Mary Horsley given forty years for torturing toddler

This week, Fourth Judicial District Judge David Prince had the option of giving Mary Horsley up to forty years in prison — and that’s precisely what he did. But he reportedly felt the options available to him under the law “pale in comparison to any justice that should be doled…

Gang problems escalating in schools and neighborhoods, says activist

Denver Police haven’t confirmed that the shockingly public slayings of Justin O’Donnell and Deon Rudd in northeast Denver on Friday were gang-related. But Reverend Leon Kelly, the veteran activist behind Open Door Youth Gang Alternatives, sees gang connections in this terrible act and many others that have happened in Five…

Photos: Twenty Colorado sex offenders who failed to register

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation maintains a website focused on convicted sex offenders in the state — including those whose current whereabouts are unknown, because they’ve failed to register with authorities. We’ve collected photos and identifying information for twenty such creeps. If you recognize any of them, phone the CBI…

Photos: Tour Denver’s new $28 million crime lab

Denver’s new crime lab smells like fresh paint and virgin plastic. Some of the office furniture is still wrapped in it, or stacked in boxes. But all of the major stuff — the lab benches, the fingerprint examination tables, the walk-in freezer and the test-firing range — is in place,…

Urban camping ban: Denver Police outline enforcement protocol

The Denver Police Department has released the training bulletin that details how officers should approach violations of the city’s new urban camping ban. Before the ordinance goes into effect May 29, officers are partnering with homeless outreach workers to prepare a department-wide response that de-prioritizes the status of homeless individuals…

Ten unsolved Denver murders: Read personal stories of the victims

As of last year, there were more than 1,500 unsolved homicides in Colorado as tracked by Families of Homicide Victims and Missing Persons. On numerous entries, the group’s website includes photos and personal stories of victims. Below are ten from the Denver area. See them below, arranged from the most…

Aimee Whitchurch denies false reporting about “Kill the Gay” graffiti

Hate crime, attention-getting fraud or something else entirely? That’s the question surrounding the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office decision to charge partners Aimee Whitchurch and Christel Conklin with painting “Kill the Gay” on their residence and then reporting it to authorities as a potential act of retaliation against them — because…