Jury Finds Fremont County Man Guilty Of Killing His Disabled Landlord

A jury found a Fremont County man guilty Friday of first-degree murder for killing his wheelchair-bound landlord in August 2023.

Burdick Nelson Seminole, 58, faced a jury trial last week in the U.S. District Court for Wyoming. He was indicted in January for first-degree murder and for two counts of using a gun during an act of violence.

The jury found him guilty on all counts, says a minutes sheet in his court file.

Seminole’s sentencing is set for Feb. 6, and he faces a term of life in prison.

Earlier in his case, Seminole pursued an insanity plea, but he dropped that ahead of trial and defended his not-guilty plea instead. 

The charges stemmed from the Aug. 8, 2023, death of 42-year-old Michael Standing Elk. Court documents say Seminole was evicted from a home on the Wind River Indian Reservation because he was using drugs and brining “young females” to the home to get them high.

Standing Elk started renting the home to other people starting in spring 2023, and he let several people stay in the home, says the affidavit.

At 8 a.m. Aug. 8, Seminole entered the home and woke Standing Elk, who was sleeping next to his “significant other,” the document says.

Seminole turned on a light and started slapping Standing Elk’s head, saying “talk shit now,” according to a witness account police gathered later. 

The two men argued.

Standing Elk told his woman to call police.  

Standing Elk, who was apparently disabled so that he couldn’t walk, got into a wheelchair and rolled down the hall, telling others in the house to wake up, says the affidavit.  

The two men argued some more in the living room where Seminole was standing.  

Standing Elk’s companion was on the phone with the 911 dispatcher. Multiple witnesses reported that Seminole “pistol-whipped” Standing Elk with a gun.  

Witnesses also reported that Standing Elk also had a gun at this time. One said Standing Elk tried to shoot Seminole, but the gun jammed.  

“OK, I’m done, you win Burdick,” one witness recalled hearing Standing Elk say.  

Seminole shot at Standing Elk, the witnesses said. One person remembered seeing Standing Elk slumped over in his wheelchair.  

Another tenant came out of the bedroom and shot at Seminole, then retreated into a room, the affidavit says.  

‘Talking Smack’ 

Seminole took himself to the Wind River Family and Community Health Care clinic on the reservation, which the locals call Wind River Cares. Later, he was at another hospital being treated for a gunshot wound.

He gave police a statement.  

Seminole said he went to the house because he had enough of Standing Elk “talking smack,” says the affidavit. Standing Elk was threatening his daughter, Seminole claimed.  

After Seminole argued with Standing Elk he was going to leave, but he heard Standing Elk call out for someone in the house to beat him up, he allegedly said.  

Seminole said he turned around and Standing Elk pulled a gun on him and pulled the trigger, but the gun misfired, the affidavit says.  

“You better make sure it loaded,” Seminole remembered saying.  

Standing Elk pulled the slide back and squeezed the trigger again, but it only clicked, according to Seminole’s account.  

“Better make sure you got f***in’ ammo,” Seminole said to Standing Elk, by his own police interview account.

Seminole then hit Standing Elk in the head, turned around and heard a boom, but he didn’t know what hit him, the affidavit says.  

Seminole ran out of the house and grabbed a .45-caliber pistol. He indicated that his memory blacked out, and when he regained consciousness, he was standing in the house and “shooting back” at Standing Elk, the man told police.  

Too Late 

At Wind River Cares, police recovered a black Springfield XDS gun from the front passenger seat of Seminole’s vehicle, the affidavit says, adding that it was loaded with a cartridge in the chamber.  

“I shouldn’t have picked up that gun,” an agent allegedly overheard Seminole say.  

When the police arrived at the house, Standing Elk had gunshot wounds to his chest and wasn’t breathing. A Bureau of Indian Affairs agent checked for a pulse but could not find one. Medical personnel also confirmed his pulse was dead. Authorities gave Standing Elk’s body to the Fremont County Coroner’s Office.  

A forensic pathologist later confirmed Standing Elk died of multiple gunshot wounds.

Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.