Trinidad man accused of homicide, following fight on Cedar St. Bridge, positions to plead guilty

The man accused of throwing another person over the Trinidad Cedar St. Bridge railing back in August of 2024, Bill Blatnick, 63, found himself at the Las Animas Courthouse Monday, Feb. 5, for a plea hearing. Ultimately, Blatnick waived his right to a speedy trial, with the original trial date of Feb. 24 removed and replaced with a combined plea and sentence hearing in April, as his defense prepared to accept a plea agreement. Blatnick made headlines in March 2025, when he pleaded not-guilty, with an anticipated trial scheduled for August later that year, before the February 2026 date. His right to a speedy trial was set to expire on Mar. 10, 2026. The proposed agreement, however, has yet to be finalized, leaving its contents, including potential convictions and sentencing, unknown, at least at the time of writing. One of the most revealing things that came from the hearing, though, was that, according to Blatnick's attorney, Mellisa Esquibel, the now infamous video footage that captured the fight on the Cedar St. Bridge missed the first couple of seconds, which Esquibel said was critical because it showed the initial punch. Esquibel explained how the footage submitted for evidence missed those key initial moments. "A witness videotaped the incident," she said. "She showed the video to law enforcement... The officer used his cellphone to videotape her phone, holding it at an angle... The main victim threw the first punch." Additionally, Esquibel, mentioned that back on Jan. 26, a proposed plea agreement was not going to be accepted by the court "in that form," and sought an alternate way of proceeding, and suggested to wave the right to have a speedy trial to come back on a date in around 70 days to return for the plea and sentencing upon a new draft of the plea agreement. Courts agreed to "vacate" the trial originally scheduled for around two weeks after the Feb. 5 hearing and hoped the delay would help them facilitate "what they were looking for" based on the PSI, a pre-sentence investigation report. Blatnick's plea and sentence hearing is set for 11 a.m. at the Las Animas County Courthouse on Apr. 29, 2026.