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Murder trial of Alaska extreme skier Cummings moved to November

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July 21, 2022, 10:06 am

Editor’s note: On Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, Dean Cummings was found not guilty of second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter. His attorneys successfully argued he shot and killed Guillermo Arriola in self-defense.

The trial for accused murderer and big-mountain ski legend Dean Cummings has been moved to November, according to prosecutors and his defense attorney.

Dean Cummings booking photo.

Originally scheduled for Aug. 9, Cummings’ trial in Bernalillo District Court in New Mexico will now start jury selection on Nov. 1, according to court records.

An assistant district attorney in the Sandoval County Office of the Thirteenth Judicial District Attorney’s Office told RealVail.com this week, following a pre-trial hearing, that “the parties requested additional time to prepare for trial. This is a case with a lot of moving parts.”

Cummings’ defense attorney confirmed the trial has been moved to November.

Cummings — a former U.S. Freestyle Ski Team member from New Mexico who went on to win the World Extreme Skiing Championships, star in numerous ski films and pioneer the heliskiing industry in Alaska — faces a second-degree murder charge in the Feb. 29, 2020 shooting death of Guillermo Arriola.

Cummings also faces a felony charge of tampering with evidence and a misdemeanor charge of concealing his identity.

A judge in February of 2021 found Cummings competent to stand trial for murder and tentatively set his trial for January of this year.

David O. Williams of RealVail.com may be called as a witness at trial following his jailhouse phone interview with Cummings in April of 2020.

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David O. Williams

Managing Editor at RealVail
David O. Williams is the editor and co-founder of RealVail.com and has had his awarding-winning work (see About Us) published in more than 75 newspapers and magazines around the world, including 5280 Magazine, American Way Magazine (American Airlines), the Anchorage Daily News (Alaska), the Anchorage Daily Press (Alaska), Aspen Daily News, Aspen Journalism, the Aspen Times, Beaver Creek Magazine, the Boulder Daily Camera, the Casper Star Tribune (Wyoming), the Chicago Tribune, Colorado Central Magazine, the Colorado Independent (formerly Colorado Confidential), Colorado Newsline, Colorado Politics (formerly the Colorado Statesman), Colorado Public News, the Colorado Springs Gazette, the Colorado Springs Independent, the Colorado Statesman (now Colorado Politics), the Colorado Times Recorder, the Cortez Journal, the Craig Daily Press, the Curry Coastal Pilot (Oregon), the Daily Trail (Vail), the Del Norte Triplicate (California), the Denver Daily News, the Denver Gazette, the Denver Post, the Durango Herald, the Eagle Valley Enterprise, the Eastside Journal (Bellevue, Washington), ESPN.com, Explore Big Sky (Mont.), the Fort Morgan Times (Colorado), the Glenwood Springs Post-Independent, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, the Greeley Tribune, the Huffington Post, the King County Journal (Seattle, Washington), the Kingman Daily Miner (Arizona), KUNC.org (northern Colorado), LA Weekly, the Las Vegas Sun, the Leadville Herald-Democrat, the London Daily Mirror, the Moab Times Independent (Utah), the Montgomery Journal (Maryland), the Montrose Daily Press, The New York Times, the Parent’s Handbook, Peaks Magazine (now Epic Life), People Magazine, Powder Magazine, the Pueblo Chieftain, PT Magazine, the Rio Blanco Herald Times (Colorado), Rocky Mountain Golf Magazine, the Rocky Mountain News, RouteFifty.com (formerly Government Executive State and Local), the Salt Lake Tribune, SKI Magazine, Ski Area Management, SKIING Magazine, the Sky-Hi News, the Steamboat Pilot & Today, the Sterling Journal Advocate (Colorado), the Summit Daily News, United Hemispheres (United Airlines), Vail/Beaver Creek Magazine, Vail en Español, Vail Health Magazine, Vail Valley Magazine, the Vail Daily, the Vail Trail, Westword (Denver), Writers on the Range and the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. Williams is also the founder, publisher and editor of RealVail.com and RockyMountainPost.com.

2 Responses to Murder trial of Alaska extreme skier Cummings moved to November

  1. David O. Williams

    November 1, 2022 at 3:28 pm

    I was not required to testify (both parties stipulated to content of this phone interview). The jury has been selected and the trial has started. It’s being streamed here: https://lawandcrime.com/live-trials/live-trials-current/dean-cummings/watch-live-skier-murder-trial-in-new-mexico/

  2. David O. Williams

    November 8, 2022 at 6:23 pm

    On Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, Dean Cummings was found not guilty of second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter. His attorneys successfully argued he shot and killed Guillermo Arriola in self-defense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwgNpF7fTLg