On Monday, the King Soopers shooter was found guilty on all 55 criminal charges, including 10 counts of first-degree murder.
The decision comes more than three years after the shooting at the Table Mesa grocery store left 10 dead and after more than two weeks of testimony, where the jury heard from survivors, law enforcement officials, the shooter’s family members and medical doctors.
During the trial, two doctors testified that the suspect was legally sane at the time of the shooting, despite his diagnosis as schizophrenic.
The jurors reached the same conclusion, convicting him of all 10 counts of murder, as well as 38 counts of attempted first-degree murder, one count of first-degree assault, six counts of felony possession of a large capacity magazine, and 38 crime-of-violence sentence enhancers in connection to the shooting.
The shooter pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and did not testify during the trial.
The shooter received 10 life sentences — one for each person he killed —and another 1,334 years for each of his other convictions. “It’s just a number, but to me, that number means a lot,” Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said to the judge before the sentences were handed down.
Prior to sentencing, the victims’ families addressed the courtroom with statements about those who were tragically killed.
“They say time heals all wounds, but not this one,” said the mother of Trolona Bartkowiak, who was killed in the shooting. “I don’t think so-called closure will ever come.”
Along with the Bartkowiak, 49, the victims were Denny Strong, 20; Neven Stanisic, 23; Rikki Olds, 25; Teri Leiker, 51; Officer Eric Talley, 51; Suzanne Fountain, 59; Kevin Mahoney, 61; Lynn Murray, 62; and Jody Waters, 65.
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