BOULDER, Colo. — On Monday, the man who killed 10 people at a Boulder King Soopers in 2021 was found guilty on all 55 counts.
A jury rejected the shooter's not guilty by reason of insanity plea, and he was sentenced to 10 consecutive life sentences in prison, on top of more than 1,000 years for the other charges in the case.
Neven Stanisic, Kevin Mahoney, Tralona Bartkowiak, Rikki Olds, Denny Stong, Lynn Murray, Teri Leiker, Jody Waters, Suzanne Fountain, and Boulder Police Officer Eric Talley were killed in the shooting.
As Judge Ingrid Bakke read the word "guilty" 55 times, victims' family members smiled and softly cried while prosecutors and investigators maintained their composure.
Two days after the verdict and sentencing, Denver7 met with District Attorney Michael Dougherty, the lead prosecutor on the case, and Sarah Cantu, the lead investigator, to reflect on both the trial and the years leading up to it.
Denver7's coverage of the Boulder King Soopers mass shooting
“Monday, I was very nervous just waiting to hear from the jury. Today, I feel relief. It's probably the best I've slept in three and a half years," Cantu said.
“I also feel an overwhelming sense of relief knowing that we've delivered justice with the verdict and the sentence for the victims, their loved ones, and for our community," Dougherty said. “I also feel a tremendous sense of gratitude for everyone who helped with the case, and there are many, many people who helped us all along the way since that day of March, 22 2021.”
Cantu has been working this case since the very beginning.
“As soon as anything came in, I started reading, making notes to myself, recognizing what I still needed, what I was still looking for, and just trying to commit as much information to memory as I could," Cantu explained.
Every single case that comes across Cantu's desk is important, but this case was personal.
“It's rare that you know somebody that is on the other side of what you're investigating," she said.
Cantu knew fallen Officer Talley, who was the tenth person killed in the mass shooting. After Talley and two other officers entered the store, no one else was killed.
“He was a kind, genuine, good soul. Made you laugh, very sarcastic, which is my sense of humor, and I love that about him," Cantu said about Talley.
Still, when Cantu took the witness stand — a total of three times — her goal was to be a voice for everyone.
“This community was rocked on March 22, 2021, and I wanted to do right by everybody. For the community, for all the named victims, for the victims that were not named but were in the store and are still dealing with all the trauma that was there," she said. “Knowing that it was the first time people were going to get the full story, it was important to do it right.”
DA Dougherty discusses the challenges of the trial in the video player below:
Narrowing down the evidence that would be presented at trial was DA Dougherty's job.
“Ultimately, one of the challenges we had was figuring out what evidence to present to the jury," Dougherty said. “We ended up calling approximately 52 witnesses to testify and introducing around 400 exhibits. That easily could have been 152 witnesses and 1,000 exhibits because of all the evidence and witness statements that we had... It was an incredibly difficult trial for people to testify in, so we were very mindful of that, and we only called the witnesses we absolutely needed to.”
Throughout the evidence presented at trial, there were several unsung heroes whose stories came to light.
Christopher Tatum, an assistant deli manager at the King Soopers, continually ran back inside the store to save people.
Logan Smith called 911 and then dropped his phone when he saw Denny Stong killed, proceeding to grab an elderly person and pull them to hide behind the Starbucks counter.
Law enforcement officers went inside the store, despite being "outgunned" and believing they might not make it home that day.
Dougherty said it was not intentional to weave these stories of heroes throughout the trial — it was just the facts of the case.
“Obviously, the acts of the shooter are horrific and brutal, but I look, even that first day, I look at how many people responded in King Soopers from law enforcement and from our community, and I think that says a lot more about who we are as a people and who we are as a community than the acts of one person who's determined to do such a horrible, horrible act," Dougherty said.
The shooter made a series of purchases of ammunition and firearms via a website called GrabAGun. The firearms were distributed to him through licensed dealers, but the ammunition was shipped directly to his Arvada home. Dougherty believes there needs to be work done to enact sensible reform to prevent mass shootings.
“I think a number of the controls we have in place in Colorado actually worked here. Obviously, he went on to commit a mass murder, but in terms of him purchasing weapons, he then had to go to an actual federal firearm licensed dealer and get the transaction or get the gun from that store or individual. So, I think that worked the way it's supposed to," Dougherty said. “What's concerning to me, what I think we need to give a hard look at, is how much ammunition and firearms he was able to amass over a short period of time without that triggering any kind of alert or notice for anyone. So, you see that in other high profile cases, including attempted assassinations of the former president, how many guns and ammo could be obtained in a short period of time and it doesn't trigger any review, any warning, no alert to anybody. And I think that's something we have to look at."
DA Dougherty outlines the teamwork that went into the investigation and trial in the video player below:
Dougherty also said the Colorado Mental Health Hospital in Pueblo (CMHHIP), where the shooter was restored to competency before his trial, needs attention.
“Our office fought incredibly hard to move this forward, and we encountered, as you know, some obstacles along the way in terms of different competency findings and also some of the struggles at the state hospital that were impacting this case and this defendant's progress," Dougherty said. “I think really highly of the medical professionals there and the nurse practitioners, and they work in a really difficult environment, helping people who have some serious mental illnesses, but to not have a doctor there for eight months when we have a mass murderer who's supposed to be tried, I think that delayed his progress, quite frankly. I certainly think there's been a lot of work done on the state hospital and on the competency process in Colorado. I do think there have been some improvements made, objectively speaking. However, they were long overdue. The fact of the matter is, the State of Colorado has been paying $10 to $12 million in fines every year for failing to comply with the federal judge's decree with regards to the state hospital. So, it's not just my opinion. That's a fact.”
Dougherty believes unless the state gets the hospital to a better place, there will continue to be cases that are postponed for "far too long" and victims who struggle through the delays.
Following this article, the state Office of Civil and Forensic Mental Health (OCFMH) reached out to Denver7, saying that "after checking hospital staffing records, we found no less than 11 psychiatric physicians assigned specifically to the Colorado Mental Health Hospital in Pueblo from Jan. 2021 to Sept. 2024."
Every felony conviction in Colorado is appealed, meaning the shooter's conviction will be appealed, according to Dougherty. However, the district attorney believes the shooter's sentence will be upheld.
Denver7 is committed to making a difference in our community by standing up for what's right, listening, lending a helping hand and following through on promises. See that work in action, in the videos above.
