Boulder County – A man claiming to be a Boulder police officer pounded on the front door and demanded that it be opened.
But when Becci Starr, 59, opened it, she immediately realized her mistake.
A man wearing a mask made out of a T-shirt with slits for eyes pushed his way past her and demanded to know how many people were in the house. Starr fought back with a baseball bat, and her husband joined the fight. He tackled the intruder, fatally stabbing him with his own knife, said Lt. Phil West, spokesman for the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office.
“I heard very hysterical screaming,” neighbor Dale Hursh said. “It was a very violent fight.”
Authorities have not been able to identify the suspect.
Under Colorado’s “Make My Day” law, homeowners have the right to protect themselves in their homes, using deadly force if necessary.
At 10:25 p.m. Monday, the knock came on the front door of the home on Poorman Road about 3 miles west of Boulder, where Starr, an independent movie producer, and her husband, Scott Mattes, 56, live.
After the man entered the house, Starr reached for a bat kept near the door.
Even though the man had what appeared to be a gun pointed at her, she used the bat to shove the intruder toward the door.
The man dropped the gun, which was a fake, and pulled out a knife. He took swipes at Starr, who was screaming, police said.
“She was obviously very scared,” Hursh said.
Hursh called 911. He said it was very dark on the pine-covered hillside because there was a new moon.
Mattes heard his wife yelling and ran upstairs from the basement. He tackled the man at the front door, West said. The two tumbled outside and were wrestling. Starr repeatedly pummeled the stranger with the bat, West said.
Mattes then grabbed the knife from the man and stabbed him with it, West said.
After stabbing the man, Mattes tried to revive him.
Hursh said he heard Mattes yelling, “Breathe! Breathe! Breathe! Try to breathe!”
Hursh said he called down to Mattes, a friend who had sold him property for his home 12 years earlier.
“‘Get somebody up here now. The guy is very seriously hurt,”‘ Hursh said his friend yelled.
Mattes had minor injuries and was taken to Boulder Community Hospital. He was treated and released.
“Physically, they (Starr and Mattes) are OK, but emotionally they are very shook up,” West said.
The Boulder County Coroner’s Office was performing an autopsy on the man, believed to be in his 20s.
The home invasion rattled the residents living in the hills above Boulder.
“Oh, my goodness gracious,” said Norman Haun, a neighbor. “I never thought that anybody would take it upon themselves to come up here.”
Hursh said people live outside the city to feel safe. A year ago, several homes were burglarized in the area after residents left their doors unlocked.
Since then, people have learned to lock their doors, he said.
Starr’s company has made the films “Conducting From the Inside Out,” which is about leading an orchestra, and “Acupuncture of the Horse.”
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-820-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
