Eric Swanson’s troubled past caught up with him last week in an Arapahoe County courtroom — although not with quite the vengeance prosecutors had in mind. At one point facing habitual criminal charges and a potential 64-year-sentence for a case that began as a municipal summons for harassment, Swanson received…
In our post about the 47 homicides in Denver last year, we were unable to include a Google map showing where Manuel Martinez, 27, died last November, because the report from the Denver coroner’s office didn’t list a location. But now, we know much more about his head-shot slaying and…
The scenario instantly recalled Jessica Ridgeway’s disappearance, except multiplied: In Greeley, four girls between the ages of five and twelve vanished, prompting a desperate search. In this case, fortunately, the four girls were found and returned to their homes — but not before one of them allegedly suffered a sexual…
Update: More information has emerged about the murder of Roland Smith, for which Marvin Joel Rosario-Lopez has been officially charged by the Denver District Attorney’s Office. Turns out that Smith, 47, was at The Hive, a club at 11th and Lincoln, to see his son’s band play — and another…
The victim of a fatal stabbing during the early morning hours of Friday is being identified by friends and family as Ryan Haldeman, 28. As police search for the killer (see the description below), Haldeman’s loved ones are grappling with the terrible aftermath of this senseless crime…
Governor John Hickenlooper’s office has received 52 claim forms from victims of the Aurora theater shooting, three of which are duplicates, says spokesman Eric Brown. Yesterday was the deadline for victims to turn in forms to claim a portion of the approximately $5 million that was donated to the Aurora…
In a press release from a few years back, James W. Faber portrayed himself as a crusader on behalf of individuals who’d been defrauded. Which is interesting, not to mention ironic, given that he’s just been indicted in absentia on charges that include multiple counts of (you guessed it) fraud…
Last week, we told you about the arrest of Michael Burnette after a fatal stabbing in an East Leetsdale apartment. Now, in the wake of Burnette being formally charged with first-degree murder, we’ve got details via a probable cause statement on view below. According to one source, Burnette murdered his…
October brought Colorado some of the most horrific crimes in recent years, as well as accompanying images that are seared in our collective memory. But there were also plenty of unusual, strange or unsettling reports that may have gotten lost in the shuffle. See the twenty memorable mug shots they…
Update: Judge William Sylvester, the jurist overseeing the Aurora theater shooting case against accused murderer James Holmes, has denied a request for access to evidence from three victims suing Cinemark, owner of the Century 16, where twelve people died and 58 were injured during the July 20 attack. An implied…
Update: There was virtually no doubt that district attorney Scott Storey would charge Austin Reed Sigg, seventeen, as an adult in the kidnapping and killing of Jessica Ridgeway, a ten-year-old Westminster girl. And so it has come to pass. Moments ago, the Colorado Judicial Department released a document confirming that…
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition has been one of the national organizations most active in promoting Amendment 64, the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act. No surprise, then, that the group puts an election-oriented spin on just-released crime statistics from the FBI for the year 2011. According to LEAP, the data shows…
The word “pimp” is flexible enough to describe flamboyant mack-daddisms as well as specific criminal behavior. And while Kelon Kilgore’s Facebook page establishes his credentials when it comes to the former, the Denver Police Department thinks he’s guilty of the latter, too. Get details about the self-described “Providence Procurer” and…
Twelve more people have been identified as victims of the July 20 Aurora theater shooting. Recently released court documents show that prosecutors are charging alleged shooter James Holmes with 24 more counts of attempted murder — two for each new victim — bringing the total charges against him to 166…
James Graves has reportedly admitted to burglarizing a Grand Junction home and taking only one item — a photo of a twelve-year-old girl. What makes this strange tale considerably creepier? The 29-year-old Graves is a sex offender who was convicted a couple of years ago in a case involving…a twelve-year-old…
Thomas Eric Espinoza, who beat a female neighbor to death and then attempted to mount an insanity defense, has had his conviction upheld by the Colorado Court of Appeals. The case had posed numerous legal challenges, largely because of Espinoza’s insistence on representing himself at trial while pleading insanity…
The Aurora theater shootings have spawned a number of lawsuits against Cinemark, owner of the Century 16, where James Holmes allegedly killed twelve people and wounded 58. But two of the suits were subsequently amended to remove direct references to prior gang shootings at the theater — a rationale for…
In November 2011, we told you about the murder of Thomas Bashline, a sometime trainer for the Harlem Globetrotters. Just under a year later, Draton Mares, 24, has been convicted of first-degree murder in the crime, which took place after a relationship that began more than a year earlier with…
Update: Robert Sigg, father of Austin Reed Sigg, the teenager accused of kidnapping and killing Jessica Ridgeway, a ten-year-old Westminster girl, has found himself in the spotlight since his son’s arrest, with attention turning to the contrast between his media mogul credentials and a hefty criminal record; see our original…
As the metro area’s attention was riveted on the bust of Austin Reed Sigg for the kidnapping and killing of Jessica Ridgeway, Denver police officers were quietly making an arrest in another area homicide. The latter incident involved a woman who was allegedly stabbed to death by Mike Burnette, 55,…
Update: We’re learning more about Austin Reed Sigg, seventeen, busted yesterday in the kidnapping and killing of Jessica Ridgeway, a ten-year-old Westminster girl who vanished en route to school on October 5 and was found dead the following week. Revelations thus far involve an interest in criminal investigation, references to…
In September, prosecutors in the James Holmes case filed a notice in court about a complicated situation they believed they’d fixed. A witness in the case who knew Holmes from the University of Colorado agreed to let police download texts Holmes sent from her iPhone. (The witness’s name is redacted…
