Boulder – One of four teens being held in connection with the killing of a Lafayette woman had his bail reduced Tuesday. But Jared Guy’s attorney said he doesn’t think the bail is low enough to allow Guy to get out of jail.
Guy, 18, is accused in court documents of helping his best friend, 17-year-old Bryan Grove, twice attempt to dump the body of 52-year-old Linda Damm, whom Grove is charged with stabbing to death. Damm’s daughter and Grove’s girlfriend, 15-year-old Tess Damm, is charged with conspiracy and with being an accessory to the crime. A fourth teen, 16-year-old Jared Smith, is scheduled to be charged Friday.
Prosecutors have charged Guy with being an accessory to murder and with tampering with evidence. His bail had been set at $500,000.
At Tuesday morning’s court hearing, Guy’s attorney, Keith Pope, and prosecutors agreed that bail was too high. Pope asked the bail be reduced to $15,000, while Boulder County prosecutor Karen Peters asked for it to be set at $50,000.
District Judge Lael E. Montgomery, citing the severity of the charges, set bail at $50,000, stipulating that Guy not have contact with the other teens involved in the case and that he undergo some kind of pre-trial supervision.
“The net effect is that it makes it virtually impossible for him to post a bond,” Pope said later.
Pope said Guy’s mother is a registered nurse and the family has modest resources. He said Guy, who is a senior at Boulder’s New Vista High School and who recently won an award from Boulder County commissioners for overcoming adversity, is not a flight risk.
Pope said Guy has attention deficit disorder as well as certain developmental disabilities, the result, Pope said, of Guy’s premature birth and substandard care in an Indian orphanage before he was adopted and brought to the United States. Those two conditions make Guy susceptible to “pressure from or manipulation by others,” Pope wrote in a motion .
“He’s lived here all his life,” Pope said after the hearing. “He’s 18 years old. He’s a special education student. He needs his family’s support.”
Staff writer John Ingold can be reached at 720-929-0898 or jingold@denverpost.com.
