Criminal Justice Reporter
Shelly Bradbury
Shelly Bradbury is the criminal justice enterprise reporter at the Denver Post. She joined the paper in 2019 and previously worked as a crime reporter at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in Pennsylvania and the Chattanooga Times Free Press in Tennessee. She’s been a reporter since 2012, focused on policing, public safety, jails and courts. In Pittsburgh, she helped the newspaper earn the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news after a mass shooting at a local synagogue, and in 2020 she was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in local reporting for an investigation into child sexual abuse among Amish and Mennonite communities.
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More people died in police chases in this Denver suburb than in the state’s biggest cities
The Denver Post examined the region’s approach to police pursuits after the Aurora Police Department quietly broadened its policy in October to allow officers to chase more suspects.

Inside the investigation of a CBI scientist’s years of misconduct: “God forbid we have someone in prison that shouldn’t be”
During the internal affairs investigation, Yvonne "Missy" Woods' colleagues reacted to her conduct with anger, betrayal and bewilderment, their interviews show.

How Pueblo weaponizes contempt of court to inflate jail time for minor crimes
Pueblo city judges have sent people to jail for months on charges that in other Colorado courts are punished by one or two days in jail. Experts call it "draconian"...
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Aurora police call in feds to help with search for missing girl
Aurora police are seeking help from federal agencies in the search for a missing 14-year-old girl, police said Monday.

80-year-old man drowned in northern Colorado lake, coroner finds
An 80-year-old man drowned in a northern Colorado lake last week, county officials said.

Ex-Colorado ski coach indicted on child sex assault charges in March incident
A former coach for a Colorado youth ski team is once again accused of sexually assaulting a preteen skier during a team trip to New Mexico in March, according to...

Colorado man dies after being struck by lightning on Florida beach
"This lightning bolt came from a storm several miles away. So we still had blue skies over us."

Two killed in Montrose plane crash
Two people were killed when the small plane they were in crashed shortly after taking off from the Montrose Regional Airport on the Western Slope Monday.

Utah student arrested in Colorado is released, describes ‘nightmare’ ICE detention
Caroline Dias Goncalves spent more than two weeks in immigration custody after she was arrested in Grand Junction on June 5.

Barry Morphew indicted in murder of wife Suzanne Morphew more than 3 years after original charges dropped
Barry Morphew was initially charged with Suzanne Morphew’s murder in 2021, before her body was found. All charges against him were dropped in 2022.

Boulder attack suspect’s motivations debated in court as feds press hate-crime charge
Whether the man accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at demonstrators in Boulder was motivated by the victims' political views or by their perceived national origin took center stage in federal...

Feds used group chat with Colorado sheriff to target Utah student for immigration arrest, officials say
The federal agents identified the 19-year-old, born in Brazil, for immigration enforcement after a Mesa County sheriff’s deputy pulled her over on Interstate 70 on June 5.

Colorado state representative’s daughter arrested in Denver stabbing
Nefretarie Lockley, daughter of Rep. Naquetta Ricks, D-Aurora, was arrested Wednesday after police allege she stabbed a 21-year-old woman during a confrontation in north Denver.