Back in January, our Chris Walker reported about snowboarder Seth Beckton’s claim that someone had pushed him off a chairlift at Aspen Highlands ski area. The following month, Thomas Proesel was arrested in the incident. But there’s been an unexpected twist in the case. Pamela Mackey, Proesel’s Denver-based attorney, says that…
It’s rare that Westword reprints a feature story from another publication. But this year’s Pulitzer Prize-winning article, “An Unbelievable Story of Rape,” was so good that we had to share it with our readers. As a joint project of ProPublica and the Marshall Project, much of the article recounts the…
In November 2015, two female deputies with the Denver Sheriff Department filed a lawsuit alleging that Denver County Jail is a house of horrors for female guards. The complaint suggested that profane verbal abuse, sexual harassment and intentional masturbation are common occurrences at the facility and argued that female deputies are “discouraged…
The decade-long legal battle over one of Colorado’s most infamous death-penalty cases keeps getting stranger. First came the abrupt removal of Arapahoe County District Judge Gerald Rafferty, who presided over the trials of defendants Robert Ray and Sir Mario Owens — a move contested by Owens’s attorneys, who believed Rafferty…
The Denver District Attorney’s Office has formally charged Brett Sisman with sexually assaulting a woman he met using the dating app Tinder. The incident allegedly caused so many injuries to the victim that they were documented by as many as one-hundred photos. This is the second time in just over…
On June 19, 2014, a shooting at a Red Rocks show featuring Nas, Flying Lotus and Schoolboy Q shocked the music community here and beyond — especially after law enforcement announced that Schoolboy Q’s sports-utility vehicle had been specifically targeted by the gunman. In the immediate aftermath of the incident, speculation…
JonBenét Ramsey is on the current cover of The Globe, alongside a screaming headline about “Chilling New Evidence!,” a subhead referencing the “real reason beauty queen was MURDERED!,” and photos of “two suspects arrested.” Case closed? Not quite. As we’ve been reporting, it’s been nearly twenty years since the JonBenét…
On Saturday, July 16, I was heading to Angelo’s CDS & More on East Colfax in search of vinyl 45s for my jukebox when I heard chanting. “Black lives matter! Black lives matter!” Moments later, I found myself in the middle of well over one-hundred people moving down Colfax, many…
“The Denver Police Department, under Chief Robert White, has become a model for criminal-justice reform across America,” said Mayor Michael Hancock during Monday’s State of the City address at Denver International Airport. That came as news to criminal-justice reformers and activists who have long criticized the department for targeting communities…
Seventeen years after the attack on Columbine High School, amateur sleuths have posted a video that calls into question — again — the official version of events, and their sequence, surrounding the most infamous school shooting in American history. The video features brief, grainy images that appear to show the…
In the annals of court rulings, you won’t find any more tight-lipped or to the point than the order handed down by the Colorado Supreme Court yesterday, in response to a 56-page petition by defense attorneys trying to learn why the presiding judge was abruptly removed from a long-running death-penalty…
A decision by state court officials to remove the presiding judge in an infamous death-penalty case just days before he was expected to issue a long-awaited ruling on thorny issues dealing with possible prosecution misconduct has drawn fire from defense attorneys. They claim that the abrupt dismissal of Arapahoe County…
Caleb Bonham didn’t need a video he shot of a violent pipe attack on the 16th Street Mall to go viral in order to become fifteen-minutes-of-famous. He’s already quite prominent thanks to D/CO Consulting, a firm he co-founded, which advises Fortune 500 companies and U.S. Senators, among others. And he…
“Anyone know what happened at Franklin and 35th?” asked a member of a page devoted to Denver’s Cole neighborhood this past weekend. “Crime scene tape….” “They shot up the house across the street from us, I was outside when it happened,” another member reported. “Police are waiting for the crime…
After a series of highly publicized acts of violence on the 16th Street Mall, including a recent stabbing and a video of a man being assaulted, the Denver Police Department, Downtown Denver Partnership and the Downtown Denver Business Improvement District have unveiled their year-in-the-making plan to maintain order at the city’s No…
Lynette Lindsey-Burton’s son, Devonne Burton, was among three people killed in a North Park Hill triple homicide on June 3 — an incident Denver police say took place as a result of a robbery gone wrong. Former CU Buffs football player Chadd Evans, Deashaun Turrentine and Dejuan Jones have been arrested…
In announcing the arrest of Chadd Evans (spelled “Chad Evans” in the press release) for a triple killing in North Park Hill, the Denver Police Department stated that “a booking photo of the suspect is not being released at this time as additional photo lineups are needed. “Denver Police ask…
Young couples are frequently encouraged to write wills and make estate plans that will be ready in the event of unexpected death — but few of them do so. Such a tragedy seems too unlikely to most to undertake such a sad task. But Travis and Samantha Mason were an…
Our sophomore year in college, my roommate and I decided to spend spring break on a beach in south Texas. One balmy night at our hotel, the guy interested in my roommate spotted a twelve-pack in the middle of the street. At twenty, we were so desperate for alcohol it…
Editor’s note: This post is the third in a three-part series about violence on the 16th Street Mall. Access part one by clicking “Inside the Bloody Stabbing on the 16th Street Mall You Haven’t Heard About.” Access part two by clicking “Denver’s Top Block for Arrests and an Advocate’s Take on…
Editor’s note: This is the second in a three-part series looking at violence on the 16th Street Mall. To read part one, featuring a Good Samaritan’s story of helping a stabbing victim, click here. A weekend stabbing on the 16th Street Mall that led to two arrests wasn’t an isolated…
Mike Rust, nicknamed “Mike the Bike,” isn’t credited with inventing mountain biking. But he was undeniably a pioneer, helping to popularize the sport both as a competitor and a behind-the-scenes technician whose innovative spirit is still being felt today. Now, finally, his friends, family and loved ones have some closure…
