The downward spiral of Aaron Millenson’s life came to a violent end Wednesday when the 18-year- old Englewood man and a female companion died during a gun battle with Kansas patrol officers.
Millenson and Alicia Wingate Cardall, 26, had been sought for questioning in the slaying of 80-year-old Steven Poulos of Utah, a World War II veteran who had survived the invasion of Normandy in 1944 and being shot five times by a German machine-gunner.
Millenson and Cardall, a resident of North Salt Lake, were killed in the confrontation a few miles from Hays, in west-central Kansas, after their car smashed into a concrete barrier on Interstate 70, said Thomas Drees, Ellis County attorney.
The pair had been located in Kansas through the tracking of their cellphone, said Salt Lake County sheriff’s Sgt. Paul Jaroscak.
“We knew in talking to acquaintances of theirs in Denver what kind of car they would be driving,” Jaroscak said.
When Kansas patrol officers tried to pull over their Honda, the driver sped away. After the crash, someone in the Honda fired a shot at authorities, who returned fire, killing the couple.
Poulos was shot in the back Jan. 14 in Holladay, a suburb of Salt Lake City. He was trying to sell a 1997 Subaru Legacy when one of his children found him shot to death in his basement, Jaroscak said.
Nick Poulos, the victim’s son, told The Salt Lake Tribune, “We are still grieving, but we feel a sense of relief that these people are no longer on the streets to do this to others.”
Millenson’s grandmother in Aurora talked Thursday about his descent into crime.
“My grandson, until he got involved with drugs, was one of the most wonderful, loyal, bright young men,” Josephine Rehmar said. “That was his downfall.”
She said he was a good athlete, a kind and gentle person who loved his dogs and cats.
“He was doing so well. He had a job. He was working. He was off the drugs,” Rehmar said. “All of a sudden, everything changed.
“He met this woman who was eight or 10 years older than him, and everything went away.”
Millenson’s parents could not be reached for comment.
On June 8, 2004, Millenson broke into a neighbor’s house and stole several items, including four pistols, according to court records. He was sentenced to intensive probation in July.
Millenson violated intensive probation conditions more and more frequently, including in October when he failed to call his probation officer nine times. By then, Millenson had a long criminal history for burglary, theft, possession of weapons and assault, court records say.
Millenson told a friend he stole a white Cadillac Escalade at a liquor store at gunpoint, according to district court records. Authorities confirmed that a 69-year-old man had recently been carjacked and his Escalade stolen. Because he was a juvenile at the time, it was unclear in the records whether Millenson was charged with the offense.
On Oct. 24, Millenson tried to buy a “firearm” at Dick’s Sporting Goods in Lone Tree, according to court records. Probation officer Eddie Blackwell found that to be particularly troubling because of past crimes with weapons, he wrote.
“It is the probation officer’s assessment (that) the defendant is a high risk to reoffend and poses a serious threat to the public and community safety,” Blackwell wrote in the Oct. 27 letter requesting that Millenson’s probation be revoked.
Millenson was arrested but continued to violate probation terms. His bond was raised to $50,000, court records say.
A warrant was issued in Arapahoe County District Court for Millenson’s arrest Jan. 6 after he violated his probation more than 20 times, Blackwell said in a court document.
Jaroscak said he does not know the relationship between Millenson and Cardall. Authorities have not found the maroon Subaru taken from the Poulos home.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-820-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
