Barnett agrees to be witness in possible cases, pact says
Former University of Colorado football coach Gary Barnett agreed in a $3 million settlement with CU to appear as a witness in any legal proceedings resulting from his tenure.
The university finalized the settlement last week and released it Monday, about two months after firing the coach.
The former coach gave up his right to sue the university in the settlement, in which he claims CU breached the terms of his employment agreement.
Barnett’s firing was the culmination of a two-year span during which multiple investigations of recruiting allegations resulted in the resignation of athletic director Dick Tharp, president Elizabeth Hoffman and CU-Boulder chancellor Richard Byyny.
A state audit of the athletic department criticized the accounting of thousands of dollars flowing through Barnett’s football camps and alleged violations of NCAA rules and federal tax law.
DENVER
Baby in 911 call died of SIDS, coroner rules
A Montbello baby whose distraught father had trouble reaching 911 to report that the child was not breathing died of sudden infant death syndrome, a coroner ruled.
Kahleed Parker, 5 months old, was found by his mother at the family’s home in the 5500 block of Atchison Way at 11:30 a.m. Dec. 26. He appeared to have been a healthy baby who died of SIDS, Dr. Amy Martin, the Denver coroner, wrote in a report released Monday.
Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson said there was no criminal investigation of the case.
The child’s father, Antonio Parker, previously told reporters he was unable to get 911 dispatchers to respond to his home for several minutes when he called for help using a cellphone.
Police officials later said Parker’s call was hindered by a bad connection and the fact he was upset but that a matter of minutes would not have been enough to save the child, who was already cold and had rigor mortis when emergency personnel arrived at 11:43 a.m.
AURORA
Man ordered to trial in shooting case
The man accused of shooting the mother of a boy who was severely mauled by a pit bull was bound over for trial at a preliminary hearing Monday.
Charles Thomas Taylor, 25, faces two attempted murder charges and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon for the Dec. 17 shooting of Reneé Denise Muniz and her boyfriend, Johnnie Leon Coleman III.
Muniz, 37, is the mother of 10-year-old Gregg Jones, who was mauled by his family’s pit bulls Nov. 2.
The shootings and the pit bull attack are unrelated.
Muniz and Coleman had gone to Taylor’s apartment with their friend Erica Tolliver to retrieve clothing, according to prosecutors. Tolliver, Taylor’s ex-girlfriend, had fought with him earlier that day.
Public Defender Michael Faye argued that the shootings were accidental.
Prosecutor Rich Orman argued that Taylor has a history of domestic violence and that he had confronted the trio in anger with the gun already drawn.
DENVER-AURORA
Stolen U-Haul with dogs found at hotel
A stolen U-Haul truck with two dogs and all of a family’s belongings was found Monday morning with the animals and everything else apparently intact, said Detective John White of the Denver Police Department.
“As far as we can tell, at this time, all of the contents appear to be inside. The dogs were there,” White said.
Melissa Riggs, who was moving her family from Gillette, Wyo., to Hill City, Kan., reported the truck stolen Saturday evening from the Days Inn near Denver International Airport.
The truck was found about 7 a.m. Monday by Aurora police at the Holiday Inn at Interstate 70 and Chambers Road, said White. That is less than 6 miles from where it was taken.
DENVER
Minister charged with molesting 17-year-old
The Rev. Michael Peters was charged Monday with two counts of sexual assault on a child in connection with allegations that he had sexual relations in 2003 with a 17-year-old girl who was in a church choir he directed.
The charges allege that Peters initiated a sexual relationship with the teenager, whom he knew through his role as a minister, choir director and counselor.
The teen had been the victim of an earlier sexual assault and the charges allege that Peters, 36, was counseling her when he began sexually assaulting her. At the time, Peters was pastor at the 2nd Baptist Church in Boulder. She told police she met Peters a couple of times a week. Sometimes they would go dancing, sometimes they would sit for hours at his Denver home.
DENVER
Defendant acquitted in 2004 shooting
Eddie Eugene Butler, 20, was acquitted Monday by a Denver District Court jury in the April 2004 shooting death of Jeremy Phillips, 27. Phillips was shot in the head at Maxwell Place and Atchison Way in Montbello at a makeshift memorial for 16-year- old Carold Peoples.
Peoples had been shot days earlier while attending a combined party for a soldier returning from Iraq and a child’s 7th birthday. Butler’s co-defendant, Emmanuel Antoine Fisher, was acquitted last month.
LARIMER COUNTY
Search enters 4th day near Fort Collins
Authorities on Monday entered their fourth day in a search near Fort Collins for a man missing since last week.
Rescuers were searching for Bart Strain, 30, who was last seen near the Buckhorn Canyon ranger station. Larimer County officials said he may have been hiking or hunting.
Strain was reported missing Tuesday, but the search began Thursday after Strain’s car was found near the ranger station. Over the weekend, up to 50 rescuers were searching for Strain.
GRAND JUNCTION
2 snowmobilers found alive on Grand Mesa
Two snowmobilers missing for a day were found alive Monday on the Grand Mesa in western Colorado.
Rescuers in a search airplane spotted two missing snowmobilers walking on the Grand Mesa. The two, one in his 50s and the other in his 20s, were reported missing late Sunday, said Mesa County sheriff’s Sgt. Matt Lewis.
Details of their survival were not immediately available.Meanwhile, Adam Roach, 26, of Liberty ville, Ill., whose body was found near the Colorado National Monument may have died instantly when he fell 30 feet, Mesa County deputy coroner Dr. Dean Havlik said. Roach, who was last seen Jan. 24, was found near a trail.
