Court Papers Detail Casper Hotel Stabbing
Documents filed in Natrona County District Court detail a stabbing last month that sent a man into emergency surgery.
Woodrow Neal is accused of stabbing a man 11 times, including in the chest. The man was sent to Wyoming Medical Center for emergency surgery.
Neal is charged with aggravated assault. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years behind bars. He has not yet had an opportunity to enter pleas to the charges.
According to an affidavit of probable cause in support of the charges, Casper police were called to the La Quinta Inn at roughly 6 p.m. January 26 for a reported stabbing.
The affidavit states the victim's girlfriend told police they were staying at the La Quinta for the night. She walked to a nearby liquor store where she encountered neal who was "chatting her up" and reportedly told her he could get her a room.
She politely declined.
The affidavit states Neal offered to buy her a meal at McDonald's, to which she also politely declined but Neal a short time later and was calling out to the woman.
Court documents state the woman made it back to her and her boyfriend's room where she told her boyfriend Neal was harassing her. Her boyfriend reportedly told her that he would take care of the situation and went outside of the hotel where he encountered Neal.
The affidavit goes on to state that the boyfriend attempted to "drop kick" Neal, but was unsure if he made contact. They then took a boxing stance in which they attempted to box each other.
According to the affidavit, at some point, the boyfriend (and victim) fell onto the ice before Neal appeared to punch him several times. But when they got inside the vehicle, the woman could see blood "pouring" out of the victim.
Officers learned that Neal took a cab to Walmart after the stabbing. There, they found him inside the store where he was taken into custody. The affidavit states Neal was very intoxicated, had urinated in his pants and smelled of alcohol.
Finally, court documents state Neal denied having any knowledge of a stabbing and stated that he was at Walmart all day.
Even after being confronted with surveillance footage, Neal continued to deny having any knowledge of the stabbing, court documents state.