Blackburn returns to Colorado to face murder charge

CANON CITY, Colo. — A former Gastonia resident accused of murder made her first court appearance in a Colorado courtroom Tuesday.

Madison Brooke Blackburn, 21, left Gaston County Jail on Monday to return to Canon City, Colorado, to face a second-degree murder charge in the Sept. 28 death of 39-year-old Richard Fay.

Blackburn and her boyfriend, Luciano Pogorzelski, also a former Gastonia resident, allegedly fatally shot Fay outside his home, sparking a nationwide manhunt that ended with their Oct. 5 arrest on unrelated marijuana charges at a Gastonia gas station.

Pogorzelski remained in Gaston County Jail as of 5 p.m. Tuesday. He waived extradition back to Colorado, but it was not clear when he would return to that state to face the murder charge against him.

Fremont County, Colorado, District Court Judge Ramsey Lama set Blackburn's bail at $250,000. Her attorney, Jennifer Stock of Colorado Springs, waived a formal advisement on her behalf.  

Blackburn will return to court Nov. 4 for filing of formal charges and a hearing on bail.

Blackburn attended Ashbrook High School from 2012 to 2014, and lived in Gastonia for a time. She and Pogorzelski left Gastonia for Las Vegas in late 2018, according to statements made to Colorado police by her mother, who still lives in Gastonia.

Blackburn and Pogorzelski were homeless in Colorado, but had apparently been befriended by Fay after their car broke down and were staying with him at his home, according to police.

Canon City Police officers initially were called to Fay's residence by a neighbor who reported that she heard a woman's voice scream "No," then a gunshot and then a man groaning. Fay was pronounced dead at the scene.

Fay reportedly had romantic feelings toward Blackburn and the two would openly flirt with one another in front of Pogorzelski, witnesses told police.

Pogorzelski told a friend in Colorado the day after Fay's death that he had to "shoot his way out" of a situation involving someone who had been trying to steal his girlfriend and had at one point attacked him with an infected needle.

Pogorzelski also had accused Fay of trying to kill him before the shooting. 

Gastonia attorney Larry Hoyle, who represented Pogorzelski at an Oct. 7 court hearing in Gaston County said afterward he believed Pogorzelski would be making a claim of self-defense in the case.

Canon City Police initially labeled Blackburn and Pogorzelski as persons of interest because they were the last known people to have been with Fay before his death. Police identified the couple through cell phone records and social media posts.

Canon City Police detectives traveled to Gastonia on Oct. 6 after Blackburn and Pogorzelski's arrests. They filed fugitive murder warrants against them both after they declined requests to be interviewed. 

Pogorzelski is represented on the murder charge by Colorado Springs Attorney Tracey Eubanks-Griffin.

Canon City is located about 100 miles south of Denver.

You can reach Kevin Ellis at 704-869-1823 or Twitter.com/TheGazetteKevin. Tracy Harmon, a reporter with The Pueblo Chieftan, a GateHouse Media newspaper, contributed to this report.