The man accused of a carjacking at the Cherry Creek Shopping Center on Wednesday is being investigated in the death of a man whose body was found in a trash bin the same day.
William Lee Lornes, 24, was arrested early Thursday in Jefferson County. He was being held at the county jail Friday on several charges, including an investigation into an incident in which a woman was allegedly kidnapped at gunpoint Wednesday afternoon.
Denver police investigators say they believe they have enough information to charge Lornes with first-degree murder in the death of Gerald Schwartzman, 73, whose body was found about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in a trash bin in an alley between Grape and Hudson streets near East 13th Avenue.
Schwartzman died from a gunshot wound to the head. The time of death has not been released.
Police said Schwartzman was last seen at the King Soopers at East 13th Avenue and Krameria Street. Police found his vehicle abandoned in the 5600 block of Leetsdale Drive, but they would not say when witnesses reported seeing him or when they found his car.
Schwartzman’s ex-wife said Thursday that he had lived in Denver since 2001. She said Schwartzman was renting a house with his nephew in the 600 block of Clermont Street, not far from where his body was discovered.
Investigators will forward the case to the Denver district attorney’s office for formal charging.
Police were not releasing details about how the cases might be connected.
Lornes was arrested Thursday morning after Jefferson County deputies spotted a car that had been abandoned after an accident in the 9200 block of U.S. 285, near Windy Point. Deputies determined the car had been stolen during the Denver carjacking.
A deputy spotted a man who matched the description of the carjacking suspect riding in a passing taxi. Deputies and the Colorado State Patrol soon stopped the taxi near C-470 and West Alameda Avenue. Lornes was arrested without incident.
On Wednesday afternoon in Denver, a woman told police she was approached by a man at the Cherry Creek mall who held her at gunpoint and told her to get into the trunk of her four-door 2004 Saturn.
The man drove northeast. About 3 p.m., the woman was able to escape from the trunk while the car was stopped near East Eighth Avenue and Colorado Boulevard. The victim ran to a nearby convenience store and called police.
In 2005, Lornes was sentenced to two years in prison for charges related to drugs, assault and auto theft, according to public records. In 2008, Lornes was charged with escape in connection with his previous sentence and ordered to serve an additional year.
