All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
(Lander, WY) – An April 29 change of plea hearing has been set for Michael Vigil, who was charged with second-degree murder in relation to the April 2024 death of Warren Jorgenson.
A plea agreement was filed on Vigil’s behalf on April 7, which states that “the parties have reached an agreement in this matter,” and stipulates that “the Defendant shall be sentenced to serve not less than 25 nor more than 50 years in the custody of the Wyoming Department of Corrections.”
A murder in the second-degree felony charge holds a maximum sentence of life imprisonment (no less than 20 years).
The plea agreement also states that Vigil will need to pay restitution and that “bond shall be continued pending sentencing.”
The Court will either reject or accept the plea agreement at the April 29 hearing, at which point a sentencing hearing will potentially be set.
The original complaint document on file explains that Vigil told law enforcement he beat the victim to death with a metal bar after alleged sexual advances from the victim, whom Vigil felt was going to assault him sexually. Vigil had invited the victim into his residence for a drink and stated that after he denied the alleged advances, the victim laid down in his bed and refused to leave, which prompted the assault. Vigil then dragged the victim’s body onto his back porch, and called the Lander Police Department the following morning when he woke up.
Vigil’s original preliminary hearing had to be continued into a second day back on April 16, 2024, because he “did not know what was going on” during the hearing when it began the previous day, according to comments made by the Honorable Judge Jefferson Coombs at the hearing.
Judge Coombs also questioned Vigil’s mental competency on the second day.
Although Vigil answered “yes” when asked if he suffered from a mental illness, the Defense stated there were “no concerns about competency” at that time, and that he would soon be receiving his medication.
That question of competency would come into play in later proceedings, when Vigil went on to plead “not guilty by reason of mental illness” at his May 9, 2024 arraignment.
Judge Conder approved an order for a requested mental exam at that time, and a jury trial was set for September 16.
Vigil then underwent two competency evaluations, the second of which was conducted by a designated examiner chosen by the defendant after that request was approved by the court. Due to the length of time it took to conduct these evaluations, the Jury Trial was ultimately moved to January 13.
Court documents state the January 13 jury trial lasted six days, and ultimately resulted in a hung jury.
An “order discharging jury before verdict” document filed on January 21 states the following:
“…after a reasonable time for deliberation, the jury, acting with due diligence and effort, was unable to reach a unanimous verdict, and there was no probability of their agreement, even with continued deliberations.”
That document then states that “this discharge shall be without prejudice to further the prosecution of the case,” and concluded by setting a new jury trial for May 19.
That jury trial, and today’s scheduled pre-trial conference, were later vacated following the submission of the plea agreement and the setting of the April 29 change of plea hearing.
County 10 will provide updates on the case as they become available, which can be viewed here.