A Highlands Ranch man accused of killing his second wife in 2012, who is also being investigated in the 1995 death of his first wife, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to first-degree murder.
Harold Henthorn, 58, A federal grand jury indicted Henthorn on a charge of first-degree murder the day before.
Also Wednesday, prosecutors pointed to the death of Henthorn’s first wife.
“We don’t think this is his first murder,” Suneeta Hazra, a federal prosecutor, told the judge.
Magistrate Kathleen M. Tafoya denied Henthorn release from jail on bond, saying he is a “substantial flight risk” and that poses a “risk and danger to the community.” Tafoya also noted the “rather glaring similarity” between the deaths of Henthorn’s wives.
Prosecutors accuse Henthorn of pushing his second wife, Toni Henthorn, 50, off a 140-foot cliff in Rocky Mountain National Park in 2012. totaling $4.5 million, according to an analysis of probate court records. None of those policies have been paid out.
Henthorn’s attorney said in court Wednesday his client told insurance agents not to pay out the claims because of the investigation into his second wife’s death. Prosecutors said Henthorn was awarded almost $500,000 from his first wife’s death.
Appearing in a tan prison jumpsuit at court Wednesday, Harold Henthorn silently observed the proceedings.
Prosecutors, who suggested that Henthorn was misleading about his employment, also focused on a $500,000 January investment Henthorn made in his brother’s business.
Henthorn’s first wife, 37-year-old Sandra Henthorn, was killed after a car slipped off a jack while she and Harold Henthorn were changing a flat tire near Sedalia.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said at the time that Sandra Henthorn apparently was reaching under the car to help her husband change a front tire on their Jeep Cherokee on Colorado 67.
The car fell on her when the jack slipped. The sheriff’s office last week said the case is an “active and open investigation.”
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or twitter.com/JesseAPaul
