Courtney Fioretti could have been there.
Fioretti’s best friend, Daria Pohl, invited her to Fero’s Bar & Grill the night of Oct. 16, 2012. Fioretti didn’t go that night and awoke to news of the nightmare she barely missed. Pohl and four others were stabbed to death in the bar that night.
Fioretti testified Monday at the trial of Dexter Lewis, Lewis, who has pleaded not guilty, allegedly was attempting to rob the bar with three other men. He could face the death penalty if convicted.
In testimony that was tearful and combative, Fioretti explained the complicated web of people linking her to the massacre. Her best friend was Pohl, 21, and she was also close with the bar’s owner, Young Fero. Fero, 63, was also Fioretti’s landlord.
But it wasn’t only the victims she knew.
Fioretti, 38, lived with Joseph Hill and previously had a romantic relationship with his younger brother, Lynell Hill.
and allegedly planned the robbery. Both pleaded guilty and received lengthy prison sentences.
Fioretti also testified that she had briefly met the fourth man, Demarea Harris, who
The Hill brothers were sitting on the couch in her apartment when she got home around 4 a.m. Oct. 17, Fioretti said.
“I noticed that there was a large bottle of Clorox bleach on my counter,” Fioretti said. “I didn’t know why it was empty.”
Prosecutors contend that Lewis used that bleach in an attempt to clean his bloody gloves when he, Harris and the Hill brothers returned to the apartment after the massacre.
Matthew Nussbaum: 303-954-1666, mnussbaum@denverpost.com or twitter.com/MatthewNussbaum
