Gilberto Cruz, 27, was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without possibility of parole in the October slaying of his estranged girlfriend, Amanda Duran.
Attorneys for Cruz, who was convicted in July of first-degree murder and possession of a dangerous weapon, asked the judge if Cruz could waive his appearance at sentencing and leave the courtroom, but the request was denied.
Duran was trying to end a relationship with Cruz when he came to her Edgewater home.
When she asked him to leave, Cruz pulled a sawed-off shotgun out of his pants and tried three times to shoot her as she ran outside.
Cruz shot her in the back of the head as she pounded on a neighbor’s door, authorities said.
DENVER
Police union criticizes lawsuit from widow
The Denver Police Protective Association issued a statement Thursday denouncing a lawsuit that says Denver SWAT officers shot and killed 5-year-old Deion Santistevan and his 22-year-old father, Elias Santistevan, during a standoff a year ago.
A federal lawsuit filed Monday by Chanell Santistevan, the wife and mother of the two, accuses a SWAT officer of firing a single shot that killed the father and son.
The lawsuit does not say what evidence there is to support the allegation. Denver police officials said that the father shot his son and then committed suicide during the standoff.
A coroner’s report shows the father and son both had contact wounds to the head.
“The deaths of Elias Santistevan and Deion Santistevan were a tragic ending to a difficult call for service to the public,” says a statement issued Thursday by the police union.
“The officers involved in the standoff and the investigation were not only traumatized from the incident but from the false allegations set forth by the lawsuit.”
DENVER
Brothers charged in Indian artifacts’ theft
Two brothers were indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday and charged with illegally transporting stolen Navajo rugs and other American Indian artifacts from Arizona, Nebraska and Colorado, according to court records unsealed Thursday.
Maxwell Garihan, 51, and Gary Garihan, 45, were arrested on suspicion of stealing the artifacts at the Agate Fossil Beds National Monument in Nebraska and the Hubbell Trading Post in Arizona.
All the artifacts were recovered undamaged, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
One of the brothers sold rugs to a dealer in Denver who did not know that the artifacts were stolen, according to an arrest affidavit.
The Garihans each face 10 years in federal prison.
“Recovering all these priceless artifacts undamaged was miraculous,” said U.S. Attorney Troy Eid. “But brilliant detective work definitely helped.”
The case was investigated by the National Park Service, with assistance from the Nebraska State Patrol, the FBI, U.S. Park Police, Colorado Division of Wildlife, the Logan County Sheriff’s Office, the Sioux County Sheriff’s Office in Nebraska, and the Omaha Police Department.
CHEYENNE
No bail for fire chief accused of sex abuse
A former Campbell County fire chief accused of sexually assaulting a teenage fire cadet waived his preliminary hearing Thursday and declined to seek bail.
Federal Magistrate William Beaman ordered Gary Scott, 52, held without bail. Scott’s next court appearance was pending.
Scott was arrested last week and charged with transporting a minor across state lines with intent to engage in illegal sexual activity.
In ordering Scott detained, Beaman said the fire chief posed a flight risk and a danger to the community. Scott is being held in the Platte County Jail in Wheatland, according to the U.S. Marshal’s Service.
Scott, who was hired as fire chief in 1991, submitted his resignation, which was accepted Wednesday by the county fire department board, The Gillette News-Record reported Thursday.
GLENWOOD SPRINGS
Water users agree to keep rafting afloat
Rafting companies can count on enough water to stay in business through Labor Day on the Colorado River near Glenwood Springs.
The Aspen Daily News says 11 water users have agreed to give up enough water to send through Glenwood Canyon to keep the industry going.
The problem arose when the Shoshone hydroelectric plant had to be closed for repairs. Once it closed, existing regulations call for the water that would run through it to be shut down.
But rafters and others met with other water users with senior rights and persuaded them to allow enough water through the area to keep them in business.
FRISCO
State Patrol is hiring new troopers for I-70
The Colorado State Patrol is getting more staff to help curb speeding on Interstate 70 on the main route to ski areas.
The Summit Daily News reported that the patrol may have as many as seven more troopers by next spring.
GRAND JUNCTION
Dive teams continue search for woman
Dive teams and a sonar- equipped boat will continue to search the Gunnison River today for a 34-year-old woman who has not been seen in more than a month.
Crews starting searching the river Wednesday in hopes of finding clues in the disappearance of Paige Birgfeld, who was last seen June 28.
Investigators and volunteers have found Birgfeld’s burned- out car and an unloaded handgun not far from the vehicle. They also recovered some of her personal items but declined to identify them.
The five-man squad of divers from South Metro Fire Rescue and four members of the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office’s volunteer search-and-rescue team are searching near the community of Whitewater.
