As the Crystal fire in Larimer County was finally winding down last week, authorities announced their suspicion that it was human-caused — and now they think they’ve got the human who did it: Thomas Howie, 36. Meanwhile, Douglas County officials believe a fifteen-year old started numerous blazes in the Pinery…
When it comes to pimping, the Denver District Attorney’s Office believes Theresa and Christian Laswell kept it in the family. Last month, Christian was charged with child prostitution and more in regard to allegedly whoring out a seventeen-year-old. Now, Theresa, his sister and supposed “bottom bitch,” is faced with pretty…
Update: Marcelo Ochoa-Sanchez has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Karen Escobar — and no wonder. According to police, Ochoa-Sanchez stabbed Escobar in the street in clear view of numerous witnesses — then went back to his apartment, grabbed another knife and returned with the…
Update: Noel Alexander Bertrand, a marine from Portland, Oregon, has now been formally charged with sexual assault in the shocking attack on a woman after midnight in a nearly deserted Denver International Airport concourse last week. Meanwhile, new security footage and information from a police report sheds new light on…
The story of Shannon Johnson, accused of letting her infant son drown while she played a Facebook game, has been reported in such far-flung locations as Australia and China because her act was such a crime of the times. And she’ll have lots of opportunities to mull it over: She’s…
The alleged conspiracy that led to the Keene Ranch murders of Amara Wells and Robert Rafferty Jr. has just grown larger. Already arrested were Christopher Wells, Amara’s ex, plus a trio of his co-workers from a Colorado Springs car dealership. Now, Krystal Kurcz and Megan Cassidy have been busted on…
Update: In our last post about the murder of Gerald Schwartzman, 73, on view below, we pointed out that we didn’t know much about the victim other than the most basic information. We now have a much better-rounded view thanks to a heartfelt statement released by his family — and…
Update: Earlier, we noted that William Lornes, 24, was being held for car theft but wondered if accusations related to a Cherry Creek Shopping Center kidnapping were on the way. Instead, such charges have been preceded by a first-degree murder beef linked to the homicide of Gerald Schwartzman, 73, whose…
Update: For months, there were no breakthroughs in the investigation into the November murder of Terence Scott George and disappearance of Tiffany Durst — but it now looks as if a lot of progress was being made behind the scenes. Less than a week after the April 7 discovery of…
Sounds like the set-up for a joke: A couple dressed more or less as ninjas, and carrying machetes, walk into a medical marijuana dispensary. What do they want? Weed! Trevor Morris and Ashley Bradford probably don’t find this punchline to be especially funny, though, given that they’ve been arrested for…
Kyle Kvasnicka, thirty, served four years as an assistant for the Concordia University Irvine volleyball squad before working his way up to head coach. In his second year at the helm, he was ready to put his own mark on the program. But now, the school has stripped him from…
As we reported yesterday, Manager of Safety Charley Garcia has sacked Denver cops Ricky Nixon and Kevin Devine over allegedly billy-clubbing women to the ground and macing one of them in a July 2009 incident at the Denver Diner. Now it’s been confirmed that one of the cops, Ricky Nixon,…
Eric Caverly, 37, was a youth group volunteer with a Colorado Springs church — and we’re using the past tense in this sentence because he’s presumably been cut loose following his arrest on suspicion of sexual assault on a child. The victim in question? A young woman who was sixteen…
After Hugo’s Charles and Laura Clagett were found murdered late last month, local police identified the person of interest only as a teen relative. Now, however, we know that he’s Greg Smith, the Clagett’s great-grandson, who turns seventeen next week — because the 18th Judicial District DA’s office has charged…
Erie’s Nicole Bernard never gave much thought to her neighbor, Gordon Schumacher, and no wonder. He’s 35, married, seemingly ordinary in every respect. Until he allegedly snuck into her house and planted a webcam in her bedroom, prompting his arrest for being a high-tech peeping tom…
At around the same time the Denver Police Department released the list of its 25 most violent fugitives, the coroner’s office for the city issued its report about homicides in the first quarter, which totaled eight. The number is the same as during the first three months of 2010 –…
The Denver Police Department has trimmed its fifty most wanted fugitives list by half but multiplied the mayhem via its roster of the city’s 25 most violent fugitives. The mug shots of those who follow first target Robert Juan Gee stand out thanks to the best neck tattoo (No. 3),…
In July 2008, eighteen-year-old Angie Zapata of Greeley was beaten to death by a 32-year-old man she met online. In April 2009, a jury found that man guilty of murder. What’s more, they convicted him of a hate crime, finding that he had killed Angie because she was transgender. Tomorrow,…
Douglas Bruce has made no shortage of enemies over the years — and plenty of them are likely grinning at the sight of his mug shot, released in conjunction with word that he’s been indicted for failing to pay taxes he earned in 2005-2007. His alleged method of evasion? Funneling…
Update below: At least six teachers and coaches were busted on sexually related charges in these parts last year, and 2011’s already brought the story of Courtney Bowles, found naked on top of a student in a car. But the arrest of Alameda High basketball coach Wes Specht on similar…
At this writing, representatives of the Aurora Police Department are combing an open space area near the intersection of Chambers Road and Yale Avenue following the discovery of a dead body just shy of 7 p.m. last night. The APD’s Detective Bob Friel terms the death “suspicious” and identifies the…
Every daughter wants to know her mother’s got her back — and there can’t be any doubt in Vanessa Casillas’s mind about that. After all, her mom, Maria Plazola, is facing charges that she attended a high-school fight Vanessa was in… and instead of trying to stop it, she encouraged…
