Your guide to recognizing terrorism: John Elway

Today, the hoi polloi of American law enforcement — Attorney General Eric Holder, FBI Director Robert Mueller, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Gil Kerlikowske and Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli — will be in Denver to address the International Association of…

In the Florence pen, it’s risky not to join the riot

The dysfunctional high-security federal penitentiary in Florence has been the scene of all sorts of gang-related mayhem, from the grisly 1999 disembowelment of inmate Joey Estrella to the 2008 racial uprising in the yard, in which guards fired on brawling prisoners and killed two (as reported in “Life in the…

Shmuck of the Week: Alexis Williamson, aka the Horse Wispier

I’ve never owned a horse, or even horse-sat for that matter. So I can’t say for sure that I could properly maintain the nutrition of an equine if charged with such responsibility. If the horse didn’t like Ben & Jerry’s or the onion rings from My Brother’s Bar, he might…

Library flasher one book you don’t want to open

The Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office is looking for a penis — one attached to the guy pictured here. On September 12 at around 1:30 p.m., he entered the Koelbel Library, 5955 S. Holly Street in Centennial, and promptly gave others in the facility a chance to check out… his man…

Think you’ve got a right to court records? Think again…

Over the past few years, the ability of journalists (or any private citizen, for that matter) to access various forms of public records in Colorado has been greatly diminished, from police reports to divorce filings. The loss of access to court records has been particularly aggravating, a bit of bureaucratic…

Channel 31’s Eli Stokols rides the Najibullah Zazi express

  Channel 4’s Rick Sallinger isn’t the only local TV type in New York City tracing the tracks of terror-suspect Najibullah Zazi. Eli Stokols, the go-to-guy for the two-headed Channel 31/The Deuce monster, is there as well. But the package above demonstrates why so few affiliates are willing to open…

Hope you’re taking notes about Zazi’s attorney, John Grisham

Another day, another article in a major publication implying that Arthur Folsom, the Denver-area attorney representing terror suspect Najibullah Zazi, couldn’t be more doomed to disaster if his legal background consisted entirely of watching season three of Night Court on DVD. This time, the doubt is slathered on by the…

DA Chambers cuts corners on a death penalty case again

Since she took over as district attorney five years ago, Carol Chambers has let wrongdoers in the Eighteenth Judicial District know that she’s going to hold them accountable. She’s pursued lengthy habitual-criminal sentences for low-level offenders, gone after opposing attorneys and truth-fudging cops, and even criticized judges for taking (and…

Read the book thrown at hep-C passer Kristen Parker

News broke late last week that Kristen Parker, the former Rose Medical Center surgical rep accused of passing hepatitis C to victims like those at the center of “Going Viral,” Alan Prendergast’s recent feature, would plead guilty to a potpourri of charges against her — and by Friday afternoon, she’d…

Shmuck of the Week: The very sleepy Jesse Dennis Dimmick

Aurora’s Jesse Dennis Dimmick was already wanted for questioning in a murder when he went on the lam recently, eventually finding himself in a police chase with Kansas authorities. And while murder is a little too severe to label Dimmick a shmuck, what he did next more than qualifies. During…

Remembering Lilian Verdonkschot and other Denver murder victims

Denver may not be the nationwide leader in homicides, thank goodness. But as demonstrated by our Mile High Murder archive, which has documented forty murders since the project was launched in late May, there’s plenty of violence to go around in these parts. Witness the story of 49-year-old Lilian Verdonkschot,…

Report: Hep-C passer Kristen Parker to plead guilty

Channel 4’s report that Kristen Parker will plead guilty to charges against her won’t go down as the shock of the century. Back in July, after all, she confessed to swiping drugs while working as a surgery tech at Rose Medical Center, where she’s said to have infected more than…

Say goodbye (and good riddance) to Najibbullah Zazi

The pdf of the detention file released by the Justice Department in relation to the case against terror suspect Najibbullah Zazi was sent upside-down — but the evidence against Zazi looks ugly from any direction. As such, expect him to be officially sent packing to New York following a perfunctory…

Connect the dots on Boulder crime map

Among the more intriguing and/or disturbing features on the City of Boulder’s web site is a crime map feature that allows residents and other curious Internet surfers to see precisely where a variety of offenses have occurred throughout the community in a given week — in today’s case, the one…

Have you seen Anthony Bryant, sexually violent predator?

Don’t know if Anthony Bryant’s business cards list him as a “Sexually Violent Predator” — but that’s how the Denver Police Department refers to him in a release that asks for help from the public in tracking him down. Seems Bryant, who has a couple of stranger-on-stranger assaults under his…

Zazi indicted on terror charges, likely headed to New York

Those reports we told you about earlier this morning suggesting that authorities would seek to transfer terror suspect Najibbullah Zazi to New York have proven accurate. The Justice Department confirms that Zazi has been indicted in New York’s Eastern District “on a charge of conspiracy to use weapons of mass…

Nuts on the loose after Bruce’s Bar Nut Run

Some stories could be set anywhere — but not this one. Okay, there’s this joint in Severance called Bruce’s Bar, and for more than a quarter century, it’s sponsored an annual bash called the Nut Run — so named because the main attractions are Rocky Mountain oysters. Men and women…