On December 5th, 2018 I drove home from another day of work at the cemetery. It was an especially cold day of trimming and weeding and mowing. And I needed a hot chocolate. The question was, should I go down the road to Kum & Go, or should I make hot chocolate at home. Decisions, decisions. I was trying to save money, so hot chocolate at home was the wise choice. But, Kum & Go’s hot chocolate is incredible. Life-changing, body-warming chocolately rich liquid.

So obviously, I walked into Kum & Go and got my hot chocolate.

Red and Blue

I walked into my house with my hot chocolate in hand and headed for the shower to wash off the layer of mud and dust from the day. I was going through the motions, lost in my head when the bathroom lit up red and blue. Trying to peer through the window was useless because of the frosted glass. I threw on some sweats and ran up the stairs to find my family sitting on the couch looking out on the street below. Police lined the street and a barricade sat directly in front of our house. Our next-door neighbor was standing outside the barricade in his police uniform, ready to direct the nonexistent traffic away.

“What’s going on?” I asked my mom. She was quiet. None of us knew. But we sat and watched anyway as if that was going to give us answers. At some point, my mom stepped outside to ask our neighbor what was going on. He didn’t give much away. “There was a disturbance down the street.”

What kind of disturbance? We had had disturbances on our street before, but none of them were like this. Our neighbors across the street would get visited by the Cheyenne Police several times a year, and we had plenty of drunk people crawling through our lawn and traipsing around the street from the bar behind my house. But this, this was different.

The Disturbance

The next day I walked into work, mostly forgetting about the incident from the last night. My boss and coworkers looked at me and frantically handed me the morning newspaper. I scanned through the police blotter until I saw the address just down the road from my place. The blotter mentioned that Charles S. Richmond (78) shot John-Paul “J.P” Birgenheier three times with a 12-gauge shotgun. “That’s right by where you live right Gabi?” my boss questioned. I stood silent, too shocked to answer as I thought back to the previous afternoon.

“Gunfire at Belaire Ave. around 4 pm December 5th.”

4pm. If the police had responded to the report at 4 pm and I was heading home around 3:30 ish, that would have put me right on that spot during the whole disturbance. I would have been turning the corner right during the gunfire. But I got hot chocolate.

The Shooting

When they later brought Richmond in for questioning, he told them that Birgenheier had access to the entire property, including the house, but he was staying in the trailer. He said that Birgenheier had been staying there for several years and that he was an avid meth user.

That Wednesday they had gotten into a fight about a lost pipe and unpaid debts between the two. The fight was physical and Richmond reports that Birgenheier pushed him down three times in the house and threatened him with a broken chair leg. He then reported that Birgenheier left the house.

Richmond was angry and “not thinking well”. He grabbed the 12 gauge and demanded that Birgenheier leave. He then reported that Birgenheier charged Richmond which is when Richmond shot him three times.

According to certain police reports, there were “multiple” people living on that property. The neighborhood community rumored that the basement was sectioned off into 8 small sections, renting out each spot to wanderers and misfits.

It was reported that Richmond apparently rented one of the basement apartments.

Self-Defense or Something More?

Richmond painted this incident as one where he was just practicing self-defense against Birgenheier. He was scared and angry and had to act. Other state witnesses testimonies support that Birgenheier could be intimidating. They described Birgenheier as someone who often “threw his weight around” and was often known to get violent with his longtime girlfriend, Dawn Smith, if he “didn’t get his way.”

And Dawn Smith was just the person investigators needed to talk to. Someone who could give some much-needed perspective.

Smith’s Account

Smith testifies that she lived with J.P in the camper while Richmond rented out the basement apartment. She claims that they were all friends and that Birgenheier and Richmond had known each other for 12 years. They had gone “hiking, rock hunting, and star gazing” together.

On that day, she was in the trailer when Birgenheier went into Richmond’s room to retrieve his pipe. Then shortly after she heard gunshots. She opened the door of the camper and found a terrible scene. Birgenheier was lying on the ground, screaming and fatally wounded. Smith claims she tried CPR. She said his last words were “My arm’s gone. I love you, baby.”

The Sentence

Whether or not Charles Richmond shot with intent to murder or if he shot because he was defending himself, J.P. Birgenheier still died at Richmond’s hand. Because prosecutors were not able to prove intent to murder, Charles Richmond was charged with second-degree murder rather than first-degree murder.

While this case is crazy and tragic, it’s also far too common. Have you had an experience where you were almost in the wrong place at the wrong time? Have you ever had a close call or a near miss? Comment your story below!

The Sources