Warrants were out for man killed by police, report says
Greeley – A man shot and killed by police had been arrested 16 times since 1986 and had five warrants out for his arrest at the time of his death, the Greeley Tribune reported. a
Greeley police officers shot Marty Christopher Salazar, 37, Friday while chasing him after a triple shooting. Police said Salazar fired at officers as he was fleeing.
Police believe Salazar was the gunman who wounded three people after a quarrel in an intersection.
Two of the victims were identified Sunday as Trinidad Luis Erebia, 19, and Juan Morales, 20, both of Greeley. The third victim was a 17-year-old who was not identified because he is a juvenile. Their conditions were unavailable.
The three victims were shot after they left a home and got into their car, said Sgt. Joe Tymkowych, a police spokesman. Salazar was in a car with Ronnie Chavez, Jr., 23, of Greeley. They reportedly saw the three leaving and circled the block. The three victims then got out of their car; Salazar also got out, and the shootings followed, Tymkowych said.
Chavez was arrested on suspicion of three counts of attempted first-degree murder and three counts of accessory to murder.
Salazar served 18 months in Colorado prisons starting in 1998 for gun and weapons charges.
His arrest warrants included two warrants for robbery and possession of dangerous drugs.
FORT COLLINS
Chess teacher faces another abuse charge
Larimer County prosecutors last week filed another count of sexual assault on a child against chess expert Robert Snyder, who now faces six counts of sexually abusing young boys who came to him for chess lessons.
Snyder, 51, of Fort Collins was arrested in September on allegations of having sexual contact with two boys ages 11 and 13 during an overnight stay at Snyder’s house.
Authorities said they investigated Snyder for more than a year before arresting him, hoping that more victims might come forward.
He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Feb. 6.
“I’m confident, once he’s given a chance to present his side of the story to 12 fair-minded jurors, that he will be fully exonerated,” said Snyder’s attorney, Edward Huttner.
Snyder remains free on a $250,000 bond.
He is forbidden from teaching chess to juveniles until after his trial, which has not been scheduled.
Snyder was found not guilty of similar charges in Orange County, Calif., in 1983.
BOULDER
Study revises timing of Earth’s formation
A new study by an international team of researchers has concluded that Earth’s continents most likely were in place soon after the planet was formed, overturning a long-held theory that the early planet was either moonlike or dominated by oceans.
The team came to the conclusion after an analysis of a rare metal element known as hafnium in ancient minerals from the Jack Hills in Western Australia, thought to be among the oldest rocks on Earth.
Hafnium is found in association with zircon crystals in the Jack Hills rocks, which date to almost 4.4 billion years ago.
“These results support the view that the continental crust had formed by 4.4-4.5 billion years ago and was rapidly recycled into the mantle,” the researchers wrote in Science Express.
Led by professor Mark Harrison of the Australian National University, the team also included University of Colorado assistant professor Stephen Mojzsis and researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Ecole Normale Superieure in France.
The researchers used hafnium as a “tracer” element, using isotopes to infer the existence of early continental formation on Earth dating to the Hadean eon, which took place during the first 500 million years of Earth’s history, said Mojzsis, an assistant professor of geological sciences.
“The evidence indicates that there was substantial continental crust on Earth within its first 100 million years of existence,” said Mojzsis. “It looks like the Earth started off with a bang.”
A 2001 study led by Mojzsis published in the journal Nature showed evidence for the presence of water on Earth’s surface roughly 4.3 billion years ago. “The view we are taking now is that Earth’s crust, oceans and atmosphere were in place very early on, and that a habitable planet was established rapidly,” said Mojzsis.
CODY, Wyo.
Man cleared of assault in fight over water
A jury has found a man not guilty of aggravated assault for striking a man with a shovel during an argument over water allotments.
James D. Flowers claimed that he acted in self-defense. The district court jury reached its verdict Friday after about eight hours of deliberation.
