What started out as a series of 911 calls about a burning car quickly turned into a murder investigation. And now Shawn Geerdes is in custody on suspicion of shooting Jason Dosa to death and then setting the car ablaze, presumably to cover up evidence of the crime. About 11:40…
Last year, as we reported, Jordan “Kootra” Mathewson, founder of a Littleton-based gaming group called The Creatures, was live-streaming Counter-Strike when police burst into the room. “Uh-oh,” Kootra said. “This isn’t good. They’re clearing rooms. I think we’re getting SWATted.” Since then, the phenomenon of SWATting — calling in bogus threats…
Since last year, we’ve been reporting about the murder case against Harold Henthorn, who was accused of killing his wife, Dr. Toni Henthorn, by pushing her off Deer Mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park in 2012. In the months that followed, the Henthorn story became the subject of a Westword feature and numerous…
Less than a month after his trial, Aurora theater shooter James Eagan Holmes has begun serving his sentence of life without parole — plus 3,318 years — in Colorado’s highest-security prison, the Colorado State Penitentiary. The supermax is known for housing some of the system’s most dangerous inmates in isolation;…
Last year, we told you about the breakup of a child prostitution ring operating in Lakewood and Wheat Ridge, as well as the arrest of alleged ringleader Daniel Onodera and six others said to have been associated with exploiting teenage girls via meth and more. More than a year and a…
This week, the Colorado Springs Police Department released its annual report for 2014. The 76-page document, included below in its entirety, features a huge cache of information. But some of the most intriguing material pertains to the activities of the department’s Metro Vice, Narcotics & Intelligence (MVNI) division — and particularly…
Last week, in reporting about a stabbing outside a Glenwood Springs medical marijuana dispensary, we noted that the large number of security cameras required by law at such businesses offers plenty of investigative clues to police officers. As such, committing crimes inside or outside of pot shops is very risky —…
Ever since Chris Brown admitted to battering then-girlfriend Rihanna a few years back, the singer has been fighting to reclaim his good reputation among female music lovers, in particular. We imagine an incident that allegedly took place this week at the Platinum 84 strip club won’t help his quest. According to…
A word to the wise criminal: If you’re going to break the law, don’t do it anywhere near a medical marijuana dispensary. Under state law, dispensaries are required to install surveillance cameras — lots of them. Commit a crime inside or in the immediate vicinity outside and there’s a very…
Back in 2009, we told you about a man we described as the worst police impersonator ever. “The vehicle he used was a gray 1995 Cadillac sedan, the sort of car preferred by eighty-year-old retirees or ride-pimpers getting ready for Cinco de Mayo, not the police,” we noted. “Instead of…
Over the years, we’ve reported about numerous cases in which DNA led to arrests in sexual assaults. The same is true in regard to Jasmine Burlingame — but with a twist. In previous instances, the people busted were men accused of committing sex crimes against women. This time around, Burlingame…
One of the most shocking news stories in Colorado during 2015 involved the attack on Michelle Wilkins, whose unborn baby was cut from her womb, allegedly by Longmont’s Dynel Lane, this past March. A number of details about the horrific incident surfaced in the months that followed, including Wilkins’s revelation…
According to prosecutors, Zachary Oliver chalked up 243 violations at the Lookout Mountain Youth Services Center (LMYSC), a detention facility for juvenile offenders, before escaping in August of 2014 — a crime abetted by his brutal beating of an elderly guard with a pillowcase filled with rocks. In the wake…
Earlier this year, numerous gang-related shootings took place in Denver, as well as in Aurora, raising concerns about violence levels throughout the metro area. And if such worries had ebbed in recent months, an incident yesterday afternoon has rekindled them. A teenager was hit multiple times during broad-daylight shooting in Aurora…
Last week, 37-year-old Laurie Teter was reported missing. She disappeared after a fight with her boyfriend. During the intervening days, a vigorous search was conducted for her in Morgan County, where she lived. But now, in a development that echoes the grisly discovery of Maria Astorga’s body, which was dumped…
Now that the trial of Aurora theater shooter James Holmes is finally, blessedly over, mountains of evidence that had previously been off-limits to the public is being released. Among the most fascinating and horrifying material to surface thus far was obtained by 9News: video from the bomb robot used in…
It started out as a medical call, and that was accurate. But it quickly turned into something more. That’s because the person in distress had been shot — and at this writing, the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office is searching for 31-year-old Jonathan Ryan, who’s suspected of pulling the trigger. Ryan’s…
Back in February, we told you about the murder of Larissa Tiffany-Schiess, whose body was found after firefighters responded to a blaze at her Fountain home. Investigators quickly determined that the flames hadn’t killed Tiffany-Schiess and began investigating the case as a homicide. Her former boyfriend, Thomas Turley, was subsequently arrested and…
On Friday, we posted on our Music blog about the 13th annual White Party, a bash sponsored by the venerable 3Deep Productions crew that was set to feature rapper Wale and attendees clad in white — hence the name of the gathering. From what we hear, the party itself, which…
At first, the Tuesday, September 1 killing of Dwayne Banks, 33, on Grape Street seemed like one of those crimes that wasn’t going to get the attention it deserved, despite the deadly nature of the crime. But the Denver Police Department subsequently made it a priority, pushing out information about…
The mostly brief reports about the violent death of Judith Katchen tend to describe her in the same way — as simply a 78-year-old woman. But her online obituary makes it clear that she was much more than that. She was a loving, and beloved, mother and grandmother who lived a rich…
While the recent murders of people such as Jorge Lopez-Ramirez, a teenager gunned down in late July, and Dwayne Banks, killed this week on Grape Street, received only modest press attention, stories involving bears have prompted blanket coverage, as the multi-station live broadcast of the #BearLivesMatter capture last week demonstrates…
