The day after Christmas, those who loved and cared about 37-year-old Alexander Tower got terrible news: Tower, seen here, and another man, Francisco Gutierrez, age 39, were found dead in the former’s Denver home. They’d both been shot to death. Shortly after the victims were ID’d, the Denver Police Department…
Denver Zoo has posted additional signage warning people to stay out of the elephant exhibit, says zoo spokeswoman Tiffany Barnhart. The move comes in the wake of an incident on December 23 in which an intoxicated 21-year-old woman made her way past the barriers and into the elephant enclosure, apparently…
In recent months, videos have been popping up online that feature what’s been dubbed the “knockout game” — blindside sucker punches aimed at random strangers with the goal of leaving them unconscious. The phenomenon has been reported in places like New York City, but not Denver. Now, however, three incidents…
With only one execution logged in the past 45 years, Colorado’s death penalty is practically on life support itself — and about to be severely tested by three high-profile cases in coming months. Yet the man who might, in effect, pull the plug on the practice in our state isn’t…
Update below: KHOW radio host and self-described Troubleshooter Tom Martino was arrested for suspicion of domestic violence in a pre-Christmas incident involving his wife. Today, Martino returned to the airwaves — but while he alluded to the bust, he declined to discuss it. Meanwhile, questions continue to be asked about…
Around this time last year, we told you about the arrest of Eric Garcia for allegedly attempting to sexually assault two women in a twenty-minute period. Turns out Garcia had been even busier than originally reported. He’s now been convicted of sexual assault tries against three women during a one-hour…
The Colorado Department of Corrections may have miscalculated the sentences of thousands of state inmates, hiking prison costs by millions of dollars and keeping offenders incarcerated beyond the time they were expected to serve, according to a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of four DOC clients — one of whom…
Last week, we told you about two homicides being investigated by the Aurora police, including the murder of a man whose body was found at 11922 East Archer Place, apartment K-23, just before 8 p.m. on December 26. The victim has since been identified as 28-year-old Rodolfo Martinez-Cancin. And today,…
On the morning of December 13, eighteen-year-old Karl Pierson gave no indication that anything was amiss, according to Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson. He took the time to have a meal and go bowling by himself. Then, at around 12:30 p.m., he entered Arapahoe High School through a door that…
Just before 8 p.m. last night, the Aurora police responded to 11922 Archer Place, apartment K-23, near the Aurora Hills Golf Course to find the body of a deceased male. The man’s identity has not yet been released pending the outcome of an autopsy, but police are treating the death…
Prosecutors in the Aurora theater shooting case say the mental evaluation conducted on suspect James Holmes contains “numerous deficiencies,” and they allege that the doctor who performed it, Dr. Jeffrey Metzner, had “an unfair bias.” They’d like Holmes to be re-examined by two experts that they’ve chosen. Those are among…
President Barack Obama recently commuted the sentences of eight federal prisoners serving absurdly long sentences for crack cocaine convictions, noting that such harsh punishments couldn’t be imposed under current sentencing schemes. But Colorado’s recent governors have been reluctant to exercise their own clemency powers, even when doing so could save…
In the summer of 2012 a federal judge declared that the conditions of solitary confinement at the Colorado State Penitentiary constitute “a paradigm of inhumane treatment” — and ordered that a mentally ill inmate who’d been housed there for years was entitled to at least three hours a week of…
Tom Martino, the Troubleshooter, found himself in more trouble this weekend when he was arrested for assault and disturbing the peace in a domestic violence incident, and hauled off to the Denver jail (where this mug shot was snapped) while his wife, Holly, was taken to Denver Health. Martino has…
Tom Martino, the Troubleshooter, found himself in more trouble this weekend when he was arrested for assault and disturbing the peace in a domestic violence incident, and hauled off to the Denver jail (where this mug shot was snapped) while his wife, Holly, was taken to Denver Health. Martino has…
Update: Claire Davis, the teen injured in the Arapahoe High shooting, has died. According to a post on Littleton Adventist Hospital’s Facebook page, Davis passed away from her wounds at 4:29 p.m. on Saturday, November 21. “Despite the best efforts of our physicians and nursing staff, and Claire’s fighting spirit,…
Stefan Moton, who was paralyzed from the chest down in the 2012 Aurora theater shooting, has filed a lawsuit against theater owner Century Theatres, Inc. Like other lawsuits filed by victims, Moton’s claim alleges that the theater was lacking in security, allowing a gunman to prop open an emergency exit,…
As its name indicates, Loveland is known much more for affection than violence. Yet in July, Stephanie Smith was stabbed to death in town by a man found to have acted in self-defense; months later, Casey Albee was charged with trying to kill him during the same incident. And this…
Earlier this week, we featured some of 2013’s most memorable mug shots, divided into categories spotlighting women, tattoos, painful-looking pics and the combo of hot messes and celebrities. Today, however, we’ve gathered what we think are the 25 most memorable booking pics of the year — including this image of…
Earlier this month, our crack (as opposed to on-crack) Schmuck of the Week team bestowed its honorific on Suzette Hall, a grandma officially accused of practicing cosmetology without a license, but also the target of colorful claims about topless barbering and more. The latest? Hall has now been slapped with…
The next chapter in our annual roundup of the year’s most memorable mug shots features what may seem on the surface to be an odd pairing: unknowns whose booking photos find them looking like hot messes and famous people who got the wrong sort of publicity — including at least…
Update: After the 1999 Columbine High School attack, law enforcers closely guarded most details, to the frustration of pretty much everyone. In contrast, the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office has been impressively transparent when it comes to the investigation into Friday’s shooting at Arapahoe High School, quickly correcting early misinformation and…
