BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. — The suspect accused of killing 10 folks at a Boulder King Soopers on March 22, 2021 pleaded not responsible by cause of madness on Tuesday morning.
Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa was arrested the identical day he allegedly shot and killed 10 folks, together with a Boulder police officer, each inside and outdoors the King Soopers grocery retailer at 3600 Desk Mesa Drive. He has schizophrenia and his case was stalled. On Tuesday morning, Decide Bakke held a preliminary listening to, the place she was tasked with deciding if there was sufficient proof for the case to go to trial.
Boulder King Soopers capturing suspect pleads not responsible by cause of madness
After Alissa’s protection group introduced his plea, twentieth Judicial District Decide Ingrid Bakke listed out what it means and what is going to occur subsequent. On the finish, she confirmed the defendant understood after which accepted the plea.
The decide mentioned the defendant will return to the state hospital in Pueblo for a sanity examination, which have to be accomplished by Jan. 8, 2024.
READ MORE: All Denver7 protection of the mass capturing on the Boulder King Soopers
Ten folks have been shot and killed inside or exterior the shop on March 22, 2021:
- Neven Stanisic, 23
- Jody Waters, 65
- Denny Stong, 20
- Suzanne Fountain, 59
- Tralona Bartkowiak, 49
- Lynn Murray, 62
- Rikki Olds, 25
- Teri Leiker, 51
- Eric Talley, 51
- Kevin Mahoney, 61
The defendant presently faces a slew of costs, together with 10 counts of first-degree homicide, 47 counts of tried homicide, first-degree assault, and 6 counts of utilizing a large-capacity journal in a criminal offense, plus a number of crimes of violence.
He was in courtroom Tuesday for a preliminary listening to, which was a required step to maneuver ahead in his prosecution. It had been stalled beforehand as a result of he had been deemed incompetent since late 2021. In October, Decide Bakke dominated that he was competent and could possibly be prosecuted.
All through the listening to, he seemed round typically.
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In courtroom, twentieth Judicial District Legal professional Michael Dougherty was the one particular person between each events to name a witness, and prosecutors known as only one witness: Boulder Police Dept. Det. Sarah Cantu.
Cantu is the lead detective on this case.
The prosecutors made positive the courtroom knew Tuesday’s proceedings have been a preliminary listening to, not a “mini trial.”
As she was questioned by Dougherty, Cantu described the occasions of the afternoon of March 22, 2021. She was the defendant left his dwelling at 1:21 p.m. and drove towards Boulder, arriving on the grocery retailer at 2:24 p.m.
As he moved from the car parking zone towards the shop, armed with a pistol-style rifle, 9 mm handgun and a rifle bag with a number of rounds, he encountered the primary sufferer — Neven Stanisic, 23. Cantu mentioned this occurred within the car parking zone and the defendant shot by the window after which by a windshield.
The suspect ran east by the car parking zone after which noticed Kevin Mahoney, 61, who he shot, killing him, Cantu mentioned.
At that time, he entered the shop.
Tralona Bartkowiak, 49, was the third sufferer the defendant shot, Cantu mentioned. The fourth was Rikki Olds, 25. She was the one sufferer he shot one time, the detective mentioned.
The fifth sufferer was Denny Stong, 20, who ran towards the shop’s west doorways and was shot within the again, Cantu mentioned.
She mentioned at that time, folks within the retailer began operating round or dropping to the bottom.
The defendant then killed 62-year-old Lynn Murray and 51-year-old Teri Leiker, who was bagging groceries.
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The eighth sufferer was Jody Waters, 65, who was shot precisely 69 seconds after the primary sufferer was shot, Cantu confirmed, including that the defendant had killed 4 folks inside 10 seconds.
She described that he appeared to focus on individuals who have been shifting and ignored folks on the bottom.
The ninth sufferer was Suzanne Fountain, 59, and remaining sufferer was Boulder Police Officer Eric Talley, 51, who entered the shop with two different BPD officers. Talley was shot and killed. The opposite two officers, who couldn’t decide the place the capturing was coming from, fell again and stayed close to the doorways till a backup group arrived.
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That group, fabricated from six regulation enforcement officers, then began to make entry. At the moment, they have been beneath the impression that there was one to 3 shooters within the retailer.
The defendant, who was at one finish of an aisle, then started capturing on the police, who have been on the reverse finish, Cantu mentioned. Boulder Officer Richard Steidell, who had seen the shooter, dropped to the inclined place and waited for the suspect to reappear down the aisle. When he did, Steidell exchanged gunfire with him and struck the shooter in the correct leg, Cantu mentioned. The shooter then disappeared from view once more.
He was shot about 10 minutes after the primary sufferer was shot within the car parking zone, the detective mentioned.
Cantu mentioned based mostly on surveillance footage, the defendant limped between the north and south ends of the shop.
The defendant was arrested at 3:28 p.m. that afternoon. Cantu mentioned he took all of his garments off apart from his underwear and dropped his weapons. He was walked out of the shop in handcuffs.
Cantu mentioned folks have been hiding in cabinets, upstairs, in checkout lanes, and in cargo areas. She recalled the tales from survivors who have been capable of flee from the shop or disguise till the suspect had been arrested. She mentioned one girl, who was on the retailer along with her son, was conversant in firearms and recalled listening for the defendant to start {a magazine} change and use that point as a possibility to run. She defined {that a} supervisor for the shop’s deli helped escort folks exterior and was practically shot and killed himself.
In whole, Cantu mentioned police recovered 47 shell casings, that means at the least 47 bullets have been fired from the defendant’s rifle.
After the suspect’s arrest, police recovered three rifle magazines and 4 handgun magazines within the retailer, in addition to 9 rifle magazines in his automotive, Cantu mentioned. Police seemed to see what number of might maintain 15 rounds or 30 rounds, the latter of which is a high-capacity journal. In whole, six of these magazines might maintain 30 rounds, the detective mentioned.
Cantu mentioned these six have been discovered within the following places:
- Checkout space 13, the place the defendant did {a magazine} change (one)
- Defendant’s automotive (three)
- Aisle 21 (two)
Cantu mentioned the magazines positioned on the defendant’s dwelling couldn’t maintain 30 rounds.
Regulation enforcement seemed on the suspect’s cellphone and located notes that included parts for riles and tips about find out how to transfer and shoot and find out how to run and shoot. Investigators additionally decided that the defendant bought a collection of firearms and ammunition between January 2021 and March 16, 2021.
She confirmed that regardless of an intensive investigation, police have been unable to find out a motive. They did remove any connection between him and the shop, victims or workers.
Following a short break, Supervising Deputy State Public Defender Kathryn Herald cross-examined Det. Cantu. She confirmed that the defendant had not had any alcohol or was on any medicine on the time of his arrest.
She mentioned there was a King Soopers near the defendant’s dwelling, but it surely was not clear why he went to Boulder.
Herald additionally requested if Cantu had spoken with members of the family to discover a motive, which the detective confirmed, however mentioned investigators have been nonetheless unable to determine the motive.
At the moment, each the prosecutors and protection rested for this preliminary listening to.
DA Dougherty mentioned the defendant moved “shortly and brutally to kill each one of many 10 victims,” specializing in one particular person till they’d died. He burdened that the defendant moved across the retailer with intent and was not capturing randomly.
“It speaks to his brutally and in addition his intention, focus and intent that day,” the district legal professional mentioned.
“This case highlights why large-capacity magazines and the possession thereof is a criminal offense,” he continued. “This defendant got here armed and able to kill as many harmless defenseless and unarmed folks as shortly as he might. He killed eight of them inside 69 seconds. He was in a position to try this due to large-capacity magazines.”
Primarily based on Tuesday’s testimony of the defendant allegedly carrying six — not 10 — large-capacity magazines, the 4 counts of utilizing a large-capacity journal in a criminal offense have been dropped.
Decide Bakke mentioned the courtroom had discovered adequate proof to proceed and bond was the subsequent merchandise to be addressed.
DA Dougherty requested a bond that of $500 million, including that he was going to ask for $1 billion as a result of the bond ought to mirror “what he did on that day.” Deputy State Public Defender Samuel Dunn argued that quantity could be preventable detention, which is illegitimate in Colorado, and requested a decrease bond, although he did not checklist a certain quantity.
The decide selected setting bond at $100 million money property surety.
This was adopted by Public Defender Herald saying the defendant would enter a plea of not responsible by cause of madness. Decide Bakke accepted the plea and mentioned the defendant would return to the state hospital in Pueblo for a sanity examination, which have to be accomplished by Jan. 8, 2024.
Denver7 is working to find out how the plea and sanity examination might influence bond.
Primarily based on the findings of the sanity examination, a trial date will probably be set. The trial will final three weeks and has a tentative beginning date of Aug. 12, 2024.
In response to the Related Press, neither Alissa’s attorneys nor anybody else has disputed that he was the gunman. The AP additionally reported that psychological competency entails whether or not a defendant is ready to perceive courtroom proceedings and talk along with his legal professionals to assist his personal protection — a unique authorized problem than a plea of not responsible by cause of madness.
If the defendant is discovered responsible, he will probably be sentenced to life in jail. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis repealed the demise penalty in March 2020.
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