New York Crime

Health-care fraud is big business. What are the feds doing about it?

Rollin Oliver pleads guilty to second-degree murder in slaying of Officer Celena Hollis

Rollin Oliver pleaded guilty today to second-degree murder in the shooting death of Denver police officer Celena Hollis last June. The 22-year-old faces a sentence of sixteen to 26 years in prison according to the plea agreement, which is on view below. The original charge of first-degree murder/ext ... More >>

Twenty fabled moments in Denver music, #7: DJ Quik show at Mammoth turns into melee

Backbeat is continuing to count down the twenty most fabled moments in Denver music history. Today: We take a look back at the time DJ Quik's early '90s show at Mammoth Events Center, which turned into a bit of a melee. "But still my story ain't over cause I got one more to tell/And the people of ... More >>

Celena Hollis murder: Possible plea deal with suspect Rollin Oliver in death of Denver cop?

A plea deal in the case of Rollin Oliver, the 22-year-old charged with murder in the shooting death of Denver police officer Celena Hollis last June, may be in the works, according to a court document. "There is a possible disposition in this matter," notes the register of actions, which is a summ ... More >>

Fero's Bar & Grill: See the men arrested in shocking quintuple homicide (39-43)

Update: The Denver Police Department has released mug shots of Dexter Lewis, Joseph Hill and Lynell Hill, the three men suspected of killing five people at Fero's Bar & Grill early Wednesday morning and then setting the business on fire. We're also getting a closer look at the victims -- a group fr ... More >>

Video: Stephen Barton, Aurora theater shooting victim, stars in gun-control ad

Stephen Barton, 22, never thought his future would include gun-policy work. A recent graduate of Syracuse University, Barton was planning on moving to Russia to teach English on a Fulbright Scholarship this September. That all changed when he was shot in the face on July 20 in the Aurora theater mas ... More >>

Reader: Sikh temple shooting would have gotten more coverage if victims had been white

In an item yesterday, we argued that the mass shooting at a Wisconsin Sikh temple had received less coverage than the Aurora theater shooting. The response to this point of view fell shy of total acceptance, but numerous readers agreed, and voiced theories about why. Here's one especially detailed a ... More >>

Aurora theater shooting: Colorado members of Mayors Against Illegal Guns respond to tragedy

The heated gun control debates that have emerged in response to the Aurora theater shooting that left twelve dead have reached elected officials at all different levels of government -- whether they want to talk about it or not. Since Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, arguably the most prominent Colorad ... More >>

Michael Hancock's State of the City speech: Police reform and e-Denver

A year after taking office, Mayor Michael Hancock delivered his first State of the City address this morning, promoting a range of priorities, including restructuring the police department, increasing programs for children and a new online initiative he is calling "e-Denver." That's right, Denver is ... More >>

Rollin Oliver, charged with murdering Celena Hollis, in court this morning

Gang violence is a hot topic in Denver this summer. This week's cover story, "Flash Point," details the city's plan for cooling it down. Denver has seen several high-profile shootings in the past few months, and there's been speculation that many are gang-related, including the death of Denver poli ... More >>

Anti-police brutality protest postponed out of respect for Celena Hollis

In light of the death of Denver police officer Celena Hollis, the Colorado Progressive Coalition, ACLU of Colorado and others have postponed the "Summer Against Police Violence" protest. The rally, originally scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, would have fallen at the same time as Hollis's funeral se ... More >>

Mohammed Zazi, father of confessed terrorist, will be sentenced today

Terrorism hit home in September 2009, when Aurora shuttle driver Najibullah Zazi was accused of conspiring to blow up the New York City subway system with homemade bombs made from beauty supplies in an al Qaida-authorized "martyrdom operation." Today, Mohammed Zazi, his father, will be sentenced for ... More >>

Man on a Ledge is a leap into the familiar

Roman Polanski's Carnage is a predictable study of social (mis)behavior

Nicholas Brooks to pay for family sins after songwriter dad Joseph Brooks kills himself?

Nicholas Brooks.​What's the Colorado connection to the weekend suicide of Joseph Brooks, the "You Light Up My Life" songwriter who'd been accused of being what the New York Post calls a "casting-couch rapist"? His son, Nicholas Brooks, who attended the University of Colorado at Boulder prior ... More >>

Bump-and-run robberies in Denver: Suspect in 3 ripoffs matches description from Jeffco crime

Big sketch below.​Update: Earlier this month, we told you about a Jefferson County bump-and-run robbery, in which a thief hit a car in front of him, then stole a purse after the driver got out to check the damage. At the time, Jeffco authorities said this wasn't an isolated incident -- and now ... More >>

Gay immigrants need asylum from persecution at home

Top 10 most famous death photos now that Osama bin Laden's won't be released

Osama bin Laden.​Update: The U.S. has decided not to release an Osama bin Laden death photo. For now, that means the image won't join the following list of the most iconic post-mortem shots of notorious dictators, revolutionaries and criminals. The roundup includes Mussolini, Rasputin and a fa ... More >>

Lee Burridge on his 365 Project, what he loves about Denver, casual sex and assless chaps

​ Charismatic, enigmatic and often hilarious, Lee Burridge built his reputation as one of dance music's most well liked DJs playing gigs all over the world and winning over nightclubbers everywhere he goes. In advance of his show tomorrow night at Beta, we caught up with the English-born jock ... More >>

Raekwon

Saturday January 29, Summit Music Hall, 1-866-468-7621.

Mike Corona, "America's Sheriff," headed for Littleton federal prison

FCI Englewood​Disgraced ex-lawman Michael Corona, a former hot property in California Republican circles and once dubbed "America's Sheriff" by an admiring Larry King, has lost his appeal on corruption charges and may soon be one of the more celebrated inmates at Federal Correctional Instituti ... More >>

My crazy Christmas: Westword writers share their holiday stories

​Christmas can be intense: Rife with familial undercurrents and financial strain, the yuletide can bring a time of crushing disappointment, dissolving relationships, mounting tension and exploding tempers -- but if we open our hearts and we wish hard enough, it just might also be a time of red ... More >>

Charlie Sheen: Will porn star Capri Anderson fly to Aspen, ask Pitkin DA to revoke his probation?

Charlie Sheen.​Update: The Pitkin County District Attorney's Office reportedly has no interest in hauling Two and a Half Men star Charlie Sheen back to Aspen on a charge of violating his probation, even though there are plenty of indications he did so during a hotel-room-trashing NYC bender. B ... More >>

Letters: Readers give the LoDown on LoDo

Narima Dzhulfayeva, Mile High Murder No. 75: Woman allegedly killed by Roberto Silva, who later committed suicide while in custody

This is presumably the last photo ever taken of Roberto Silva.​Two people are dead as a result of a thoroughly unromantic incident that took place on Valentine's Day in Glendale -- Narima Dzhulfayeva, who was allegedly murdered by Roberto Silva, and Silva himself, who subsequently killed himse ... More >>

John Denver, Bernie Madoff & Me rules New York

​John Denver once admitted that "Rocky Mountain High" was written under the influence of LSD and marijuana -- and now that his anthem is our state song, the Colorado legislature should write their medical marijuana legislation under the influence of John Denver. But drugs aren't the reason wh ... More >>

Mile High Murder, No. 34: Dominick Wilmer charged with vehicular homicide in deaths of Jonathan Richardson and Grace Cruthers

View Larger Map The crash that took place during the wee hours of August 15 on Titan Road near Rampart Range Road, an area captured in the graphic above (if you have problems seeing the image, click "View Larger Map"), certainly qualifies as a tragic accident. But according to the Douglas County She ... More >>

Drink of the Week

Cantaloupe Martini

The Hit Man Nobody Knows

The government says he killed more people than Tim McVeigh. He lives in a cell a hundred miles from Denver. So how come you've never heard of La Quica?

Death of a Salesman

Denver real estate developer Steven Wickliff could take a punch from the world's best boxers. But he couldn't beat crack cocaine.