Man Convicted of Killing Former FSU Mascot in Fight Over Gumbo Spices
Posted: April 23, 2017 Filed under: Crime & Corruption | Tags: Denver, District Attorney, Friday (Director's Cut) [Blu-ray], Gumbo, Life imprisonment, murder, Plea, Sheriff, Spices, Weld County 1 CommentPANAMA CITY, Fla. (AP) – A man charged with fatally stabbing a restaurant worker and former Florida State mascot in a fight over gumbo spices has been found guilty of second-degree murder.
Orlando Ricardo Thompson was found guilty Thursday in the 2015 death of his co-worker Caleb Joshua Halley. Thompson faces up to life in prison.
Panama City police say 33-year-old Halley was working at Buddy’s Seafood Market when he and the 27-year-old Thompson began arguing about how much spice to add to the restaurant’s gumbo. Authorities say Thompson slashed Halley across the torso. He died two days later. The two had also been roommates at one point. Read the rest of this entry »
[VIDEO] Passenger Freaks Out, Talks About Death, Strips Naked on Frontier Airlines Flight
Posted: May 25, 2016 Filed under: Entertainment, Mediasphere, Space & Aviation | Tags: Airbus A320 family, Airline, Denver, Denver International Airport, Frontier Airlines, San Francisco, Virgin America 1 CommentThe footage shows her kicking, screaming and throwing a tantrum in front of the cockpit and talking about Death.
Footage of a freakout on a Frontier Airlines flight has surfaced online — but it doesn’t even show the weirdest part of the unidentified woman’s meltdown, according to one witness.
A passenger — who asked KDVR to identify him only as Devin — posted to YouTube a video of a female passenger freaking out before takeoff on a Denver to Portland flight Monday.
The footage shows her kicking, screaming and throwing a tantrum in front of the cockpit and talking about death. At one point, she weirdly thrusts her pelvis at the sky. Afterward she removed her clothes, forcing the jet to turn around before takeoff…(read more)
Source: DailyNews
Judge Formally Sentences James Holmes to Life in Prison
Posted: August 26, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Crime & Corruption, U.S. News | Tags: 2012 Aurora shooting, Associated Press, Aurora, Batman, Capital punishment, CNN, Colorado, Denver, Insanity defense, John Hickenlooper, Jury, Life imprisonment, Movie theater, murder Leave a commentProsecutors have said the jury was divided on the sentence, with 11 favoring death and one favoring life without parole. Under Colorado law, jurors must be unanimous to impose the death penalty, so Holmes automatically got a life sentence.
Sadie Gurman reports: James Holmes was an angry quitter who gave up on life and turned his hatred into murder and mayhem against innocent victims in a Colorado movie theater, the judge said Wednesday before formally sentencing him to life in prison.
“We know that is very, very hard for people to see. We cannot feel the depths of your pain. We can only listen to everything you have expressed, and we pray for you…We are very sorry this tragedy happened, and sorry everyone has suffered so much.”
— Arlene Holmes
Samour contrasted Holmes’ bloody assault with the compassion of a juror who voted for a life sentence instead of the death penalty. And he noted the trial was fair, even if some victims were disappointed that Holmes didn’t get the death penalty.

Judge Carlos Samour sits on the bench during the sentencing phase of James Holmes’ trial, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2015, at Arapahoe County District Court in Centennial, Colo. (RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post via AP, Pool)
“It is almost impossible to comprehend how a human being is capable of such acts.”
— Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr.
Samour formally sentenced Holmes to life in prison without parole for the murders of 12 people. He also was sentencing Holmes to more than to 3,200 additional years for attempted murder and an explosives conviction.
The judge had no other sentencing option on the murder charges after a jury earlier this month did not unanimously agree that Holmes should get the death penalty. Samour issued his sentence after two days of testimony from survivors of the attack, including first responders.

District Attorney George Brauchler listens to victim statements being read in court during the sentencing phase in James Holmes’ trial.
“Jurors rejected Holmes’ insanity plea, convicting him of murdering 12 people and trying to kill 70 others when he opened fire on a packed theater in suburban Denver on July 20, 2012.”
But he first spent more than half an hour defending the integrity of the justice system and disputing complaints that the trial was a waste of time. He noted the proceedings gave family members an opportunity to tell the world about their slain loved ones and provided survivors the chance to talk about their ordeal.
“I believe in the system. I said that before, and I’ll say it again. I believe in the system.”
— Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr.
Samour disputed some victims’ suggestion that Holmes would have an easy life behind bars, noting prison is harsh and restrictive.
More than 100 victims and survivors testified this week about the searing physical and emotional scars the 2012 shooting has left. Read the rest of this entry »
FBI Looking Into the Security of Hillary Clinton’s Private E-Mail Setup
Posted: August 4, 2015 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Law & Justice, Politics, White House | Tags: Benghazi, Bill Clinton, Denver, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Hillary Clinton, Nicholas Merrill, The Washington Post, United States Department of Homeland Security, United States Department of Justice, United States Department of State 2 CommentsThe inquiries by the FBI follow concerns from government officials that potentially hundreds of e-mails that passed through Clinton’s private server contained classified or sensitive information.
Carol D. Leonnig, Rosalind S. Helderman and Tom Hamburger report: The FBI has begun looking into the security of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s private e-mail setup, contacting in the past week a Denver-based technology firm that helped manage the unusual system, according to twogovernment officials.
“The inquiries are bringing to light new information about Clinton’s use of the system and the lengths to which she went to install a private channel of communication outside government control — a setup that has emerged as a major issue in her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.”
Also last week, the FBI contacted Clinton’s lawyer, David Kendall, with questions about the security of a thumb drive in his possession that contains copies of work e-mails Clinton sent during her time as secretary of state.
The FBI’s interest in Clinton’s e-mail system comes after the intelligence community’s inspector general referred the issue to the Justice Department in July. Intelligence officials expressed concern that some sensitive information was not in the government’s possession and could be “compromised.” The referral did not accuse Clinton of any wrongdoing, and the two officials said Tuesday that the FBI is not targeting her.
Kendall confirmed the contact, saying: “The government is seeking assurance about the storage of those materials. We are actively cooperating.”
A lawyer for the Denver company, Platte River Networks, declined to comment, as did multiple Justice Department officials.
The inquiries are bringing to light new information about Clinton’s use of the system and the lengths to which she went to install a private channel of communication outside government control — a setup that has emerged as a major issue in her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.
For instance, the server installed in her Chappaqua, N.Y., home as she was preparing to take office as secretary of state was originally used by her first campaign for the presidency, in 2008, according to two people briefed on the setup. A staffer who was on the payroll of her political action committee set it up in her home, replacing a server that Clinton’s husband, former president Bill Clinton, had been using in the house.
The inquiries by the FBI follow concerns from government officials that potentially hundreds of e-mails that passed through Clinton’s private server contained classified or sensitive information. At this point, the probe is preliminary and is focused on ensuring the proper handling of classified material.
Nick Merrill, a spokesman for Clinton’s campaign, declined to comment on the FBI’s actions. He noted that Clinton has called repeatedly for the State Department to release her e-mails to the public, a process that is ongoing.
In a statement, Merrill said that Clinton “did not send nor receive any emails that were marked classified at the time. We want to ensure that appropriate procedures are followed as these emails are reviewed while not unduly delaying the release of her emails. We want that to happen as quickly and as transparently as possible.”
[Read the full text here, at The Washington Post]
The controversy over Clinton’s e-mail dates to the summer of 2014, when, according to government officials, State Department lawyers realized they didn’t have access to some of her records as they prepared responses to congressional requests related to the 2012 attacks on a U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya. Read the rest of this entry »
Christopher Monfort Sentenced to Life in Prison for Halloween 2009 Murder of Seattle Police Officer Timothy Brenton
Posted: July 23, 2015 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, Law & Justice | Tags: Ada County, Arapahoe County, Arrest warrant, Capital punishment, Christopher Monfort, Colorado, Denver, Idaho, Jury, murder, Seattle 1 CommentIt took a King County jury about one hour to decide that Christopher Monfort should spend the rest of his life in prison for killing Seattle police Officer Timothy Brenton on Halloween night 2009.
Sara Jean Green reports: A King County jury has spared the life of Christopher Monfort for killing Seattle police Officer Timothy Brenton on Halloween night 2009.
After deliberating for only about one hour, the jurors sentenced Monfort to life in prison without parole Thursday afternoon in a crowded Seattle courtroom. Members of Brenton’s family and Monfort’s mother were seated in the courtroom when the verdict was read.
“This jury worked exceptionally hard for a very long time and were asked to answer a profound moral question. The facts of this case called out for the jury to consider the full range of punishment options under state law. Our entire community should be grateful to these citizens for their service.”
— King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg
Many had speculated the quick verdict signaled jurors had voted for death, the only other possible sentence for aggravated murder.
After the verdict was announced, Monfort said “I’m happy about that.”

In this undated family photo provided by the Seattle Police Dept., shows Seattle police officer Timothy Brenton. Brenton was killed in a Halloween night drive-by shooting that also grazed a rookie officer. The 39-year-old training officer from Marysville was hit in the head as he sat in a car reviewing a traffic stop with officer Britt Sweeney. Brenton’s memorial service is set for Friday at Seattle’s Key Arena. (AP Photo/ family photo provided by the Seattle Police Dept.)
One male juror, who declined to give his name, said, “Now that the trial is over, I don’t think there’s really anything to say, other than it really was a horrible incident filled with sadness, regrettable in every way. I’m very glad the jury was unanimous in all the verdicts that we gave.”
Matt Brenton, Timothy Brenton’s brother, said his family had no expectations before the jury’s verdict was announced.
“Now that the trial is over, I don’t think there’s really anything to say, other than it really was a horrible incident filled with sadness, regrettable in every way. I’m very glad the jury was unanimous in all the verdicts that we gave.”
— Unidentified male juror
“More than anything, no matter what decision they came to, it was the right one for them and we respect it and thank them for their sacrifice,” he said.
Monfort’s mother, Suzan Monfort, said she was flabbergasted by the verdict.
“I’m very relieved and I don’t believe in the death penalty for anyone, or for my son” she said.
The verdict marks the second time in the past two months that King County prosecutors have failed to convince a jury to sentence a high-profile killer to death. In May, a split jury spared the life of Joseph McEnroe, who killed six members of his ex-girlfriend’s family on Christmas Eve 2007. That jury deliberated for 3 ½ days.
King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg issued the following statement Thursday afternoon: “This jury worked exceptionally hard for a very long time and were asked to answer a profound moral question. The facts of this case called out for the jury to consider the full range of punishment options under state law. Our entire community should be grateful to these citizens for their service.”
The jury of six men and six women convicted Monfort on June 5 of aggravated first-degree murder and three other felonies, rejecting his insanity defense, after hearing nearly four months of testimony in the trial that began in late January. Read the rest of this entry »
BREAKING: Verdict Reached in James Holmes Colorado ‘Midnight Massacre’ Shooter Trial
Posted: July 16, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Crime & Corruption, U.S. News | Tags: 2012 Aurora shooting, Associated Press, Capital punishment, Closing argument, Colorado, Denver, District Attorney, Insanity defense, Jury, Midnight Massacre, Premiere, The Dark Knight Rises 1 CommentDEVELOPING: The jury in the Colorado theater shooting trial of James Holmes has reached a verdict, which will be announced at 6:15pm ET….
[Fox News]
SWAT Surrounds Essex House Motel in Littleton; FBI Agent Wounded
Posted: May 8, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Crime & Corruption, U.S. News | Tags: Alicia Keys, Anne Arundel County, Arrest warrant, Associated Press, Colorado, Denver, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Maryland, Robert Fitzpatrick, SWAT, The Denver Post, Twitter, Whitey Bulger Leave a comment“It’s terrifying. It’s frightening. It’s a situation where you are trying to be as safe as possible but when you hear over the radio that an officer is down, it’s the worst thing you can possibly hear.”
— Littleton police Lt. Trent Cooper
An FBI agent was wounded Friday afternoon while trying to serve an arrest warrant at a Littleton motel.
The agent was taken to Swedish Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.
Littleton police, SWAT officers and other law enforcement personnel were still surrounding the Essex House Motel in the 5300 block of South Santa Fe Drive at 6:15 p.m., about two hours later.
[The “Longhorn Bandit” is wanted in heists across the Denver area that began in February]
At 6:20 p.m., police were preparing to send a robot into the second-story room, since they had been unable to make contact with the suspect since the shooting at 4:15 p.m.
Officials said they were waiting for a federal warrant to enter the motel, which could take a couple of hours.
Littleton police Lt. Trent Cooper said the suspect fired two shots at law enforcement agents, hitting the agent in the leg. The officers fired no shots, he said. Read the rest of this entry »
Investigation: Possible Clue, Motive? ‘My wife is a Cheater’ Seen Spray Painted on Colorado Home after Early Morning Explosion, Fire
Posted: March 10, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Crime & Corruption, U.S. News | Tags: Academy Award, Arvada, Automobile, Bill Feldman, Brooklyn, Colorado, Denver, KDVR, Pinterest, Spray painting 2 CommentsARVADA, Colorado — The words ‘my wife is a cheater’ were clearly visible in spray paint on the outside wall of a home that exploded in a fireball early Tuesday outside Denver Colorado.
Investigators told KDVR-TV they were looking for a man in connection with the fire, but declined to comment further on who he is or whether the graffiti was connected to the explosion.
Officially the cause of the fire is under investigation. Read the rest of this entry »
SEAHAWKS ROCK XLVIII
Posted: February 2, 2014 Filed under: Breaking News, Entertainment, Mediasphere, U.S. News | Tags: Broncos, Denver, Seahawks, Seattle, Super Bowl XLVIII 1 Comment
Super Bowl: Drudge Not Entertained
Posted: February 2, 2014 Filed under: Breaking News, Entertainment, U.S. News | Tags: Broncos, Denver, Drudge, Seahawks, Seattle, Super Bowl 2014 2 CommentsHalftime Score: Denver Stalls, Hawks Dominate
Posted: February 2, 2014 Filed under: Mediasphere | Tags: Broncos, Denver, Drudge, media, news, Seahawks, Seattle, Sports, Superbowl 1 CommentFinally: A Seahawks Logo Marijuana Pipe
Posted: January 26, 2014 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment, Humor, Mediasphere, The Butcher's Notebook | Tags: Broncos, Denver, Denver Broncos, Marijuana, National Football League, National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, NFL, NORML, pot, Seahawks, Seattle, Seattle Seahawks, Smoking, Super Oobie Doobie Bowl, Superbowl, Weed Leave a comment
Exclusive: Seen in tobacco store in Seattle, January 25, 2014
Sign of the times. High times.
[See Denver-Seattle ‘Super Oobie Doobie Bowl’]
And what to go better with this item than a Zippo NFL Seattle Seahawks Chrome Pocket Lighter ?
The weekend’s playoff football victories by the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks have created a teachable moment about the two leading marijuana law reform states in America, as well as a windfall for those who love dumb puns.
“Weed Bowl”, “Salad Bowl”, “420 Bowl”, “Chronic Bowl”, weed heads can’t get enough of the delicious matchup.
Pot Advocates Rooting for Denver-Seattle ‘Super Oobie Doobie Bowl’
Posted: January 19, 2014 Filed under: Art & Culture, Entertainment, U.S. News | Tags: Allen St. Pierre, Colorado, Denver, Denver Broncos, National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, Seattle, Seattle Seahawks, Super Bowl 4 Comments
Photo: @Mranglin Twitter
Marijuana advocates are hoping that the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos make it to the Super Bowl so they can have what may be dubbed the “Marijuana Bowl” in the Super Bowl.
Colorado and Washington are the only two states where recreational marijuana is legalized, and Allen St. Pierre, the executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, told Fox News that a Denver–Seattle Super Bowl will be a Super Bowl that features “the two most pro-cannabis-legalization cities in the US.”
Concealed Carry Permit Applications Skyrocket in Weld County, Colorado
Posted: October 28, 2013 Filed under: Guns and Gadgets, Law & Justice, Self Defense | Tags: Colorado, Concealed carry in the United States, Denver, Greeley Colorado, Sheriff John, Tribune, Twitter, Weld County Colorado 2 Comments

Bryan Hull, founding director of the Oklahoma Open Carry Association (OKOCA), wears an unconcealed side arm as he addresses OKOCA members gathered at Beverly’s Pancake House in Oklahoma City
WR Hawkins reports: Applications for concealed carry permits are skyrocketing in Weld County, Colorado, with applications from women in particular doubling. Sheriff John Cooke is thrilled about the numbers.
Weld is an important indicator in that it led Adam, Denver, and Boulder counties for concealed carry permit applications with 2,022 last year. It surpassed that number by March 2013, and Weld County has now processed 2,857 applications this year alone.
According to Greeley’s, The Tribune, the number of applications from women has increased from “an average of about 20 percent in recent years to an average of about 40 percent currently.”
Sheriff Cooke said, “Having a gun is a good equalizer for self protection. People want it for protection [and] a Smith & Wesson or Colt will level the playing field.” Read the rest of this entry »
Remembering Scott Carpenter, One of the Original Seven Astronauts, Dead at 88
Posted: October 10, 2013 Filed under: Space & Aviation, U.S. News | Tags: Carpenter, Denver, John F. Kennedy, John Glenn, NASA, Project Mercury, Scott Carpenter, United States 1 Comment
President John F. Kennedy congratulates the astronaut Scott Carpenter in the Oval Office at the White House after his three-orbit flight around the earth. With them are Carpenter’s wife at the time, Rene, and their children. AP
RICHARD GOLDSTEIN writes: M. Scott Carpenter, whose flight into space in 1962 as the second American to orbit the Earth was marred by technical problems and ended with the nation waiting anxiously to see if he had survived a landing far from the target site, died on Thursday in Denver. He was 88 and one of the last two surviving astronauts of America’s original space program, Project Mercury.
His wife, Patty Carpenter, announced the death. No cause was given. Mr. Carpenter had entered hospice care recently after having a stroke.
His death leaves John H. Glenn Jr., who flew the first orbital mission on Feb. 20, 1962, and later became a United States senator from Ohio, as the last survivor of the Mercury 7.
When Lieutenant Commander Carpenter splashed down off Puerto Rico in his Aurora 7 capsule on May 24, 1962, after a harrowing mission, he had fulfilled a dream.
“I volunteered for a number of reasons,” he wrote in “We Seven,” a book of reflections by the original astronauts published in 1962. “One of these, quite frankly, was that I thought this was a chance for immortality. Pioneering in space was something I would willingly give my life for.” Read the rest of this entry »
Neighborhood 3D Printing Store Opens in Oakland
Posted: October 6, 2013 Filed under: Robotics, Science & Technology | Tags: 3D printing, Denver, MakerBot Industries, Manhattan, Oakland, Printing, Sun Microsystems, United Parcel Service 2 CommentsMakerBot has a retail store in Manhattan. And UPS is testing in-store 3DPrinting services in five locations. But how many neighborhoods or Main Streets have a small-biz, 3D printing/digital fabrication retail store? One that not only prints but teaches classes and sells printers?
The answer is… not very many. According to MAKE contributing editor, Anna Kaziunas France, there is Deezmaker in Pasadena; The Color Company andiMakr in London; The 3D Printing Store in Denver; and the GetPrinting3D Retail Store in Evanston.
As of yesterday, HoneyBee3D in the Montclair district of Oakland, Calif. can be added to this list. Read the rest of this entry »