Phil Garnier was listed at number eighteen on Colorado’s most recent list of its 100 most wanted sex offenders. But he won’t be there for much longer — and the reason’s not a good one. Garnier was arrested in Colorado Springs early on Wednesday, August 26, after a tipster alerted…
The first post in Westword’s Aurora Theater Shooting archive was published early on July 20, 2012. It’s very simple headline reads, “Videos: Aurora Century 16 Shooting at The Dark Knight Rises.” Since then, we’ve published hundreds of posts about the horrific acts that took place that night, with topics including the first…
Back in May, we posted about the ten Denver neighborhoods with the highest crime to that point in 2015, as measured by crime density statistics complied by the Denver Police Department. This post is both an update and a much broader look at the topic. Once again, we’ve drawn upon DPD stats…
In November 2012, we published a post entitled UNSOLVED MURDERS IN COLORADO: READ TEN MORE PERSONAL STORIES OF VICTIMS, featuring cold cases highlighted by the invaluable Families of Homicide Victims and Missing Persons website. Among the tragedies we featured was the murder of Carolyn Jansen, who likely died in 2003, around…
Two years ago, when we told you about the murder of Claudia Miller, a local attorney, and the subsequent arrest of Warren Watson in the case, it was already clear that the crime was extraordinarily disturbing. However, information that came out in Watson’s just-concluded trial is even creepier than we…
How do you feel about the 16th Street Mall? That’s been a big topic of discussion over the past two weeks. The day I posted this piece about ten reasons to love the mall, But even before that dismaying beating outside the Rock Bottom Brewery — and the even more…
This past Sunday, a Colorado Department of Transportation worker made a grisly discovery. A woman’s body was found along Interstate 70. Days later, the victim was identified as Maria Maricela Astorga-Chavez, a 32-year-old who’d been reported missing several days earlier. Her death is being investigated as a homicide — and the…
Over the past several days, the Denver Police Department has rounded up four suspects as part of an investigation into an alleged kidnapping and sexual assault. Three of the men — Edgar Barroso, Juvenal Tamayo and Pedro Valdez — were cuffed following a SWAT raid on Friday, August 14. Then,…
How do Colorado jails and prisons house transgender prisoners? In part, it depends on their policies. In reporting this week’s feature, “No Way Out,” we researched the policies of the federal Bureau of Prisons, the Colorado Department of Corrections and the Denver Sheriff Department, which runs the Denver County Jail…
Just yesterday, we share our list of the ten reasons to love the 16th Street Mall. But last night, something happened on this stretch that no one can love. A brawl involving a couple of diners and a group of what one witness describes as teens resulted in two injuries…
In the moments after its appearance in an announcement by the Denver coroner’s office, the name Jose Frias-Olivas didn’t score a single hit when surrounded by quotation marks for a Google search. Unfortunately, that’s no longer the case — because Frias-Olivas has been identified as the victim of a weekend homicide…
Once again, the tranquility of an early morning in Denver has been shattered by gunfire. In the latest incident, a man was found shot — and while emergency responders raced him to a nearby hospital, he didn’t survive the wounds. Moreover, investigators have released no suspect information at this writing…
It could have been so much worse. Early yesterday morning, Jazmine Ramos, eleven, was shot outside her home on 47th Avenue between Race and High streets in the Elyria Swansea neighborhood — the apparent victim of a stray bullet. Fortunately, Jazmine was struck in the leg rather than another more vulnerable…
If they’re convicted, Alese Silva and Ivan Lopez could be put away for quite a long time over a crime that netted a very small reward: a car they drove for only a short distance and $80 in cash. The pair are accused of kidnapping two people over this sum…
Last night, gunfire erupted in an apartment complex in Aurora. When police arrived, the victim, who’d been hit multiple times, was still alive. Unfortunately, he subsequently succumbed to his injuries according to an Aurora Police Department announcement shared early this morning. And at this writing, law enforcers haven’t released any…
Brandon Davis probably thought he’d made a nice little score. All he had to do was drive a friend from Texas to Colorado and back and he’d be paid $500, plus gas, food and drinks. But this sweet deal quickly turned sour. As documented in a probable cause statement on…
The most recent personal photo Shandrea Bowie posted on her Facebook page shows her with Dydrick Martin, her significant other. The accompanying caption reads, “Me and my baby on the Fourth of July on our anniversary.” Less than a month later, the celebration was over and Bowie was behind bars…
The last time Teri Font saw her longtime friend Sam Forgy, he was relaxed and in a mood to celebrate. The 22-year-old University of Colorado student had just completed an intensive math course and was looking forward to the start of the fall semester and a prestigious internship that involved…
Last November, we introduced you to Eric Brandt, who’s well-known in the metro area for riding a bicycle while displaying a giant hand, complete with extended middle finger, that’s emblazoned with the phrase “FUCK COPS.” At the time, Brandt’s attorney, David Lane, had just filed a lawsuit against the City…
Last year, at least seven Denver police officers got into trouble. Now, Denver Police Department Officer Lane Gardner has joined their number by way of an arrest for assault. The victim: Jennifer Jaidinger, a fellow DPD officer — and Gardner’s fiancee. Days after the attack, Jaidinger appeared on camera in at…
The exercise in mass hysteria known as the Salem witch trials lasted little more than a year. Nineteen people were hanged, and one was pressed to death with rocks. Hundreds of others, mostly women, were accused of practicing the dark arts but spared execution. Fifty of them confessed to being…
Yesterday, we told you about the bias-motivated-crime arrest of Christopher Derby, who stands accused of having punched a woman in the face because she’s African-American. Jhane Toney, a 21-year-old African-American woman, has been charged with the same crime for a separate incident. In her case, however, she allegedly attacked the victims because…
