Why Boulder DA Isn’t Seeking Death Penalty in Horrific Ashley Mead Murder

Boulder’s Adam Densmore has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of Ashley Mead. The details of the homicide are particularly shocking; the largest part of Mead’s body recovered to date is her torso, from which the organs had been removed according to Densmore’s arrest affidavit, on view below. However, Boulder District Attorney Stan Garnett has decided against seeking the death penalty in the case, and in general, he believes the circumstances of a killing shouldn’t be the sole factor for determining whether or not capital punishment is appropriate.

Inside Myloh Mason Astonishing 1,200-Year Scream Robbery Sentence

Myloh Mason, a suspect from Lakewood’s 2015 Scream bank robbery who was captured after becoming the twelfth Coloradan to be placed on the FBI’s ten most-wanted list, has been sentenced to an astonishing 1,200 years in prison for reasons First Judicial District DA’s office spokeswoman Pam Russell concedes are complicated.

How Meth, Murder and Gangbanging Earned Orlando Sanchez 100 Years-Plus

John Orlando Sanchez, who goes by his middle name, has been sentenced to life in prison plus an incredible 108 years for the 2015 murder of 41-year-old Eric Schnaare. And a newly unsealed arrest affidavit shared below paints a brutal portrait of the slaying. Afterward, Andrew Gutierrez, who was sentenced to life plus sixteen years over the incident, is quoted as saying, “Wasn’t that awesome? That almost made me cum in my pants.”

Judge Disagrees That Child-Abusing Ex-Cop Jeremy Yachik Isn’t a Threat

Former Berthoud police officer Jeremy Yachik has been sentenced to 32 years in prison for two counts of child-sex abuse. He will serve sixteen years for each offense. His victims in these crimes have not been publicly identified, but Yachik made a statement in court that he is “very open to treatment, and very remorseful of past decisions that have affected my family…. I’m definitely not a threat to anyone.”

Ever Valles’s Deportation Status Before Light-Rail Killing Goes National

Ever Valles, one of two men arrested after the February 7 RTD light-rail station murder of Tim Cruz, is due in court today after being formally charged with murder and more by the Denver District Attorney’s Office. The case has garnered national attention, especially in the conservative press, thanks to the revelation that Valles, who’s from Mexico, was released by the Denver Sheriff Department in December 2016 after his arrest for another crime despite him being targeted for deportation.

Death-Penalty Ban Extinguished in Party-Line Vote

The latest attempt to repeal Colorado’s seldom-used death penalty was defeated in a committee hearing Wednesday evening — after emotional testimony from families of homicide victims on both sides of the issue that underscored how deeply divided the state remains on the issue of capital punishment.

Why We Don’t Know How Many Domestic-Violence Fatalities There Are

If passed, a new bill will create a Colorado domestic violence fatality review board and mandate that agencies throughout the state gather and share details about fatal and near-death domestic-violence. The result, state senator Lucia Guzman believes, will be a more complete picture of this particularly horrific crime. “After we have that,” she says, “we can hopefully move into a prevention mode.”

Brooke Higgins: Tears and Frustration Over Sentence in Columbine-Style Plot

During a court hearing marked by tears and frustration, Brooke Higgins, now seventeen, was sentenced following guilty pleas in adult court for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and in juvenile court for solicitation to commit murder as part of what the 18th Judicial District DA’s office calls “a plot against Mountain Vista High School” circa December 2015. As district attorney George Brauchler told us in our previous coverage, on view below, this unusual combination of juvenile and adult charges was pressed so that prosecutors could publicly release their evidence against Higgins, and they’ve done so. Her arrest affidavit, also shared here, details what Brauchler and company see as practical plans for a Columbine-style attack and what Higgins’s family and supporters view as the dark fantasies of a troubled, drug-abusing teen who never meant to hurt anyone.