Golden – A Jefferson County jury convicted Richard James Kasparson of reckless manslaughter and felony murder in the January death of 82-year-old paleontologist Charles Repenning.
The jury delivered the unanimous verdicts late Friday afternoon. Although sentencing is set for Jan. 27, the mandatory sentence for felony murder is life in prison without parole.
Kasparson, 34, trembled slightly as District Judge Peter Weir read the guilty verdicts on eight counts of murder, burglary and theft. The jury chose to find him guilty of reckless murder instead of first-degree murder with deliberation.
“It was a complete sweep,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Jensen said. Calling Repenning’s death “a horrible crime,” Jensen said the law doesn’t distinguish between causing the death of a person and being an accomplice.
Kasparson admitted being involved in the burglary attempt and was caught with many of Repenning’s possessions. Defense attorney Bruce Brown said there was no evidence that Kasparson was directly involved and will appeal the verdicts.
“It was an unjust result,” Brown said.
Repenning’s daughter, Jeanne Forsberg of Chicago, said she believed Kasparson received a fair trial and “more justice than my dad.”
“I don’t know how I feel about this guy,” Forsberg said of Kasparson. “It was a pretty terrible thing that my father was murdered.”
Repenning strangled on a sock that was stuffed down his throat, testimony showed. He was found next to his bed in his Lakewood home with his nose and mouth wrapped under layers of an elastic bandage.
Jensen argued during the 10-day trial that Repenning, who was a World War II veteran who survived a Nazi POW camp, was killed during a drug-motivated burglary.
Jensen said Nicholas Savajian planned the burglary to buy back his father’s motorcycle from his boss, Michael Mapps. Savajian offered Kasparson and Michael Wessel money and drugs to steal items from Repenning’s home and give them to Mapps, he said.
Wessel, who was arrested after he and Kasparson were overheard talking in a bar about how they strangled an old man, will go on trial for similar charges Jan. 3.
Staff writer Ann Schrader can be reached at 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
