WESTMINSTER — A teenager suspected of fatally stabbing his friend’s father remained in juvenile detention Tuesday as police investigators prepared to turn the case over to prosecutors.
Westminster Police Department investigators are expected to present the case to the Adams County district attorney’s office this afternoon, said Michael Goodbee, a district attorney’s office spokesman.
The 17-year-old suspect, who has not been named by authorities, is expected to make his first court appearance Thursday morning. The Denver Post is not naming him because he is a juvenile and not yet charged with a crime.
Prosecutors will decide whether to file charges against him as an adult or a juvenile after hearing the police investigators’ presentation, Goodbee said.
Hans Winter, 63, died after he was attacked at about 1:25 a.m. Sunday in his home in the 3600 block of West 94th Avenue, police said.
According to the police report, Winter called police and told them that a longtime friend of his son, who was spending the night, was drunk and had gone into the backyard with a small paring knife. He said the teen was suicidal and upset with his parents.
The report goes on to say that Winter’s wife then got on the phone and said the teen had stabbed her husband.
When police arrived they found Winter lying on a bed in an upstairs bedroom. The responding officer reported that Winter had been stabbed in the stomach and was pale but still breathing.
On the bed next to Winter police found a 5-inch-long kitchen knife with a black handle.
The teenager fled the home after the stabbing but was taken into custody by police, who found him after a short search of the neighborhood.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com
