Jury delivers second-degree murder conviction for strangulation of Casper man

CASPER, Wyo. — It took a Natrona County jury just over an hour of deliberation to convict James Franklin Mavigliano of second-degree murder for beating and strangling 28-year-old Chance Arias to death in a motel room near downtown Casper on March 5.

The trial for Mavigliano, 44, began Monday in the court of Judge Dan Forgey. Closing arguments concluded just before noon on Wednesday. The verdict was read just after 1:15 p.m. After the jury was dismissed and the state’s request to hold Mavigliano without bond was granted, one man was ejected from the courtroom for voicing an expletive-laden condemnation of Mavigliano, telling him, “Enjoy your permanent incarceration.”

Mavigliano’s public defender, Steve Mink, had made a case for self-defense during closing arguments, citing Mavigliano’s statement to police that Arias had “swung on” him as Mavigliano was trying to leave Arias’s motel room.

Mavigliano told police Arias never landed a blow as Mavigliano punched him multiple times, held him down on the bed, struck him with a lamp base and wrapped the cord around his neck. Mavigliano told police he guessed the cord was around Arias’s neck for about seven minutes before he knew he was dead from the hissing sound like air coming out of a tire.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Blaine Nelson reminded the jury during closing arguments of the recorded interview with police. “I killed him because he hurt what I love,” Nelson said, quoting from Mavigliano’s interview. “He tells you what’s on his mind.” Mavigliano had also told police that he had a tendency of “over-seeing things” while on methamphetamine.

Mavigliano and the woman were seen on security footage arriving at and leaving the motel room.

The motel’s co-owner, Brad Tennant, found Arias on the floor of the room about 30 minutes later after investigating the disturbance. “He was a very respectful, nice young man,” Tennant testified on Monday. “I liked him.”

Mavigliano and Arias had never met before a woman who was friends with both men brought Mavigliano to the room at the since-rebranded Topper Motel, according to trial testimony and evidence. After a verbal dispute about Mavigliano speaking loudly and openly smoking methamphetamine in Arias’s rented room, Mavigliano said he was getting up to leave when Arias confronted him at the door. 

Nelson pointed out that, at first, Mavigliano said Arias “swung on” him, but later told the detective that he’d seen Arias’s shoulder “drop,” which he interpreted as a windup to swing.

“The defendant’s statements do not reconcile with themselves,” Nelson said during closing arguments.

The jury also convicted Mavigliano of possession of methamphetamine, which police found in his bag along with a bloody lamp and some of the victim’s personal items when they picked him up at a bus stop just hours after the body was discovered.

Mavigliano now faces 20 years to life in prison. He said during his initial court appearances in March that he was homeless and had come to Casper around May 2023. At that hearing, Nelson said that Mavigliano had been released last year from an Alabama prison after serving 17 years on a probation revocation. He had been convicted of felony attempted murder and aggravated robbery, Nelson said.