Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, aka Jihad Jamie, put Leadville in the national spotlight a couple of years back when she was arrested as part of a terror plot. Also gaining unwanted attention: Christine and George Mott, her mother and stepfather, who later wound up with custody of Jamie’s then-six-year-old son. Now, the…
The arrest affidavit pertaining to Father Charles Robert Manning, an ex-Catholic priest in Colorado Springs who’s been busted on suspicion of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust, is currently sealed. But comments from a woman who says she reported Manning to authorities suggest…
The Denver Police Department has released the training bulletin that details how officers should approach violations of the city’s new urban camping ban. Before the ordinance goes into effect May 29, officers are partnering with homeless outreach workers to prepare a department-wide response that de-prioritizes the status of homeless individuals…
In February, we told you about the arrest of former Basalt High school basketball coach Lauren Redfern, accused of having sex with a student. Now, however, a plea deal is reportedly in the works for a reduced charge that would keep her off the sex-offender registry. Was the age of…
As of last year, there were more than 1,500 unsolved homicides in Colorado as tracked by Families of Homicide Victims and Missing Persons. On numerous entries, the group’s website includes photos and personal stories of victims. Below are ten from the Denver area. See them below, arranged from the most…
Yoga instructor Joan Zalk saved herself a few steps by running a chihuahua named Cooper from the window of a moving car. But the cost of this not-quite-brilliant idea, documented in a police report on view below, was high: an arrest and, ultimately, a guilty plea to misdemeanor animal cruelty…
Update: The Wheat Ridge Police Department has now identified the principals in a Sunday murder suicide at the Wheatridge Manor nursing home as Donald Schaffer, 66, and Joyce Schaffer, 69, who’d been living at the facility for ten months. The couple were married for 43 years — and their loved…
Guy Cruz is no longer a probation officer for the 4th Judicial District, and neither he is a high school tennis coach, the next gig he took up. But the Pueblo resident is in big trouble for allegedly threatening a parolee with jail or a loss of access to her…
Hate crime, attention-getting fraud or something else entirely? That’s the question surrounding the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office decision to charge partners Aimee Whitchurch and Christel Conklin with painting “Kill the Gay” on their residence and then reporting it to authorities as a potential act of retaliation against them — because…
Yesterday marked the three-year anniversary of our Mile High Murder archive — and on that day, the first murder in year four took place. The victim was the owner of a store on East 64th, who died in what appears to be a robbery attempt…
In most instances, breaking and entering involves a thief smashing a window or kicking in a door. But Michael Vidal and three compatriots are accused of taking B&E to the next level — by gaining access to a building into an exterior wall with a stolen car and taking loot…
On May 17, 2009, The Latest Word launched Mile High Murder, an archive devoted to the most serious Denver-area crimes. Today, on MHM’s third anniversary, we’ve culled interactive graphics from crime scene locations or videos connected to the 49 cases that wound up in this repository this past year. While…
OneRepublic drummer Eddie Fisher likely didn’t have “humiliating mug shot” on his rock star bucket list. But he posed for one anyhow this week owing to his bust on suspicion of assault and more related to an incident involving his model girlfriend, Lonnie Weygant, aka Loni Rae. Yesterday, he pleaded…
9News broke the story last night of a group of burglars who broke into Riverside Wellness early Monday morning, walking out with a whopping $8 in cash and leaving hundreds of live marijuana plants just weeks from maturity untouched. It wasn’t exactly the work of criminal masterminds…
We opened our early April post about the murder of Jimma Reat with the following question: “Did a Denver 911 operator accidentally contribute to the slaying of twenty-something Jimma Reat?” The answer hasn’t been determined in a court of law, but here’s one key piece of evidence: The dispatcher in…
Datha Nation, age 64, apparently gambled on short memories and employee turnover when she returned to a bank she’d allegedly robbed before — by telling staffers she’d infect them with AIDS — to stick it up again. And again. If so, she lost that bet. Longmont Police spokesman Commander Jeff…
Thieves dispensing with stolen goods typically do so quietly, outside the public eye. But if Wheat Ridge Police are right, Wylie Newton is a different breed. Newton is accused of stealing an antique pistol from a New Mexico museum, then trying to sell it on a reality TV show…
The sweet plea deal struck by former Arapahoe County sheriff Pat Sullivan for meth possession and soliciting prostitution, which netted him a sentence of thirty days in jail and probation, has been widely criticized for its leniency. But no one is probably in a better position to appreciate the break…
On May 9, four people were shot in Montbello, with one of them subsequently dying. It was a shocking incident, but like many crimes thought to be gang-related, it hasn’t gotten much media attention. And five days later, the victim who died in the case still hasn’t been identified by…
Update: The troubles faced by head-injured Boulder Police officer Christian McCracken continue to mount. Now, in addition to charges (including attempted first-degree murder) related to his alleged stalking of a Boulder dispatcher, he’s facing drug allegations related to Schedule III narcotics concealed in a Skittles bag…
The conviction yesterday of Angel Montoya in the death of three-year-old Neveah Gallegos ends a long journey not only for the child’s loved ones, but also for police, prosecutors and the public. After all, Neveah died in 2007 and Montoya and Miriam Gallegos were arrested shortly thereafter. But justice was…
Denver’s proposed urban camping ban has a lot of people talking — about legality, repercussions and enforcement, the last of which Police Chief Robert White promises will be “very passive.” But what about representation? This morning, Westword spoke to Charles Nadler, president of the Colorado chapter of the National Lawyers…
