Last week, we told you about the arrest of Spencer Crawford, the nineteen year old seen to the right, after a fatal stabbing at an overnight camping party near Nederland. See our previous coverage below.
Since then, the name of the victim -- Angus Gaudin, seventeen -- has been made public, as have other weird details of the incident.
Among the elements: moonshine, nudity, an LSD relative known as LSA and a machete.
At around 3 a.m. on June 19, as we've reported, Boulder County Sheriff's Office deputies and other emergency responders were called to the 5000 block of Ridge Road not far from Nederland on a report of a stabbing. There, they found a group of friends who knew each other from New Vista High School, including Gaudin, who'd been stabbed to death. Crawford was subsequently arrested on suspicion of killing him.
According to the Boulder Daily Camera, Gaudin was a heavy-metal fan who often wore a trench coat and heavy boots. But his best friend tells the paper that behind this garb, Gaudin was "a really heartfelt, beautiful person with lots of love. He was one of the most accepting, loving, amazing people I ever met."
The manner in which he met his end remains in dispute, but an affidavit obtained by the Camera sheds some light on what happened. The report notes that an unknown number of the camping party took mushrooms and LSA, which is listed on Wikipedia under the term Ergine. The Wiki page notes that Ergine is thought to be "responsible for...psychedelic activity. However, this theory is debatable, as anecdotal reports suggest that the effects of synthetic LSA and iso-LSA are only slightly psychedelic."
Whatever the case, a reference to last week's incident has already been added to the page, under the heading "Known Fatalities" -- meaning Crawford could become the poster child for the dangers of LSA.
Additionally, Crawford and Gaudin are said to have consumed homemade whiskey they called moonshine.
Regarding Gaudin's death, one witness told investigators that he'd seen Crawford pull out a knife and thrust it into the teenager's chest. "You stabbed me," he quoted Gaudin as saying before he fell to the ground. However, Crawford told paramedics that he'd acted only after Gaudin had pulled out a machete and announced that he was going to "kill everyone."
The Camera doesn't mention if a machete was found. But a web search of Gaudin's name turns up a powerpoint presentation he and another person put together. (Here's a search link to a download, and this is an HTML version.) The item includes the following doctored image from the movie Eragon....
...and this final slide that mentions a sword: A bizarre coincidence? Probably. But it's in keeping with the strange nature of this tragic case. For instance, Crawford tried to run away when law enforcers arrived, but he was soon captured -- naked.
Crawford is expected to be formally charged in the death of Gaudin this week. In the meantime, here's a Daily Camera video featuring Crawford's pals reacting to his arrest.
Continue to see our previous coverage, including multiple photos. Original post, 9:50 a.m. June 20: A group of friends get together to camp and party on a beautiful, warm pre-summer night in Colorado. Sounds like an idyllic situation, but it turned into a nightmare.
One member of the group, a thus-far-unidentified seventeen year old, is dead, and another -- Spencer Crawford, nineteen -- is behind held in Boulder County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder.
Here's what we know so far, and what we've been able to learn about Crawford.
Thus far, a mug shot of Crawford has not been released -- but in its coverage of the incident, the Boulder Daily Camera was able to snag this photo of Crawford from his Facebook page:
The page in question has since been removed. Turns out, though, that a Camera staffer snapped a couple pics of Crawford for a 2010 story about CU-Boulder complaints concerning eco-friendly college rankings. Here's a crop of a shot by the Camera's Greg Lindstrom in which Crawford can be seen sorting through recyclables: We also found the photo at the top of this post on a Classmates.com page devoted to New Vista High School; Crawford attended New Vista, and it appears that several of those who were together early Wednesday morning did so as well. In addition, the image to the left can be seen on Crawford's Soundcloud page, with a cropped version also serving as his profile pic for an out-of-date Google page. The latter lists him as working at Crawdaddy's Toys in Lafayette, which a Parent's Connect listing says closed in June 2011. (Lingering search results from his Facebook address say he was employed at Lucky's Market -- something confirmed by the Daily Camera.) Still, the Google page lists his real occupation as "PARTY!! ^_^" and includes a link to a rave website.
Good times aren't the focus of a Boulder County Sheriff's Office release about what happened early yesterday morning. At approximately 3 a.m., the item notes, deputies and emergency personnel from the Nederland Fire Protection District and American Medical Response were dispatched to the 5000 block of Ridge Road near Nederland.
The report: a stabbing.
The BCSO investigation identifies the group of campers as Boulder County residents in their late teens to early twenties; the Camera puts their number at eleven and reveals that they were pals from New Vista. An altercation appears to have occurred involving the aforementioned seventeen year old and another person, thought to be Crawford. The younger teen was stabbed and pronounced dead at the scene.
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The BCSO points out that "alcohol and drug use is suspected to be involved."
While charges have not yet been filed against Crawford, they could be coming shortly. In the meantime, he remains in custody.
More from our Colorado Crimes archive: "Photos: See latest light-rail attack's three suspects, who stabbed rather than robbed."
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