Man trying to break up fight in critical condition
A 25-year-old man was stabbed multiple times early Saturday when he tried to break up a fight at a party in Broomfield, police said.
The victim, who was not named by police, underwent surgery at a local hospital and is in critical condition, said Sgt. Colleen O’Connell.
The stabbing happened about 3:45 a.m. Saturday outside a home in the 100 block of Pine Way.
The suspect, 20-year-old Bryson Fischer of Broomfield, left the scene and was later arrested at his home, O’Connell said.
Mom pleads guilty to setting house afire with family inside
GOLDEN — Nancy Jean Jewett, charged with setting fires in her Lakewood home while her family slept inside, pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of attempted first-degree murder.
Jewett, 48, was accused of setting five fires April 10 in her home at 405 S. Balsam St. Her husband, son, daughter and her daughter’s boyfriend were asleep when they were awakened about 2:15 a.m. by the smell of smoke, court documents show. They escaped safely.
Jewett was arrested a few days later in the parking lot of a Black Hawk casino.
She will be sentenced March 11. She faces 32 to 64 years in prison.
Second man pleads guilty to death-by-rattlesnake scheme
GOLDEN — A second man accused of scheming this past summer to kill a debtor with rattlesnakes has pleaded guilty to one count of extortion.
Christopher Lee Steelman, 34, and Herbert Beck, 57, both of Lakewood, were charged with trying to kill Matthew Sowash, owner of the Amateur Poker Tour in Wheat Ridge, because he owed them $60,000. Beck pleaded guilty Nov. 16.
Investigators said Steelman told them the two men discussed ways to kill Sowash and that Beck suggested building a wooden box to hold rattlesnakes with a lid designed to hold Sowash’s legs inside. Each man could face two to six years in prison. Beck will be sentenced Jan. 2, and Steelman will be sentenced Feb. 4.
Eau de skunk protecting park trees
COLORADO SPRINGS — Ahh, the smell of Christmas — fox urine, skunk musk and glycerin.
The city’s forestry division has begun spraying evergreens in the city’s parks with “Scrooge Christmas tree protector” to keep people from chopping down city trees and erecting them in their living rooms.
“Scrooge,” the goo that smells like skunk, cannot be washed off. The smell lasts several weeks and gets stronger when moved to a warmer location.
The city is applying the stinky deterrent to trees in Palmer Park, North Cheyenne Cañon Park and other developed city parks.
The number of trees cut and stolen from city property has declined since foresters began applying the deterrent in the late 1980s. Nevertheless, the city loses trees every year. Anyone caught chopping down public trees will be ticketed and fined.
Denver Water manager honored
Colorado Open Lands, a nonprofit dedicated to the preservation of natural resources, gave Chips Barry, manager of Denver Water, the 2007 George E. Kranmer Award on Monday night in a ceremony at the Colorado History Museum.
Barry has managed the department since 1991. The award is named after the first director of Denver’s Department of Parks and Recreation.
