CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) A former Nevada prison inmate was convicted Friday of first-degree murder in the long-unsolved 1984 hammer and knife slayings of three Colorado family members, including a 7-year-old girl.
Triple murder in Aurora: Suspect accused of killing mom and siblings Please see update. She declined to talk to TV news reporters or put Vanessas picture on the news. At the conclusion, Judge Sylvester decided there was enough relevant, admissible evidence to proceed to a trial. Prosecutors offered their case as to why the trial should proceed, and defense lawyers argued that it should not.
How Atlantic Landed the 'Daisy Jones & The Six' Soundtrack It also had details of his planning for the shooting, which prosecutors said indicated Holmes premeditated the attack. However, the jurors decided that Holmes did not intend to kill children when he opened fire. Alex Ewing is accused of killing 3 members of the Bennett family in Aurora in 1984. . [181] Theater room nine, where the actual shooting occurred, was combined with an adjoining room into a new XD theater room. [28], At about 12:45a.m., police officer Jason Oviatt apprehended Holmes[11][29] behind the cinema, next to his car, without resistance. Regardless, it's another victory in what has been a historic year for law enforcement closing decades old notorious cold cases. It isnt. [165], Judge R. Brooke Jackson stated that for theaters today, "One might reasonably believe that a mass shooting incident in a theater was likely enough (that is, not just a possibility) to be a foreseeable next step in the history of such acts by deranged individuals". [135], Christopher Nolan, the film's director, spoke on behalf of his cast and crew and called the event "savage" and "devastating". [146], Hans Zimmer, who composed the soundtrack for The Dark Knight Rises, recorded a choral song entitled "Aurora" in honor of the victims. Arapahoe County prosecutors sought the death penalty. CENTENNIAL, Colo. (CBS4) - A judge sentenced Alex Ewing to three life sentences on Tuesday after he was found guilty in the 1984 murders of three people in Aurora. Police say DNA evidence links Alex Ewing to the 1984 murders of three members of Bruce and Debra Bennett and their 7-year-old daughter Melissa, left. Booking photos for (from left) Emily Strunk, Dontavious Hetzel and Kevin Wertin. [91][92] On May 27, Dr. William Reid, a court-appointed psychiatrist, testified that Holmes was mentally ill but legally sane.
1984 Aurora hammer killer evolved into predator, FBI profiler says 57-yr old.
A wave of gun violence in Denver and Aurora troubles community members He remembers the dishes and the clatter they made when he dropped them to the floor after being shot in the face.
The Aurora Hammer Slayer SOLVED! | The Theorem Factory [19][20][21] Finally, he fired a .40-caliber Glock 22 Gen4 handgun. Alex Christopher Ewing has been in a Nevada Prison for most of the past 34 yrs for a similar attack there.
James Holmes formally sentenced to life plus 3,318 years | CNN She alleged that a school psychiatrist could have prevented the slaughter by having Holmes detained after he admitted he "fantasized about killing a lot of people". [178], In 2015, a campaign titled "No Notoriety" was started by the parents of Alexander Teves, who died in the shooting.
Jad L. on LinkedIn: National Fraternal Order of Police . In May 2016, after years of legal debate, a jury took three hours to deliver a unanimous verdict that the theater chain was not liable to any degree for the tragedy that transpired. Nearly three years later, Holmes was found guilty of all the 165 counts brought against him, and he was sentenced . [127], Warner Bros., the distributor of The Dark Knight Rises, said it was deeply saddened by the shooting. [155][156] AMC Theatres announced it would "not allow any guests into our theatres in costumes that make other guests feel uncomfortable and we will not permit face-covering masks or fake weapons inside our buildings". Aurora mother pays for son's cellphone bill more than a year after his death . The aurora was caught on camera by photographer Nigel Wilkins, spectacularly lighting up the sky above Kenilworth Castle. In 2021, Alex Ewing, aka the Hammer Killer, was found guilty of all charges involving the horrific 1984 killings of a couple from Aurora and their 7-year-old daughter. The grizzly site was at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, on July 20, 2012. Shes been a reporter since 2012, focused on criminal justice.
Alleged Colorado cop killer linked through DNA to murders of 4 women It finally ended on Aug. 9, 1984, in Nevada, where he was . They called the Aurora Police Department around 5 p.m. on Dec. 11 and requested a welfare check after they had not heard from their other daughter and granddaughter all day, the document said. [8] There were about 400 people inside theater 9.
4 killed in shooting at Aurora home; 3 killed in separate Denver incident He also fired a Smith & Wesson M&P15[19] semi-automatic rifle with a 100-round drum magazine, which eventually malfunctioned. Other famous mass murders in Colorado include the 1999 Columbine High School Massacre and the 2012 Aurora, Colorado . The studio canceled the film's gala premieres in France, Mexico, and Japan,[128][129] scaled down its marketing campaign in Finland,[130][131] and decided not to report box office figures for the movie until July 23. On March 23, Boulder, Colorado officials announced that Ahmed Alissa is being charged with 10 counts of murder in the first degree. Christopher Martinez is facing three counts of first-degree murder after he was arrested by Aurora police in the early morning hours of Dec. 11. They were living in Aurora and planned to make a life together there. James Holmes, convicted on 24 counts of murder for shooting 12 people dead at a cinema in Aurora, Colorado, was considered a quiet young man before the attack. Statistic Count Raw Aurora / 100k People Colorado / 100k People National / 100k People; Total Crimes Per 100K: 16,552: Violent Crime: 3,473: 900.4: 423.1: 387.8: Murder He displayed photos of camping trips and family vacations with Holmes to the jury. Director Christopher Nolan's reaction to the theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado. [181] The reopening ceremony, which was boycotted by opponents of the theater's reopening, included a memorial service and a screening of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The mandatory minimum sentence to serve is 20 years. Martinezs grandmother then told detectives about the conversation she had with him at 1:30 a.m. On the call, he allegedly said he went to the Aurora house and was doing shots of tequila with Estancia, Marisol and Kaden. OJ Simpson / The Glove Didn't Fit Chapter 17: 14 . Kaden does not live at that residence and it was his first time at the location, the affidavit said. [100] The two murder convictions for each death were first-degree murder or attempted murder after deliberation, and first-degree murder or attempted murder with extreme indifference. 1993 Aurora, Colorado shooting Location 12293 East Iliff Avenue, Aurora, Colorado, US Date December 14, 1993 10:00 p.m. (MST) Attack type Mass shooting, armed robbery Weapon.25-caliber semi-automatic pistol Deaths 4 Injured 1 Perpetrator Nathan Dunlap Motive Revenge for being fired from Chuck E. Cheese's On December 14, 1993, four employees were shot and killed and a fifth employee was .
1993 Aurora, Colorado shooting - Wikipedia On Monday, a gunman killed 10 people at a Boulder grocery .
Aurora, CO Murder Rates and Murder Maps | CrimeGrade.org and help keep the future of Westword, Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our. The accused was then charged with first-degree murder of the Bennetts - Bruce, Debra, and Melissa - and Patricia Smith in 2021 and 2022, respectively. She joined the paper in 2019 and previously worked as a crime reporter at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in Pennsylvania and the Chattanooga Times Free Press in Tennessee. [86], The trial started on April 27, 2015. Your chance of being a victim of murder in Aurora may be as high as 1 in 33,918 in the north neighborhoods, or as low as 1 in 45,558 in the . Thirty-seven-and-a-half years ago, Connie, now 87, said Wednesday. Police arrived and took Martinez, his grandfather and the family friend to the station to interview them. DNA evidence ties Ewing to the crime. He told her that he went upstairs and told Estancia and Marisol what he had done and they didnt believe him. [171], A grassroots community center, Aurora Strong Resilience Center, was established by community leaders, elected officials, and mental health professionals, as a response to the shooting. They concluded there was nothing suspicious and did not attempt to contact anyone in the home. The life sentences will be served consecutively. Get the Android Weather app from Google Play, Global race to boost electric vehicle range in cold, In Britain, warm hubs emerge to beat soaring energy, Family of Aurora man in police video speaks out, Potholes return to Evergreen road known for problems, Makar cleared to return from 2nd concussion protocol, Mercer has goal, 3 assists as Devils beat Avalanche, Racism case against Broncos, NFL going to court, Rockies among 17 teams MLB may take over broadcasts, Jokic has 100th triple-double as Nuggets down Rockets, Sean Payton tried to lure Vic Fangio back to Denver, found dead in their Aurora home Saturday night, Arrest made after 3 people found shot to death in Aurora home, Man shoots bowler who bumped into him, receives 23 years, 17-year-old charged as adult for attempted murder of police officer, Best smart home devices for older users, according, How to get started on spring cleaning early, according, Worried about your student using ChatGPT for homework? [161] Cinemark's motion quoted extensively from the landmark California appellate opinion[162] that held McDonald's had no duty of care to prevent the 1984 San Ysidro McDonald's massacre. On March 3, 1967, Charles Brett Lange was found legally insane & sent to the Colorado State Hospital instead of prison. She was more outgoing than her husband, Bruce, a Navy veteran who was quieter and easygoing.
Aurora shooting leaves 12 dead, 70 wounded - HISTORY Alex Christopher Ewing has been in a Nevada Prison for most of the past 34 yrs for a similar .
1993 Chuck E Cheese murders - Horror History .net Hammer Killer suspect to stand trial 37 years, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Get to know all 17 Denver mayor candidates , Hammer Killer suspect to stand trial 37 years after slaying of Aurora family, Colorado Hammer Killer suspect wont face death penalty in 1984 slayings, Murder suspect known as the Hammer Killer arrives in Colorado decades after cold case killings shook metro region, Ruthless hammer killer put Denver residents on edge in early 1984, 1984 Colorado hammer killer was no criminal mastermind, just an average burglar who evolved into a predator, FBI profiler says, Missing indigenous person alert issued out of Thornton for endangered teen, Man wanted in Adams County on 13 counts of child sex assault is arrested in Denver, After teens death, Denver East High students walk out to advocate for gun legislation, spree of attacks by the so-called Hammer Killer duringa 12-day span, Ewing was imprisoned just months after the killings, After School Satan Club launching first Colorado chapter, but organizer promises "we are not devil worshippers", PHOTOS: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band play Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado landlords say eviction-protection proposal could make dropping problem renters too hard, No more greasy pizza boxes, paper towels or takeout containers in Front Range compost bins come April 1, After teen's death, Denver East High students walk out to advocate for gun legislation, 5 can't-miss menus for Denver Restaurant Week, Metro Denver housing market crosses firmly into negative territory in February, Denver Botanic Gardens announces 2023 Summer Concert Series lineup, Kiszla: With Brendan Rodgers down and out, Kris Bryant could become $182 million face of worst team in Rockies history, Boulder house where JonBenet Ramsey was found dead listed for sale for almost $7M, As Adderall shortage continues, DEA plans to limit some telemedicine prescriptions, House where JonBenet Ramsey was found dead listed for sale for almost $7M, Columbia University permanently drops SAT, ACT admissions requirement, The Waterbed Doctor: California retailer lays claim to retro bed with nearly 40 years of service, sales, Felonious Florida podcast: Missing teenage girl leads to several cases of child sex trafficking, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. [76] Colorado State District Court Judge William B. Sylvester, who was the trial judge overseeing the case, placed a gag order on lawyers and law enforcement, sealing the court file and barring the University of Colorado from releasing public records relating to Holmes' year at the school. In addition to the fatal attack on the Bennetts and Smith, a 28-year-old woman was bludgeoned nearly to death and sexually assaulted after she pulled into her Aurora garage on Jan. 9, 1984. Now investigators are working to determine whether a Nevada convict named Alex Christopher Ewing is that man. Around 1 p.m. on 6/14/2010, almost one mile east of Third Bridge, two men were driving past the intersection of County Road 50 and 53 (Kiowa-Bennett Road). Here is a look at the July 20, 2012, movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado. Holmes confessed to the shooting but pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. [35] The officers found several firearms in the theater and inside the shooter's car, including another Glock 22 handgun.
Aurora's Other Massacre Victims' 20-Year Wait for Justice THOSE with their eyes to the skies on Sunday night (February 26) may have caught a very rare sighting of the northern lights. A second trial was attempted earlier this year which went on for five days and took the jury over five hours to come up with a verdict that found him guilty of first-degree murder. Reid and another doctor evaluated Holmes in December 2013 and determined that he understood what he was doing. [96][97], On July 9, Judge Carlos Samour asked Holmes if he would testify in court, and advised him of his rights to do so. Connie discovered her sons body the next morning, on Jan. 16, 1984. Furthermore, the loving grandmother had been sexually assaulted. Martinezs grandparents, Eugene and Dallas Martinez, live in Texas and were staying with one of their daughters in Firestone, according to the affidavit. Ahead of the People Magazine Investigates' episode titled The Colorado Hammer Killer, which is scheduled to arrive this Monday, July 11, here are five appalling facts about Alex Ewing. He then dragged Marisol into the bedroom with Estancia and shot them. [53][54] This figure would not be surpassed until the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting, which killed 49 people and injured 58 others for a combined total of 107 casualties. In 2001, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation was able to establish a DNA profile from semen collected from the carpet and comforter in the Bennett sisters bedroom. [14] Initially, few in the audience considered Holmes to be a threat. When its a random attack like that, its difficult to tie anyone to it, Connie said.
How does this keep happening here? Colorado residents ask themselves [22][23] He shot first to the back of the room, and then toward people in the aisles.
Alex Christopher Ewing: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know Ewing's violent spree continued 11 days later in Arizona when he attacked Roy Williams with a rock as he lay sleeping in his Kingman home. Earlier, he had rigged his apartment with homemade explosives and incendiary devices.
January 27, 1984: Ewing attacks a man in Kingman, Arizona in his home; beats man's head with a hammer. At approximately 2:00 AM on January 4th . 9:00AM. [36] Holmes was found carrying a first aid kit and spike strips, which he later admitted in an interview he had planned to use if police either shot at or chased him.
Bennett family murders: Prosecution rests case in hammer murders When Ewing was pinpointed as the perpetrator of the Bennett family and Smith attacks, he was already serving a 110-year sentence for the attempted murder of a Henderson-based couple. Aurora's highly critical review did not . 3 Delayed By DC Following Aurora Shooting", "Batman Comic Postponed Because It Features A Teacher Pointing Gun at Students", "Warner Bros. tones down 'Batman' TV toon", "Hans Zimmer composes song for Aurora victims", "Century Aurora theater reopens with ceremony, showing of "The Hobbit", "Aurora theater shooting suits against Cinemark set for July 2016 trial", "Security Stepped Up Nationwide in Wake of Colorado Movie Theater Shooting", "Colorado Shooting 2012: Witness Says Gunman Shot Anyone Trying To Leave", "Cinema Security Tightened After 'Dark Knight' Shootings", "National theater association reviewing all security procedures in wake of Colorado midnight movie massacre", "Security Recommendations Sent To Theater Owners", "AMC Bans Masks And Fake Weapons at Their Theaters in the Wake of the Aurora Shooting", "Reassessing cinema security in the wake of Colorado's movie theater massacre", "Aurora theater shooting victims file suits against Cinemark", "Colorado judge denies theater rampage victims access to criminal files", "Aurora theater shooting judge denies victims' bid for records", "Judge says wrongful death claims in theater shootings should be tossed,", "Cinemark Again Denied Attempt To Toss Colorado Theater Shooting Lawsuits", "Cinemark Beats Victims' Lawsuit Over Mass Shooting at Colorado Movie Theater", "Cinemark Not Liable in Colorado Theater Shooting, Jury Finds", "Aurora theater shooting victims won't have to pay $700,000 in legal costs after Cinemark drops request", "First suit filed against University of Colorado in Aurora shooting", "What should a doctor do with a patient like James Holmes", "Aurora theater shooting: Gun sales up since tragedy", "Gun sales surging in wake of 'Dark Knight Rises' shooting", "Fear prompts gun sales after Colorado theater massacre", "Colo. rampage adds fuel to gun-control debate", "Views on Gun Laws Unchanged After Aurora Shooting", "As trial nears, debate grows over naming the Aurora theater shooting", "Victims' parents want "no notoriety" for mass shooters", "Aurora movie theater reopens 6 months after mass shooting", "Colorado movie theater, scene of mass shooting, reopens despite discontent", "Aurora Theater Reopens, Angering Some Family Members Of Victims", "Memorial to victims of Aurora theater shooting unveiled six years later", Map of theater, parking lot, and diagram of the charges, Map of theater, suspect's apartment, and hospitals, "Aurora Colorado theater shooting: The Big Picture", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2012_Aurora,_Colorado_shooting&oldid=1142415372, 70 (58 from gunfire, 4 from tear gas, 8 from fleeing accidents), This page was last edited on 2 March 2023, at 07:24. He told her he got blackout drunk and stabbed Kaden because he was talking too much, the affidavit said. On August 26, Holmes was given 12 life sentences, one for every person he killed; he also received 3,318 years for the attempted murders of those he wounded and for rigging his apartment with explosives. [175] The shooting reignited the political debate on gun control, with one issue being the "easy access" Holmes had to semi-automatic rifles and high-capacity magazines, which were banned federally from 1994 to 2004. He remembers the sight of his co-worker, just a teenager, lying motionless on a blood-soaked floor. Holmes was arrested minutes later in his car outside the cinema. He was also tried for the murder of Patricia Smith, an interior designer who was sexually assaulted and hammered to death six days before the Bennett murders. Those pieces of evidence would turn out to hold the key to an arrest but not until years later, when DNA technology improved. The trial began on April 27, 2015. All I want in my older years is some peace and quiet and some tranquility of some kind.. Approximately seven months after the Aurora killings, a Nevada couple was beaten with an ax handle. January 16, 1984: Bennett family is attacked in their Aurora, Colorado home with 3 out of the 4 family members murdered by an intruder wielding a hammer. [111] At the end of the hearing on August 26, Samour formally sentenced Holmes to 12 life imprisonment sentences without parole and a maximum of 3,318 additional years on attempted murder and explosives possession convictions. [71], On November 16, 2012, the Aurora Victim Relief Fund announced that each family of the dead would receive $220,000. [30] He was described as being calm and "disconnected" during his arrest.
Gun nuts run amok | Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice I believe movies are one of the great American art forms and the shared experience of watching a story unfold on screen is an important and joyful pastime. [138] Members of the Denver Broncos also called or visited individuals at the hospitals. [40] Holmes' apartment complex is limited to University of Colorado Medical Center students, patients, and employees. Alonzo Powell, age 41, was found dead in the room according to the April 30, 2000, Metro Digest section of the Denver Post. Two Aurora, Colorado police officers charged after brutally beating 29-year-old Kyle Vinson. His DNA almost immediately matched with the evidence in the Colorado killings. Join the Westword community and help support But investigators didnt find a match until 2018, when Ewings DNA was uploaded into a national database, five years after Nevada enacted a state law that required mandatory DNA collection for people convicted of certain crimes. [80] Due to suicide attempts made by Holmes, Judge Sylvester agreed to postpone proceedings until December 2012. The discovery was made once Nevada prison authorities began collecting convicts' DNA (Ewing was already incarcerated at the time) and uploading it to the CODIS national database of the FBI. DENVER - An Arapahoe County jury on Friday found 60-year-old Alex Ewing guilty of killing three members of an Aurora family with a hammer in January 1984 in a case that went cold until DNA evidence linked him to the murders in 2018. He stayed until 9:50 then hid in a bathroom until after closing, emerging around 10:05. It began on January 7. [87], On May 7, an FBI agent displayed pieces of evidence at the trial, including Holmes' body armor, an arsenal of weapons, unfired ammunition, and a helmet with strands of his dyed orange hair. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. The day before Melissas birthday. AURORA | Police are trying to determine what led to an apparent murder-suicide shooting in the driveway of a south Aurora home Friday afternoon. He said they picked up some tequila and went back to the homehe, his mother and his sister had just moved to in Aurora. Gun sales increased in Colorado, and political debates were generated about gun control in the United States. [117][118][119][120][121] Many world leaders sent their condolences, including Queen Elizabeth II,[122] French President Franois Hollande,[123] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,[124] Russian President Vladimir Putin,[125] and Pope Benedict XVI.[126]. It's still unclear if the Aurora Police Department and Arapahoe County District Attorney are going to charge or just name a inmate serving an 8 to 40 year prison sentence as the prime suspect in a brutal quadruple homicides known as the Colorado Hammer Murders. Arapahoe County district attorney George Brauchler said: "It's my determination and my intention that in this case for James Eagan Holmes justice is death. [102][103] On July 23, the jury ruled that Holmes acted in a cruel manner, was lying in wait, and ambushed his victims during the shooting, which constitute as aggravating factors. Constance Bennett, the mother of murder victim Bruce Bennett, is questioned defense attorney Katherine Powers Spengler during Alex Ewing's murder trial, Tuesday, July 27, 2021, in an Arapahoe County Court in Centennial, Colo. Ewing is accused of killing Bruce and Debra Bennett and their 7-year-old daughter Melissa in Aurora in January 1984. [83] On April 1, the prosecution announced it had declined the offer.
Families in Aurora double murder speak out as search for killer Colorado manhunt underway for suspect accused in quadruple murder Events Shooting The shooting occurred in Theater 9 at the Century 16 multiplex (operated by Cinemark Theatres), located in the Town Center at Aurora shopping mall at 14300 E. Alameda Avenue. On August 7, the jury deadlocked on whether to impose the death penalty. CNN .
Colorado's tragic and prolific history of mass shootings - ABC News How These Ordinary Men Became the Worst Colorado Serial Killers She still struggles to speak about the details of the attack, and chokes up when she thinks of the assault and murder of Melissa, whom she said was a sweet little girl. Debra was a family-focused woman who enjoyed spending time with her aunts in Lakewood, Connie said. By the time the Bennetts were killed days later, authorities believed one attacker was responsible for the spree, and they went to great lengths to secure evidence in the killings. When he got there an hour later, he told them had obtained a concealed carry permit and showed them a black handgun.
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