Crime
Documents reveal police told Grandview HS of sex allegations involving guard year before his arrest
AURORA, Colo. — A newly released report shows Aurora police had received a complaint alleging a Grandview High School security guard was having sex with students more than a year before he was arrested on sexual assault charges, and that the school was made aware of the allegations at the time but didn’t act.
Officials at the school, which is part of the Cherry Creek School District, maintain they didn’t know about the allegations from March 2016 when they made the controversial decision not to tell parents about the May 2017 arrest of the guard, Broderick Lundie, citing a belief that the alleged abuse was not widespread. Continue reading
Ingrid LaTorre will get time to make family arrangements before deportation, ICE says
DENVER – Ingrid LaTorre, the Peruvian national whose plea for a pardon from Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper was denied Thursday, will get around a month to make arrangements for her family before she is deported.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed Friday to Denver7 it was working with LaTorre’s attorneys regarding her departure since she now has a final order of removal. Continue reading
Judge denies appeal in Sir Mario Owens death penalty case
DENVER – An Arapahoe County District Court judge has denied the appeal of Sir Mario Owens, who is one of three people on Colorado’s death row, despite finding that prosecutors withheld some evidence in his case.
Owens has been appealing his death penalty sentence and conviction for years, and the ruling by Judge Christopher Munch does not end his state or federal appeals.
He’s been convicted of killing three people in two separate incidents. He shot Gregory Vann to death in 2004, then killed two witnesses in that case in 2005: Vivian Wolfe and her fiancé, Javad Marshall-Fields, whose mother, Rhonda Fields, is the state senator from Aurora.
Owens’ attorneys had argued some of his attorneys misrepresented him. They had also unsuccessfully argued that Owens deserved a new trial because of an allegedly-tainted jury.
Munch found that in addition to Owens’ attorneys’ arguments, prosecutors also failed to show that they’d paid witnesses in the case or gotten favorable prosecution in their own cases, but denied to agree with Owens’ attorneys that extra evidence could have poked holes in the witnesses’ credibility had a new trial been granted.
“The court has considered the prejudice resulting from trial counsel’s errors, together with the prosecution’s and direct appeal counsel’s errors, as well as the alleged juror misconduct, and concludes the errors, when considered cumulatively, are insufficient to warrant a new trial,” Judge Munch wrote.
“Owens is ‘entitled to a fair trial, but not a perfect trial,’ … A fair trial whose result is reliable. … Owens received a fair trial, and its result is reliable,” he wrote.
Missing Georgia girl Mayci Olschewske found safe in Idaho Springs, Colorado
DENVER – The Georgia girl who had been missing for more than two weeks was found safe in Idaho Springs, Colorado just west of Denver Thursday, authorities in Georgia said.
Mayci Olschewske, 16, was found after being pulled over by Idaho Springs police Thursday.
A person in Idaho Springs called 911 to report they had seen the girl’s vehicle, and police were able to conduct a traffic stop and identify Olschewske as the driver, police in Canton, Georgia said.
“Mayci is safe and the family has been notified,” the police department said.
Olschewske was believed to be in Colorado, but hadn’t been spotted since leaving her home in Georgia on the morning of Aug. 31.
She was driving her white 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe with a dent in its front-passenger side, which the Idaho Springs resident recognized Thursday.
“We would like to thank all agencies involved and the public for their assistance in finding Ms. Olschewske,” Canton police said.
Denver7 has reached out to the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office, which is handling the investigation, for more information and will update this story when it is received.
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper denies pardon for undocumented immigrant Ingrid LaTorre
DENVER – Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper on Thursday denied a request for a pardon from an undocumented immigrant from Peru who faces possible deportation following a conviction, saying the woman’s crime was not victimless, but also took the opportunity to plead for a congressional fix to immigration reform issues.
Ingrid Ecalada LaTorre, 33, a mother to two U.S. citizens, had asked Hickenlooper to grant her clemency before her stay of removal expires Friday.
Authorities say missing Georgia girl Mayci Olschewske believed to be in Denver area
DENVER – A Georgia detective told Denver7 Tuesday that a 16-year-old girl missing for two weeks out of Georgia is believed to be in the Denver area.
The detective with the Canton Police Department said he couldn’t elaborate on why authorities believe Mayci Olschewske, 16, is in the Denver area, however.
The teenager was last seen leaving her home in Canton, Georgia on the morning of Aug. 31, but she hasn’t been seen since.
She has run away from home before, but Georgia authorities have been very active in trying to locate her over the past two weeks.
When she left home, Olschewske was driving her white 2002 Hyundai Santa Fe with Georgia “Support Wildlife” license plate WPQ909. The vehicle had a dent in its front passenger side, a rainbow-colored steering wheel cover, and two stickers on the back: one that says “Neck Deep” and another that says “Teach Peace.”
Family members have said it was possible she was headed to Oregon, but Georgia authorities said Tuesday they believed she was in the Denver area recently.
Anyone who sees her is asked to call 911 immediately, as she and her car have both been entered into national missing person databases.
You can also call the Canton Police Department at 770-720-4883 or email tom.priest@cantonga.gov with tips.
Body found in Denver elevator was 82-year-old man with dementia reported missing on July 5
DENVER – The person discovered dead in an elevator at a Denver apartment complex earlier this week was an 82-year-old man with early-onset dementia who had last been seen on July 5 close to where his body was eventually found.
The Denver Office of the Medical Examiner on Thursday identified the man as Isaak Komisarchik, 82, but said his cause and manner of death were still undetermined pending investigation. Continue reading
Federal judge declares Colorado sex offender registry unconstitutional for 3 men
DENVER – A federal judge in Denver on Thursday ruled that the state’s Sex Offender Registration Act violates the U.S. Constitution when applied to three men because it constitutes further punishment beyond their initial jail time and probation.
U.S. District Court of Colorado Senior District Judge Richard P. Matsch stopped short of declaring the full statute unconstitutional, but determined that when applied to the three Colorado men—David Millard, Eugene Knight and Arturo Vega—SORA violated provisions of the Eighth and 14th amendments. Continue reading
Arrest made in 1999 murder of Arapahoe Co. Deputy DA Rebecca Bartee
ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. – An arrest has been made in the 1999 murder of Arapahoe County Deputy District Attorney Rebecca Bartee, bringing the 18-year-old mystery closer to being solved.
The sheriff’s office announced Wednesday detectives had arrested Robert Lee Williams, 70, on suspicion of first-degree murder charges in Bartee’s death, and say he was still living in the same Centennial apartment complex where Bartee was found dead 18 years ago.
Public records show the two lived on the same floor at the apartment complex when Bartee was killed.
Bartee became a deputy district attorney in Arapahoe County after working as the DA in Hays, Kansas. Her primary work involved tracking down and prosecuting parents who were skipping out on child support payments, but she had only been on the job for 3 weeks when she was murdered.
She had a “severely handicapped” daughter whom she dedicated herself to when she wasn’t working, according to the sheriff’s office.
She left work on Friday, June 4, 1999, but never showed back up to work the next Monday morning. Fellow prosecutors went to her home and discovered Bartee dead in her bathtub.
Voice messages left on her phone by her daughter’s caregiver had gone unreturned—something that was out of the ordinary, and the county coroner found Bartee had been dead since shortly after she arrived home on June 4.
Initially, investigators believed Bartee may have had a seizure and drowned in the bath tub, but said evidence later led them to believe she was murdered.
Investigators weren’t able to charge any suspects in the months and years that followed.
But recently, a tipster brought new evidence forward in the case, according to the sheriff’s office, and investigators were able to obtain a warrant for Williams’s arrest.
Authorities took Williams into custody Tuesday afternoon. His arrest affidavit has been sealed, so further details about the case are not currently available.
“We, along with the victim’s family, are thankful someone came forward with new information, even after 18 years,” a statement from the sheriff’s office said.
Williams is next due in court Thursday morning for his first appearance, according to court records. He is being held without bond for the time being.
Ex-Grand Mesa youth corrections officer charged with sexually assaulting 2 inmates
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – A former youth corrections officer at the Grand Mesa Youth Services Center was arrested Sunday on multiple child sex charges relating to his alleged rape of two teen inmates.
Brian Tate, 30, faces two counts of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust (class 3 felony), one count of sexual assault, three counts of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust (class 4 felony), three counts of sexual assault on a child – pattern of abuse, one count of criminal attempt of unlawful sexual contact, and six counts of first-degree official misconduct.
The first 10 counts listed are felonies, while the official misconduct charges are class 2 misdemeanors.
Tate allegedly sexually assaulted at least two girls at the youth facility this year. The alleged incidents were reported to the director of the Grand Mesa Division of Youth Services in late July.
When the allegations were first reported, Tate was immediately put on administrative leave. He was fired shortly afterward, according to authorities.
In separate incidents that allegedly happened this year, Tate is accused of touching the two girls inappropriately under their clothing, and raping one of the girls.
According to Tate’s arrest affidavit, the two victims had told a fellow inmate about the incidents, who then reported them to authorities.
Both alleged incidents took place over a period of time. According to the affidavit, Tate would start by asking girls who were having “bad days” for hugs, and would eventually move on to grabbing their backsides while hugging them.
According to the affidavit, Tate took opportunities to get the two victims alone on separate occasions and in locations at the corrections center that cameras couldn’t capture.
In one of the incidents, Tate took one of the victims out to an area where the center housed dogs for a support program, grabbed the victim, kissed her several times, and put his hand down the front of her pants.
In another incident, a different victim—who was asked by Tate to help hand out snacks to the other inmates—was brought into a stairwell that couldn’t be seen by cameras and was raped by Tate after extensive groping, according to the affidavit.
Police also interviewed other inmates, who had alleged that he had asked them to undress in front of him at times, and who said they had heard about the alleged incidents between Tate and the two girls.
When he was interviewed by police, Tate denied any wrongdoing. But the inmates told officers that he had threatened them if they told on him, and at one point said he’d kill himself if anyone found out.
Tate was in the U.S. Marine Corps for 8 years before he started working as a contract worker at the corrections center’s dog rehab program. He eventually became a full-time corrections officer last December.
When he was interviewed by police in early August, Tate said he had an infant child, but that he and his wife were separated.
In the same interview, he blamed the “bipolar and angry” inmates, who he said didn’t like him because he “consistently holds them accountable,” for fabricating the alleged sexual assaults.
But after interviews with several more corrections officers, and after reviewing more jail surveillance video, the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office was able to file to obtain a warrant for Tate’s arrest on Aug. 22.
Tate turned himself in on Sunday, and saw his bond set at $100,000 Monday at his first court appearance.
The Colorado Division of Youth Services says it is cooperating with the investigation and is offering the victims and anyone else involved counseling.
“The Division has a zero-tolerance standard for any incidence of sexual misconduct,” said director Anders Jacobson.
The sheriff’s office says the case remains under investigation, and asks anyone else who may be a potential victim or know of further instances of abuse to contact its witness tip line at 970-244-3526.