Here at the Criminal Affairs Desk, we’ve tried to aid the rehabilitation process by offering newly convicted felons some insiders’ advice for that difficult transition to life behind bars. We’ve provided former Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio with tips on maintaining personal hygiene and avoiding snitches and bewildered newbies help in…
Our latest mug shot roundup highlights folks accused or convicted of offenses ranging from the dopey to the deadly serious, plus a couple of highly unusual entries — two people, Tyler Sanchez and Robert Dewey, who were cleared of the allegations against them. Check out the memorable photos below, and…
This weekend, officers with the Denver Police Department were summoned to a residence on South Bryant Street that contained a gruesome secret. A woman at a home there was dead. And the cause appears to have been wholly unnatural…
A short time ago, Wes Specht, a former Alameda High School basketball coach and professional player with the Colorado Kings, where he earned the nickname “Wild Man,” has just been found guilty of several counts related to sex with a student and possession of suggestive images. Which means the jury…
Update: Earlier this month, Colorado State University student Donny Gocha was brutally beaten in an encounter with CSU football players. Now, the Larimer County District Attorney’s Office has formally accused Gocha of the same offense as the ballers who beat him — a decision that clearly makes him unhappy…
Last week, we told you about Connie Liphford, who was found guilty of a 2008 rape based on a DNA hit made years later. But the victim of a home invasion-sexual assault didn’t have to wait nearly as long for police to zero in on a suspect. Derrik Holmes was…
Even under the best of circumstances, the act of robbing a convenience store for the sake of a handful of singles in ready cash has to be one of the dumbest crimes imaginable, just on a simple risk-to-benefit scale. But for absolute desperation, nothing beats jacking a 7-Eleven at three…
Between the two days of Denver’s most recent 4/20 celebration, the Denver Police Department cited or arrested a total of 92 people. And while the event’s organizer, Miguel Lopez, is not on that roster, he was detained on 4/21 and faces investigation for allegedly assaulting an at-risk adult. The bizarre…
At her parole hearing last summer, Jennifer Reali insisted that she’s a different person from the 29-year-old, ninja-clad assassin who ambushed and killed her lover’s wife, Dianne Hood, outside Hood’s lupus support meeting in 1990. The parole board didn’t entirely agree, but there’s no question that the soundtrack to Reali’s…
Update: Aurora Police have now identified the man who killed Josephine Echols outside a church service officiated by her son as Kiarron Parker, 29 — and the off-duty Denver Police officer who put him down as six-year vet Antonio Milow, Echols’s nephew. And the more info that comes out, the…
Each anniversary of the April 20, 1999 Columbine High massacre seems to bring disturbing new events — like Earl Moore’s attempted bombing of a nearby mall. This year’s shocking tie-in: An announcement that a Basalt High student had been busted for an alleged plan to kidnap, beat and starve another…
Talk about the circle of life. Charles McNew is currently cooling his heels in a jail cell after being accused of stealing a jail cell — a vintage one from the 1800s that was believed to be the last of its kind in existence. It’s not anymore, though…
The Connie Liphford case offers a strong counterargument to those who see the routine collection of DNA from arrestees as a potential violation of privacy. After all, Liphford had apparently evaded responsibility for a 2008 rape, until a DNA hit three years later…
Controversies abound in the case of Jesus Cornelio. Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck has charged the seventeen year old as an adult in the death of his toddler cousin, who allegedly sustained a fatal injury after Cornelio shoved him while Facebooking on his phone. Meanwhile, his family is protesting…
Israeli-born Yaron Segal was a Yale-educated researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology doing highly technical work in the area of solar cells. But his final chapter deals not with the development of clean energy but a lonely death at the end of a homemade noose. He killed himself after…
The Denver coroner’s office has identified the clerk who died amid a robbery attempt at an O’Reilly Auto Parts store late Monday as Pablo Del Rio Jr. And the cause of death is no doubt further fueling the search for his killer. Why? Del Rio was shot in the back…
Update: “For all those who are worried…. I’m ok. Just dealing with some shit but I will be fine.” That’s a Facebook message posted a short time ago by John Severe, a Colorado Springs resident who’s worked for the military. And he is indeed dealing with some shit: He’s one…
We don’t know with metaphysical certitude that the Christopher Lites who was arrested in Boulder over the weekend on a charge of pedaling his bicycle under the influence is the same Chris Lites whose Facebook profile photo depicts a bizarre version of the Gary Busey family (it’s on view below)…
“The Landlord,” Will Ferrell’s classic Funny Or Die skit, pivots on the hilarity of a toddler knocking at a front door. But there was nothing amusing about the tiny tap, tap, tap and ringing doorbell that awoke Colorado Springs’ Traci Gilbert early Sunday morning. That’s because the youngster standing before…
Released yesterday, the list of finalists for the open Independent Monitor position features three natives of the Golden State. The finalists bring experience at the Offices of Independent Review in their current homes of Fresno, Los Angeles and Orange County. From here, the finalists will be whittled down to the…
In the past month, the Denver Police Department has institutionalized numerous changes aimed at increasing the efficiency of its internal reviews and encouraging the public to put faith in the results. According to Police Chief Robert White and Manager of Safety Alex Martinez, this is a very, very good thing…
Denver Police Chief Robert White has appointed Michael Battista to the post of Conduct Review Commander; he will head all reviews of police misconduct. In announcing the appointment, White said he hoped the new structure would cut down review time by at least 50 percent. With the new addition, the…
