Lisl Auman will remain behind bars, at least through her upcoming retrial in the slaying of a Denver police officer, a judge ruled Tuesday.
The Colorado Supreme Court in March overturned Auman’s felony murder conviction in the 1997 death of Denver officer Bruce VanderJagt and ordered a new trial. Auman’s family and attorneys had hoped she would be freed on bond in advance of the new trial, scheduled for Aug. 22.
At a hearing Tuesday, Denver District Judge Christina Habas refused to grant Auman’s request for bond, saying she found enough evidence to continue holding Auman and would not change the original finding from the 1998 trial.
Auman, now 29, is serving a life term without the possibility of parole. She has been in prison since November 1998 on the felony murder conviction.
Leaving court, Auman’s mother said she is disappointed that her daughter will not be freed.
“We’re hopeful, though,” Colleen Auerbach said, referring to the upcoming retrial. “Still hopeful.”
Prosecutor Tim Twining applauded the decision, saying the judge followed the law and previous rulings from her earlier trial.
“(Auman) had her hearing. She doesn’t get two bites of this apple,” Twining said in court.
VanderJagt was shot to death on Nov. 11, 1997, by skinhead Matthaeus Jaehnig, who had accompanied Auman to the mountain boardinghouse of her former boyfriend, where they allegedly committed a burglary.
Police chased them into Denver. Auman had surrendered and was in the back of a police car when VanderJagt was killed by Jaehnig, who later committed suicide.
Prosecutors charged Auman under Colorado’s felony-murder law. The law permits murder charges against people who commit an associated felony but play no direct role in the killing.
Staff writer Sean Kelly can be reached at 303-820-1858 or skelly@denverpost.com.
