Cervantes-Montoya then “grabbed the nearest object, which was a hammer, and I f—— hit him with it,” the complaint said. “I hit him a few times and he just wasn’t responding.”

During the altercation, the defendant said he “freaked out.”

Cervantes-Montoya allegedly hit his neighbor two or three times “in the face or the head area.”

“He was ‘panicked’ but felt ‘slightly liberated’ after BRB fell to the ground and was not responsive,” the complaint said. “He could tell he was injured because there was a lot of blood by his face and on the floor.”

“His intention was to ‘knock him out and hit him hard,”” the document added. “He didn’t think that it would necessarily kill him, but also didn’t feel bad if it did; ‘but I killed him, and I don’t care.”

Afterward, Cervantes-Montoya rinsed the hammer off in the sink.

He said what he did was “right” because “he’s been asking for it” by threatening him, hitting his dog, invading his private space, hitting his car and “getting in his bubble.”

An autopsy found the victim’s cause of death was ligature strangulation and multiple blunt force trauma to his head. The medical examiner found ligature marks and bruising on his neck, a broken hyoid bone and broken thyroid cartilage.

The victim also had multiple broken ribs and defensive wounds — a broken right pinky finger and abrasions on his right wrist and left forearm, court documents said.

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Man kills longtime friend turned landlord during 911 call

homesafetytechpros — Sat, 23 Mar 2024 10:22:44 +0000

Nathan Wesley Zeigler appears in a booking photo (South Carolina First Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office).

A South Carolina man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for the murder of a longtime friend turned landlord who eventually served him an eviction notice amid their protracted falling out.

On Thursday, Nathan Wesley Zeigler, 64, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole by 1st Judicial Circuit Court Judge Heath Taylor for the murder of Charles Jacob “CJ” Young, 82.

For 20 years, Young allowed Zeigler to live in his home for free.

Friends before the living arrangements were made, Young moved away to New York and gave Zeigler the keys to his home in Dorchester County. First Assistant Solicitor Kelly LaPlante said Young considered Zeigler a son, according to Charleston-based CBS affiliate WCSC.

The dead man’s obituary describes his time in the Empire State:

“CJ” had two things that he knew he wanted to do in life, that was to make people happy and be an entrepreneur. He never did anything that his heart wasn’t fully in. So, with a determined mind, he started his own furniture upholstery business on August 8, 1983, C.Y. Upholstery in NYC. “CJ””s first opening was in Brooklyn, NY however he relocated to Manhattan, NY where the business exploded for him. He attracted customers from all over …

After decades, the upholstery business was closed. The free real estate did not last — and, in time, neither did the friendship.

When Young retired, he moved back to the Palmetto State and back into his house on Johnson Road and Honeysuckle Road in Harleyville — a tiny town roughly 45 miles northwest of Charleston.

Problems ensued after Young’s homecoming. Police were called to deal with domestic disturbances on multiple occasions. An incident report obtained by The Post and Courier suggests Young’s brother was often on the property — or had also come to live there.

In December 2021, Young served Zeigler with an eviction notice — but after years of rent-free living, he simply refused to leave.

On Jan. 7, 2022, there was a full house.

Late that morning, Young called 911 and begged them to send help. A dispatcher heard another voice shouting: “I told you I wasn’t playing with you.” Then they heard the gunshot.

Dorchester County deputies responded around noon. Young was found dead in the kitchen with a gunshot wound to his neck.

The victim’s obituary continues:

“CJ” was the “fun” and had plenty of liveliness and love to go around. He made it his business to travel the world and see what was out there to discover. Although on some of these trips he would just go and not tell anyone he was going, he always had a story to tell about his adventure when he came home. “CJ” enjoyed meeting new people all over the world, he invited and hosted people from various countries and cultures into his home in NYC. Many would agree that “CJ” was a very outgoing person. As a gracious host, he always made you feel comfortable around him. He loved to cook, and you didn’t know what you were going to be served when he was in the kitchen. Oh “CJ” had an exquisite palette and what may have looked strange always tasted delicious. He hosted an annual family gathering at his home in S.C. which would draw crowds both near and far. Dozens upon dozens of people would attend. This event was a true testament on how much “CJ” loved family.

Zeigler was found sitting in a chair in the backyard and was detained by a Harleyville police officer until backup could arrive.

Young’s brother spoke with deputies and said he had overheard the two get into it in the kitchen. At one point, Young told Zeigler to “move something out of his way,” followed by the telltale bang, the brother said. Upon entering the kitchen, he said he saw his brother on the floor, “not moving,” and Zeigler walking outside “with a gun in hand.”

Investigators found the murder weapon inside of a grill.

Zeigler was charged with one count each of murder and possession of a firearm during a crime.

During the trial, the defendant admitted to shooting Young but claimed self-defense.

“This was not self-defense, this was a senseless murder,” Assistant Solicitor Shannon Elliott told the jurors, according to a courtroom report by Greenville-based NBC affiliate WYFF.

Jurors deliberated just shy of four hours before returning a guilty verdict earlier this week. Zeigler was sentenced quickly after.

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