Crime
Autopsy: Highlands Ranch boys killed by own mother in murder-suicide had painkillers in systems
DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. – The death of a woman and her two young sons found with gunshot wounds inside a van in a Lone Tree parking lot last month has officially been declared a murder-suicide.
The designation was made by Douglas County Coroner Jill Romann, who determined Adam and Ethan Laber died of homicide by gunshot wounds and their mother, Jennifer Laber, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The autopsy for each also confirms that the boys were heavily drugged before their mother killed them, which their father hinted at in a Facebook post Thursday discussing his late wife’s depression.
Both boys had evidence of oxycodone, oxymorphone and diphenhydramine in their blood. The first two listed are potent narcotic painkillers, and diphenhydramine is better known by its brand name, Benadryl.
In the Thursday Facebook post, Ryan Laber wrote that his sons were in a “deep sleep” when they were killed.
The autopsy also confirmed Jennifer had a slew of health problems, was taking medication and had a history of depression. She had undergone weight loss surgery months before her death, which her husband said ended up furthering her depression because of the saggy skin left over.
Ryan also said that she was a “tremendous” mom, but her motherhood “turned into her greatest source of pain” and said that the only way she thought her pain could be resolved was in heaven.
“Going to heaven was just a next step to her,” he wrote. “So as an act to insure [sic] she could provide the best motherhood to her boys, she took them with, painlessly, while they were under a deep sleep.”
“Depression is a sickness,” Ryan wrote. “It is coercive and often operates in silence. There is no fault to lay blame.”
Editor’s note: This story has been changed to clarify that diphenhydramine is not a painkiller.
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Months after being shot in line of duty, Douglas County Detective Dan Brite released from hospital
DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. – Douglas County Detective Dan Brite was released from the hospital Thursday 3 ½ months after he was shot in the line of duty by a suicidal man in Parker.
Dozens of people, police officers and firefighters lined the streets as Brite was discharged from Craig Hospital and taken home in the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office BearCat tactical vehicle.
His wife and daughters were there to accompany him.
The sheriff’s office says Brite was discharged six months earlier than expected after doctors originally gave him a 1 percent chance to live.
He is paralyzed from the waist down after being shot, allegedly by Randall Rodick, on Sept. 2. Rodick was shot and killed by law enforcement in the incident.
“Dan is still paralyzed and unable to move his legs, but he says he believes in miracles and he will do everything in his power to ensure that he does walk again some day,” the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a Facebook post.
The sheriff’s office also posted an emotional video of Brite calling in-service for the first time since he was shot.
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Nederland veterinarian ‘Doc Joe’ charged with sexually assaulting girl, then 15, in 2011
BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. – A well-known Nederland veterinarian faces charges for allegedly sexually assaulting a girl who worked for and lived with him in 2011 when she was just 15 years old.
Joseph Evans, 67, better known to Boulder County residents as “Doc Joe,” is charged with one count of sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust.
Evans turned himself into police on Monday, three days after the warrant was issued. He was officially charged Wednesday and is out of jail after posting a $5,000 bond.
The investigation into Evans’ alleged misconduct started in November, when the victim tried to file a restraining order against Evans. As part of the background for the order, the victim told the Boulder District Attorney’s Office that Evans had sexually assaulted her while she was living with him in fall 2011.
The victim said she had started working for Evans after he performed surgery on her dog that she could not pay for at the time. The affidavit says Evans agreed to let her work the charges off. Once she had done so, after working at his clinic after school for some time, he hired her and paid her under the table.
The girl’s mother was experiencing marital troubles, and eventually left for more than a month to Costa Rica. It was then that the girl started living with Evans. She told the chief investigator at the district attorney’s office that “she was always indebted to [Evans].”
Evans was married at the time but was going through marital trouble himself. Though he was a counselor for Alcoholics Anonymous, the affidavit says Evans was using prescription drugs and Ketamine.
The affidavit says the girl would get scared of Evans during his alleged drug-induced episodes and briefly moved in with a friend when her mother went to Iowa after Costa Rica. However, she couldn’t stay with the friend for long and eventually moved back in with Evans.
Sometime in fall 2011, Evans invited her up to his room to watch a movie. It was then that the alleged assault occurred.
He felt her breasts and eventually her genitals before performing oral sex on her, according to the affidavit. The girl said Evans was “messed up and had done some drugs” and that she was “’just lying there, not saying anything’ because she did not know what to do,” according to the affidavit.
At some point, she said she grew “totally disgusted” and got up and told her to stop. He told her to never tell anyone about the incident, which she agreed to, according to the affidavit.
But the girl told a friend, and other locals had told the girl’s mom “something was not right” with the relationship between Evans and the girl. She eventually told her mother as well.
He had told her he would leave her his home and ranch when he passed away, which worried some in the community who already thought his relationship with the girl was questionable, according to the affidavit.
The girl worked for Evans and lived there on and off until she graduated high school in 2014 and moved to Arkansas, where she got into trouble for drug possession and moved back to clean up.
Her mother and siblings were living in a cabin in Eldora but were forced out because the owner was selling it, making the girl and her family homeless.
Evans let them put their belongings in his home, and the girl moved back in with him. Her mother joined them after another brief stint in Iowa.
But his demeanor changed when the girl got a boyfriend, who would at times stay at Evans’ house with her. He grew wary of their relationship and some of the requests Evans made, according to the affidavit.
He eventually started requesting more and more money from the girl and her mother, and the affidavit says the girl’s getting a boyfriend “really hurt him and upset him.”
In an interview with the district attorney’s office, the boyfriend said the girl and her mother “were totally dependent upon [Evans].”
In November, the district attorney’s office investigators got a hold of text messages referring to the alleged assault in addition to the girl’s testimony, and an arrest warrant was drafted.
The affidavit says Evans has no prior criminal history.
The Boulder District Attorney’s Office is asking anyone with knowledge of the case to call Investigator Jane Harmer at 303-441-4779.
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Husband of woman who killed sons, herself opens up about wife’s depression in Facebook post
HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. — The husband of Jennifer Laber, who took her own life as well as her two young boys’ at the end of November, opened up on Facebook Thursday to talk about his wife’s depression.
Ryan Laber first talked about his wife’s depression at the memorial service for Jennifer and their sons, Adam and Ethan.
But in a post to the Laber Family Memorial Page on Facebook Thursday, he elaborated on exactly how deep and crippling her depression was.
He says she had struggled with bouts of depression before that “involved very low self-esteem, no recognition of consequences to self harm, and a strong desire to escape.”
He said Jennifer had lost 80 pounds, but still felt self-conscious about the extra skin that was left over following her weight loss.
He also said that she was a “tremendous” mom, but her motherhood “turned into her greatest source of pain” and said that the only way she thought her pain could be resolved was in heaven.
“Going to heaven was just a next step to her,” he wrote. “So as an act to insure [sic] she could provide the best motherhood to her boys, she took them with, painlessly, while they were under a deep sleep.”
“Depression is a sickness,” Ryan wrote. “It is coercive and often operates in silence. There is no fault to lay blame.”
He acknowledged that some might find his explanation of what happened disturbing, but said he wanted people to understand “a bit more of where Jen was that day.”
Anyone who needs help treating or dealing with depression or mental illness should call the national suicide hotline at 1-800-273-8255.
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Family suing Swedish Medical Center over alleged wrongful death of son
DENVER – The family of a 10-year-old boy who died less than an hour after leaving Swedish Medical Center in December 2014 has filed suit against the hospital, claiming it caused the boy’s wrongful death.
Isaiah Bird, 10, of Littleton, died Dec. 24, 2014 – a day after he went into respiratory arrest and collapsed in a Denver pharmacy.
He had been released from Swedish Medical Center 40 minutes before he collapsed after undergoing tests for the flu, according to the suit.
The lawsuit claims Bird was prematurely discharged from the emergency room and had not responded to breathing treatments after his pediatrician diagnosed him with influenza earlier that day.
The suit says Bird had difficulty breathing and a fever when he was taken to the Swedish emergency room, but that he was discharged 1 ½ hours later. While his father, Troy Bird, was filling his son’s prescription, the boy collapsed.
The suit says Bird suffered “catastrophic, irreversible brain damage” because of the lack of oxygen to his brain. He was taken off life support the next day and died.
The suit says an autopsy found Bird had the flu, as well as pneumonia and an upper-respiratory infection.
The doctor assigned to bird at Swedish, Jenna Greenfield, and the nurse who treated him, Kathleen Carpenter, are both named as defendants in the suit, in addition to the hospital.
“Isaiah’s pediatrician sent him to the ER because he could not breathe and needed to be admitted to the hospital,” the family’s attorney, David S. Woodruff, said in a news release. “Instead, the ER staff discharged him without any attempt at a proper diagnosis. This boy suffocated to death literally on the way home from the hospital, because of the carelessness of Swedish hospital and its staff.”
The hospital issued a statement saying it was surprised by the accusations in the suit:
“Swedish Medical Center is aware of the lawsuit that was filed today, though we are surprised by many of the accusations. Our hearts go out to the family, it is never easy to lose a loved one and no doubt this is a particularly difficult time of year.”
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Man suspected of murdering wife, infant son in Texas arrested in Glenwood Springs
DENVER – Police arrested a man suspected of murdering his wife and 3-month-old son in Texas in Glenwood Springs on Wednesday, according to the Fort Worth Police Department.
Craig Vandewege, 35, is accused of killing his wife and infant son on Dec. 15 in Texas. Shanna Vandewege and her and Craig’s son, Diederik, were found dead in a bedroom at their home. Both of their throats had been cut. Continue reading
Colorado ‘faithless elector’ Micheal Baca referred to attorney general for possible prosecution
DENVER – The Colorado Democratic elector who was replaced Monday after writing Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s name on the elector ballot, instead of voting for Hillary Clinton in accordance with state law, will face investigation by the state attorney general for possible charges.
Micheal Baca, who was among three “Hamilton electors” from Colorado trying to flip electors across the country to not vote for Donald Trump, faces possible misdemeanor charges should the attorney general decide to pursue them.
After a Denver District Court judge tossed an amended oath of office for electors a half-hour before they were set to take their oaths and cast their electoral votes.
But Secretary of State Wayne Williams was allowed to make a new rule, and was able to put together a temporary rule that added nearly identical language to the electors’ oaths in that half hour.
The oath all nine electors took, including Baca, said that they were to vote for the presidential candidate who won the popular vote in Colorado. It was based off an existing statute in Colorado law that says as much, thus binding the Democratic electors to Clinton this year.
Baca and the two other “Hamilton electors” – Polly Baca and Robert Nemanich – took the new oaths.
But Micheal Baca did not check the only box on the ballot, which was for Clinton and her running mate, Timothy Kaine.
Instead, he wrote Kasich’s name on the ballot. State courts had ruled last week that should an elector fail to vote for Clinton, he or she would be replaced.
Indeed, Baca was replaced by Celeste Landry of Boulder after an on-the-spot vote by the other electors. She voted for Clinton and Kaine.
Williams had said he planned to refer Baca to the attorney general to face possible prosecution.
Wednesday, Deputy Secretary of State Suzanne Staiert officially referred Baca, saying he “cast a ballot contrary to the oath” and in violation of state statute.
It will now be up to Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman to decide whether or not to prosecute Baca. He could face misdemeanor charges that could lead to a fine or possible jail time should Coffman pursue charges.
No “faithless elector” has ever been punished, according to the National Archive.
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Family of slain deputy Nate Carrigan sues Park County Sheriff’s Office over his death in shootout
DENVER – The family of the Park County deputy killed in February by a man who had previously threatened to harm officers has filed a federal lawsuit against the sheriff’s office claiming the negligence of commanders led to their son’s death.
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court of Colorado on behalf of Nate Carrigan’s estate, his parents, John and Melissa Carrigan, as well as Park County Deputy Kolby Martin, who was injured in the incident.
The defendants in the suit are the Park County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff Fred Wegener and Cpt. Mark Hancock, who was also shot in the incident, though the bullet only grazed his ear.
The suit claims the “grossly negligent decision making” of the defendants “were not just a lapse in judgment or honest mistake.” It says their actions “exposed Deputies Martin and Carrigan to dangers that should have been entirely preventable.”
Carrigan and Martin were shot by Martin Wirth on Feb. 24 while serving him an eviction notice. He had previously threatened to kill police in the months before and had refused to leave his home in Bailey.
A report on the incident released in August by the Colorado Bureau of Investigations, Hancock told investigators he believed Wirth would be “physically combative” and had said the office “didn’t really feel that it warranted a SWAT call.”
The suit cites the CBI report throughout in detailing the timeline of that day, and notes Wirth had said if he were evicted, it would be “a shootout like the OK Corral.”
Wirth retreated back inside the home, and Hancock grew worried that too much time had passed and that deputies were in danger. But rather than retreating, he and Carrigan went to the door.
The report says Hancock told investigators he didn’t know if he got permission (the lawsuit says the sheriff gave permission), but told Carrigan to kick in the door since Wirth had barricaded himself inside.
Martin entered first and was followed by another deputy. As he rounded a corner, Wirth shot him eight times in the pelvis and legs.
Carrigan was shot through the armpit as he breached the door, and Hancock was grazed sometime during the incident.
At one point, Wirth escaped out of the home into the woods, where he was eventually shot dead by Hancock.
Wegener said in August that his deputies “did what they were supposed to” and called them heroes. The suit says, however, that many plans originally made to serve the eviction that day were not followed, nor was standard operating procedure followed by Hancock or Wegener.
It says they “ignored their own training” and that the deputies lacked the training and equipment to confront Wirth that day.
Martin and Carrigan’s family are both seeking compensatory and special damages, and lost past and future earnings, among other things.
Sheriff Wegener told Denver7 neither he nor the sheriff’s office had been served as of 11:15 a.m.
“We’re sorry that the family has taken this direction, but will certainly wait to let the justice system work, and wait and see what happens,” he said.
Carrigan had worked for the sheriff’s office for 13 years and was well-known in the community after growing up there and coaching at Platte Canyon High School. His family first discussed their intent to sue with Denver7 in August.
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Denver man charged with child abuse after 10-week-old daughter hospitalized with serious injuries
DENVER – A Denver man has been formally charged with child abuse for allegedly causing numerous serious injuries to his infant daughter.
Shane Stringfellow, 27, is charged with three counts of child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury — a third-degree felony.
Stringfellow is accused of abusing the young girl since she was born on Oct. 1. She was brought to The Children’s Hospital Dec. 12 with a broken leg, fractured ribs and injuries to her tongue and tonsils, according to the Denver District Attorney’s Office.
His arrest affidavit says Stringfellow reported he “had fallen on the baby” and that the baby’s mother “fell while carrying the baby” at one point, but that the baby had landed in her lap.
Stringfellow also told investigators he would squeeze the baby in order to make her have a bowel movement, and that he would sometimes put his finger in her throat to make her vomit.
The affidavit says the infant girl weighed only seven pounds when she was hospitalized despite being 10-weeks-old.
The mother was also interviewed by police, but investigators determined the baby’s injuries were caused while she was in Stringfellow’s care. She is not currently facing charges.
Stringfellow has already been released from custody on a $50,000 bond and is next scheduled in court Jan. 17.
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Lawsuit filed by 18 disabled patients of Pueblo Regional Center who were strip-searched
PUEBLO, Colo. – Eighteen disabled people housed at the troubled Pueblo Regional Center and their families are suing Colorado’s governor, the Colorado Department of Human Services and a handful of former and current employees over claims they were illegally strip-searched in March 2015.
The plaintiffs and their attorneys say almost a dozen CDHS employees illegally strip-searched people housed at the center, which is operated by CDHS, without consent or a warrant. The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Pueblo District Court. Continue reading