Following Richard Kirk’s alleged murder of wife Kristine Kirk (see our previous coverage below), most of the attention has focused on the question of whether a marijuana edible had caused the hallucinations and erratic behavior that resulted in her tragic death. But partly lost in this debate has been a…
During an attack on a fifteen-year-old Littleton girl, Xavier McDaniel allegedly told her, “Get ready to die.” Instead, she fought back, surviving the attack despite sustaining fearsome injuries. And now, McDaniel, 22, could spend the rest of his life in prison for a crime committed while he was out on…
This Sunday thousands of ganja enthusiasts will gather in Denver’s Civic Center for what has become an annual rite of spring, the embrace of cannabis culture at 4:20 on 4/20. But this weekend also marks the peculiar collision of several more somber anniversaries, commemorating some of the worst days this…
Big Al’s Burgers and Dogs has an attribute unique in Fort Collins and, probably, on planet Earth — a series of paintings that pay tribute to characters from the iconic ’80s/’90s sitcom Full House. So you can imagine the heartbreak when someone stole the portrait depicting Joey Gladstone, portrayed by…
Update: During our last update about the tragic murder of Kristine Kirk (see our previous coverage below), we shared a probable-cause statement that made no mention of marijuana use by Richard Kirk, Kristine’s husband, who’s accused of killing her, despite multiple reports from law-enforcement sources to that effect. Now, however,…
Update below: The online profile of Justin Jay Hatfield suggests that he’s among the unlikeliest kidnapping-and-sex assault suspects ever. Most of the recent posts on his Facebook page highlight paintings by Vincent Van Gogh and a YouTube video shows him singing opera. Yet the Colorado Springs Police Department has named…
Most of us tend to hear about major crimes in Denver. But what about the lower-profile offenses, such as robberies, burglaries and assaults? A website called RAIDS Online tracks them in a number of Colorado cities, including Denver — and there are plenty of them. We looked at the quadrant…
Update: Last week, we told you about the arrest of Adams County Deputy Henry Ford in regard to suspected sexual assault on a child. See our previous coverage below. Now, Ford has been formally charged, and one of the accusations — incest — reveals that the alleged victim in the…
Last September, the Colorado Department of Health and Environment issued an alert suggesting that spice, inaccurately but popularly known as synthetic marijuana, could well be more dangerous to kids than the real thing. Yet despite the January 1 start of recreational pot sales in Colorado, spice continues to be available…
We recently told you about the role DNA played in the arrest and subsequent guilty plea of Alfred Flores in a 2011 head-shot murder. Turns out DNA also proved key in an even older crime: a 2001 sex assault for which Eddie Simon was busted more than a dozen years…
Last week, Alison Michelle Ernst hurled a shoe at Hillary Clinton while the latter spoke at an event in Las Vegas. Afterward, the press found a tie between Ernst and the case against Aurora theater shooter James Holmes, and it’s legit. However, major outlets such as the Associated Press are…
The little things often prevent a murderer from getting away with his crime, as Alfred Flores understands all too well. As we noted in a November 2012 post, one of the key bits of evidence implicating him in the slaying of 27-year-old Manuel Martinez was a piece of chewing gum…
As we’ve been reporting, hit-and-runs aplenty have taken place in Denver and Boulder of late, several with fatal consequences. But yesterday (when a storm system rolled into the area) saw an unprecedented number of such crashes: four in less than 24 hours, with two resulting in deaths. Look below to…
On May 17, 2012, one day after we marked the three-year anniversary of our Mile High Murder archive, a man robbing a Commerce City jewelry store fatally shot its owner, Bernardo Saenz, and fled, prompting a citywide manhunt and media blitz. Just shy of two years later, Anton Valdez has…
Thus far, we don’t know why 21-year-old Taria Wilhite-Moore sports prominent facial wounds in her booking photo or how these injuries may or may not tie-in to the first-degree murder charge on which she was busted. But there are at least two undisputed facts about the case: Eddie Johnson, 25,…
Update: Last week, we told you about the baseball bat beating of Boulder’s Aaron Tuneberg; see our previous coverage below. Now, unfortunately, Tuneberg has died from his injuries. As a result, the charges against Austin Holford, seen here, and Luke Pelham, a pair of eighteen-year-olds previously arrested for the assault,…
According to the Denver coroner’s office, eight homicides took place in the city during the first quarter of 2014. That pace is slower than in 2013, when there were 22 homicides during the first six months of the year. But that does little to ease the pain for the loved…
Update: It’s déjà vu all over again. Earlier this month, we reported about the reported stabbing of Zachary Meints, a former youth hockey coach who pleaded guilty to Internet sexual exploitation a couple of years back after he was caught sending explicit texts to teen players. See our previous coverage…
There are two ways to look at the Rocky Mountain Safe Street Task Force’s decision to dub a wanted bank robber the “Good Grammar Bandit.” Either he’s proof that our much-criticized education system is doing a better job of turning out literate graduates than is generally acknowledged or evidence of…
Should the trial of Aurora theater shooter James Holmes be held in Arapahoe County, where the crime occurred? No, say Holmes’s attorneys. In a motion made public this week (and on view below), they request a change of venue, arguing that the citizens of Arapahoe County have a “unique and…
Charles Wingate was once a Colorado Springs city councilman, as well as a prominent, respected member of the community. Now, however, Wingate must rebuild his life and his reputation from the ground up. He’s been sentenced for misdemeanor child abuse after his naked, autistic thirteen-year-old son was found living in…
In the immediate wake of a tragedy, donations often pour in. That was certainly the case with the 2012 Aurora theater shooting, after which people from all over the country donated millions of dollars for the victims. But that money has since been disbursed — and not every victim benefited…
