After two days of deliberations, a jury found Keenu Tiyme guilty of first-degree murder in the multiday killing of his former wife in a Denver hotel room.
Keenu Tiyme’s defense attorneys argued that he was trying to help 39-year-old tattoo artist Kauri Tiyme commit suicide in October 2008 and that he planned to kill himself as well.
He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, saying he was depressed at the time.
Tiyme, 37, faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Prosecutors Matt Wenig and Maggie Conboy pointed out that Tiyme was caught in New Mexico after fleeing the state and raised doubts that he had intended to kill himself.
Kauri Tiyme was cut multiple times, drugged, choked, bashed in the head and had her throat slit over four days in the Marriott Denver Tech Center.
Authorities found sleeping pills and rat poison in the room as well. The pair had considered multiple other ways to die before checking into the hotel, Tiyme said.
Jessica Fender: 303-954-1244 or jfender@denverpost.com
