We’ve been reporting about the disturbingly high number of officer-involved shootings in Colorado of late. Between Halloween and mid-December 2015, for example, eleven officer-involved shootings took place along the Front Range — and the pace of such incidents has remained troubling in 2016. Recall that late last month, we told you…
According to the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office, Joe Thompson reacted a woman leaving his car in the midst of an argument in an extreme way. By running over her. Indeed, the woman is said to have wound up underneath the vehicle after the incident, in which Thompson, 32, faces a…
Earlier this week, we told you about the search for Kenneth Bastidos, a suspect in a May 4 murder outside an Adams County motel. At this writing, there have been no reports about Bastidos’s capture. But a second man, Jose Ocampo, has been formally charged with first-degree murder after deliberation,…
The parents of mass murderers often refrain from speaking publicly about their homicidal children for long periods of time. Note that Sue Klebold, son of Columbine killer Dylan Klebold, waited for nearly seventeen years after the 1999 attack to sit for TV conversations in conjunction with a book, A Mother’s…
Fourth Judicial District Chief Judge Gilbert Martinez has found that Planned Parenthood shooter Robert Dear is incompetent to stand trial for a clinic attack that killed three people and injured twelve others in November 2015. Instead, he’ll be interred at the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo for reasons that are…
In 2015, the Denver Police Department began spreading the word about sexually violent predators in the city via YouTube. As we noted in our original post and an update in January, the use of social media to inform the community about SVPs — something required under Colorado law — has…
In January, we told you about the killing of Christa Benton by her boyfriend, David Fallon, who subsequently took his own life. We also highlighted Facebook posts Benton shared shortly before her death. They alluded to a physical fight, with one reading, “That a-hole tried to break my neck.” Now,…
In today’s high-tech world, the idea of a police blotter — a roundup of law-enforcement actions that includes calls both minor and major — seems positively quaint. But these chronicles frequently contain tales that underscore humanity’s essential weirdness. Take an item in the Colorado Springs Police Blotter in which a man was…
Last week, Westword Food & Drink’s Mark Antonation reported about the closure of Rosenberg’s Bagels & Deli following a fire in an apartment over the eatery — and the discovery of a body inside. The corpse was reportedly located inside a closet. More than a week later, Rosenberg’s is still shut…
This past December, we told you about the fatal police shooting of Phillip Munoz and the wounding of a SWAT officer, John Ruddy. Most readers likely surmised that Munoz shot Ruddy before losing his own life — but that wasn’t the case. According to a decision letter by Denver District…
Many law-enforcement agencies in Colorado take the hard-assed approach when it comes to public commentary about the state’s marijuana laws. In contrast, a recent Facebook post shared by the Elbert County Sheriff’s Office in regard to a pot bust this past week is comparatively lighthearted. Witness the tongue-in-cheek headline placed…
Our monthly mug shot roundups typically include photos from a wide variety of crimes. They range from the minor yet newsworthy (and sometimes even funny) to the serious and shocking. But in April, we published so many stories about extremely major offenses that they called for a post all their…
Of late, Dateline NBC has shown a strong interest in crimes connected to Colorado. Just a few weeks ago, Dateline featured the case of Ralph Candelario, a Walsenburg, Colorado resident who was convicted of murdering his wife, Pam, then staging the scene to make it look as if she’d been killed by intruders…
As we’ve noted, Colorado police officers are seldom charged for shooting and/or killing people in the line of duty. But authorities have been less reticent when it comes to cops accused of sex crimes. Take the cases of Denver police officer Hector Paez, who was accused of forcing an arrestee…
For every feel-good story about social media — see today’s post about KBPI’s Willie B being reunited with an iPhone he lost 1,900 away thanks to a Facebook friend — there’s a cautionary tale. Like, for instance, the First Judicial District DA’s office take-down of Fly Society 420, a secret…
There’s a strange connection between the 2016 murder of a Burlington vet and the case of a body found in a suitcase more than five years earlier.
We hear all too often about teachers accused of having sex with underage students. Indeed, in 2012, we published a roundup of five teacher-student sex allegations in Colorado, featuring the cases of Alexandra McLean, Courtney Bowles, Oscar Ponce, Zachary Meints and Tera Rawlings. Nonetheless, the actions of Greeley’s Katerina Bardos remain absolutely…
The Twitter profile photo of Loveland’s Jason Halla makes it clear that he works out. A lot. How did he build up his muscles to such an impressive degree? He apparently got some assistance from testosterone supplements — products that police say led to a violent turn of events. Jason…
Gary Nickal claimed that his wife, Molly Nickal, took her own life at their residence while their three kids were at home. But police didn’t believe him. Gary has been arrested on suspicion of murder. At this writing, this charge hasn’t been formalized. However, Gary is due back in court…
In an interview with 9News, he said death was an appropriate punishment.
Law-enforcement agencies in a lot of communities produce most-wanted lists. But Fort Collins has taken things a step further. Community reps have created a Fort Collins Police: Most Wanted Facebook page on which it features suspects on posters of the sort we associate with the Old West, but created with new…
How much was Timothy Gomez’s life worth? According to a jury, Charlie Brammeier valued it at $20 — the amount of a drug transaction prosecutors say led to Gomez being beaten to death by a Mag-Lite flashlight. But the cost to Brammeier will turn out to be infinitely higher than that. According…
