Chase Murder Arrest!

Discussion in 'Justice for JonBenet Discussion - Public Forum' started by RiverRat, Jan 27, 2008.

  1. koldkase

    koldkase FFJ Senior Member

    Oh my. Alcalde cried because he was done wrong in Wyoming.

    How typical. What a coward. All the people HE has "done wrong"--as in raped, kidnapped, and can anyone doubt he murdered Chase? Wonder how many times he's cried for HIS victims.
     
  2. koldkase

    koldkase FFJ Senior Member

    I wondered that, as well, Karen. It seems likely, but then again, Arndt may be a common name there.
     
  3. Little

    Little Member

    CHASE TRIAL BLOG: Susannah may have resisted attacker, forensic expert says

    CHASE TRIAL BLOG: Susannah may have resisted attacker, forensic expert says
    By John Aguilar (Contact)
    Originally published 09:05 a.m., June 23, 2009
    Updated 04:14 p.m., June 23, 2009
    Camera reporter John Aguilar is covering Diego Olmos Alcalde's murder trial and will be filing live updates throughout the day from the courtroom in Boulder District Court.

    Alcalde, 39, is charged with beating and raping 23-year-old University of Colorado senior Susannah Chase on Dec. 21, 1997 and leaving her in a Boulder alley to die.

    Update: 4:14 p.m.

    Susannah Chase likely struggled in a questionably conscious state as she was moved south down the sidewalk on 18th Street by her attacker, forensic consultant and bloodstain expert Ross Gardner testified this afternoon.

    "She is not walking but she's not on the ground either," he told the jury as he pointed to crime scene photographs on a screen. "Some portion of her is dragging."

    Gardner said cast-off bloodstain patterns along the sidewalk indicated to him that Chase may have been moving her hand -- and possibly fighting back -- against her attacker.

    He testified that a large bloodstain with elliptical stains coming off it in the sidewalk median near the curb told him Chase's attacker struck her again in some fashion.

    "Not only is she down, but we're seeing some additional impacts to her at this point," he testified.

    snip

    Update: 3:15 p.m.

    Expert: 'This is where the bloodletting began'

    Forensic consultant Ross Gardner began taking the jury on a blood-filled journey along 18th Street in Boulder Tuesday afternoon, as he pointed to various crime scene photos projected on a screen and gave his analysis of what they showed.

    "This is where the bloodletting began," Gardner testified about the southwest corner of 18th and Spruce streets.

    He said "impact bloodstains" -- with elliptical-shaped bloodstains indicating blood in motion -- signified that Susannah Chase was first struck at that street corner. He also pointed out round drops of blood at the corner, which showed that Chase was initially upright and had blood dripping straight down from her body.

    snip

    Update: 2:38 p.m.

    Forensic consultant takes the stand

    Forensic consultant Ross Gardner is now on the stand and is telling the jury about various methodologies for analyzing a crime scene.

    He testified that he received crime scene photos, autopsy photos, and Susannah Chase's clothing from the prosecution earlier this year and attempted to create a theory as to what happened at the southwest corner of 18th and Spruce streets and in an alley north of Pearl Street in the early morning hours of Dec. 21, 1997.

    Update: 2 p.m.

    Trial slow to resume

    The lawyers in the case are embroiled in a drawn-out dispute over what drawings or diagrams may be admitted as part of crime scene analyst Ross Gardner's testimony.

    The judge has just ordered a break in proceedings so that the attorneys can sort out various exhibits and figure what should and should not be presented in open court.

    Gardner is next up to testify at Diego Olmos Alcalde's trial this afternoon.

    He is part of the Georgia-based consultancy Bevel, Gardner and Associates Inc., which provides crime scene and bloodstain pattern analysis.

    If time allows, Alcalde's sister may be called to testify this afternoon.

    Update: 11:48 a.m.

    Prosecutors brought in several witnesses Tuesday morning to describe what happened to the car prosecutors say Diego Olmos Alcalde was driving at the time Susannah Chase was beaten and left for dead in a Boulder alley in December 1997.

    Denver police Lt. John Macdonald said he saw Alcalde driving a blue 1979 Datsun 280Z in Denver on both Jan. 1, 1998 and Jan. 16, 1998. He said the Datsun was towed and impounded on Jan. 16, 1998.

    snip

    Update: 10:54 a.m.

    Prosecution defends police investigation

    Prosecutor Ryan Brackley fought back this morning against defense allegations that Boulder police had done a slipshod job of investigating Susannah Chase's death.

    He asked Boulder police detective Chuck Heidel if the unknown male DNA found on the baseball bat handle had been matched to any of the seven million or so DNA profiles in the nationwide criminal database to date.

    "Any results?" Brackley asked.

    "No," Heidel responded.

    He also asked the detective whether police have any access to the apartment in which Diego Alcalde was residing in 1997, or the clothes and shoes he might have been wearing at the time.

    Heidel said no.

    Brackley next took on the defense's contention that police failed to collect several cigarette butts that were scattered throughout the bloody crime scene.

    snip

    Update: 10:03 a.m.

    Defense alleges sloppy police work

    Defense attorney Mary Claire Mulligan questioned the thoroughness of the investigation done by Boulder police in the days following the discovery of a badly hurt Susannah Chase in an alley near her Spruce Street home.

    She went through a long list of alleged investigative oversights and mistakes by police as Boulder detective Chuck Heidel answered her questions on the stand.

    She asked about the corner of 18th and Spruce streets, where police believe Chase was struck with a baseball bat and then dragged away. She said the corner wasn't secured until late in the morning of Dec. 21, 1997.

    snip

    Update: 9:05 a.m.

    Defense hammers detective on unknown male DNA

    Defense attorney Mary Claire Mulligan jumped on the fact that Boulder police didn't learn until this year about an unknown male DNA profile found on the handle of the baseball bat believed by prosecutors to have been used to beat Susannah Chase.

    snip
    read entire article here:
    http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/jun/23/susannah-chase-diego-alcalde-boulder-murder-cu/

    Edited to add final update:
     
    Last edited: Jun 23, 2009
  4. koldkase

    koldkase FFJ Senior Member

    Thanks, Little. I'm going to post an entire blog for today here, which you've already posted a lot of, but I need to park it until I have a chance to come back and edit for some points you snipped out, I think. It's the DNA stuff about the "last contributor" of DNA on the bat...or something like that. Too tired to do it right now. (Hope the mods won't put me in the Guttah Brig.)



     
  5. Little

    Little Member

    Trial breaks for day, lawyers discussing jury instructions

    CHASE TRIAL BLOG: Trial breaks for day, lawyers discussing jury instructions
    By John Aguilar (Contact)
    Originally published 09:10 a.m., June 24, 2009
    Updated 04:23 p.m., June 24, 2009
    BOULDER, Colo. — Camera reporter John Aguilar is covering Diego Olmos Alcalde's murder trial and will be filing live updates throughout the day from the courtroom in Boulder District Court.

    Alcalde, 39, is charged with beating and raping 23-year-old University of Colorado senior Susannah Chase on Dec. 21, 1997 and leaving her in a Boulder alley to die.

    Update: 4:23 p.m.

    Boulder District Judge James Klein has sent the jury home a little early this afternoon.

    Defense attorney Steven Jacobson said the witness he was going to call next had left for the day and he needs to start fresh in the morning.

    The court is using the final hour of the day to go over jury instructions.

    Update: 3:54 p.m.

    CBI agent: Defendant's pubic hair not found on Chase

    Colorodo Bureau of Investigation forensic expert Sherry Murphy took the stand and testified that she found only Susannah Chase's pubic hair in the examination kit results given to her.

    snip

    Update: 3:15 p.m.

    Neighbor heard male voices outside her home

    A neighbor who lived at the southwest corner of 18th and Spruce streets -- Judith Sutter -- was called as the defense's first witness.

    She testified that she saw a man on 18th Street staring at her as she and her husband left for a house party at the home next door. She said it was around 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 20, 1997.

    snip

    Update: 2:40 p.m.

    Prosecution rests, victim describes attack

    snip

    "Daddy, he hurt me," she cried out, according to her testimony.

    She told the jury that as she began getting out of her car, Alcalde approached her and acted drunk and confused and asked her for directions to his hotel.

    As she motioned to where the hotel was located, Taylor said Alcalde jumped her.

    "When I turned my head, that's when he jumped on me and pushed me down inside the vehicle," she testified. "As soon as I turned, he just snapped. He didn't seem drunk anymore, he didn't seem lost. He was quick and sharp and focused."

    Breathing heavily, Taylor told the jury Alcalde grabbed her throat and held her down in her Mazda Miata.

    "I was trying to tell him to stop, please don't," she said.

    Taylor said she managed to honk the horn and Alcalde said: "You just had to go f**kin do that, didn't you?"

    Alcalde was holding her neck tightly, she said.

    "A lot of pressure?" prosecutor Ryan Brackley queried.

    "I couldn't breathe," she said.

    Taylor testified that Alcalde pulled her out of her car and began dragging her across the pavement. She said she struggled and got scrapes on her body.

    "He was trying to hold me, to contain me, and I was trying to getting away," she testified.

    Taylor told the jury Alcalde dragged her behind a fence to a grassy area and held her down, his hands on her throat.

    "I thought he was going to kill me," she said.

    Taylor said she fought back and tried to grab Alcalde's genitals. He suddenly let go of her, she said.

    "He just let go -- he just stopped," she testified.

    snip

    Update: 1:59 p.m.

    Jury down one member, no reason given for departure

    snip

    Update: 12:02 p.m.

    Kidnapping victim describes being followed

    snip

    "He came in alley way and parked his car behind mine as I was getting out of mine," she testified.

    Taylor said the car was blocking hers.

    "He got out of his car and he was coming towards me and I was getting out of my car," she said.

    Taylor pointed to Alcalde as the man she saw that night.

    At that point, Taylor began to breathe rapidly and nervously on the stand and a lunch break was called.

    Update: 11:36 a.m.

    Kidnap victim takes the stand

    The woman Diego Alcalde was convicted of kidnapping in Wyoming in 2000 is now on the stand.

    Ann Marie Taylor, 29, is breathing heavily and appears very nervous.

    snip

    Update: 11:02 a.m.

    Ex-girlfriend testifies she recognized Louisville Slugger on TV

    Sonci Francis, Diego Alcalde's ex-girlfriend, told the jury that she left on a family driving trip to St. Louis on Dec. 20, 1997.

    Prosecutor Ryan Brackley showed her dated receipts along the route and pictures of her with her family in St. Louis.

    Francis, 31, testified she returned to Colorado a couple of days after Christmas and met with Alcalde in Denver.

    When she got into his car, which she described as a blue Datsun, she caught a strong scent of bleach.

    "It was like a swimming pool when they overchlorinate it," she testified. "It was eye-watering strong."

    Alcalde told her he had spilled bleach on his front seat, Francis said.

    "Did you know the defendant to ever use bleach?" Brackley asked her.

    "No," she said.

    A few days later at a New Year's Eve party in Aurora, she remembered Alcalde sitting upstairs by himself and acting unusual.

    "He was really withdrawn - not paying attention to anything that was going on," she testified.

    Then he disappeared, she said, not reappearing at his apartment until much later that night.

    Francis told the jury that New Year's Day 1998 marked the end of their romantic relationship.

    Francis testified that Alcalde wasn't happy when she broke up with him.

    "He told me that's why he hated white girls, American girls," she said. "He said Hispanic women wouldn't ever leave him."

    snip

    Then in January 2001, Francis said she saw a CrimeStoppers report on TV about the Susannah Chase case.

    "The story that was told on the CrimeStoppers tape was almost the exact same story Diego told me," she told the jury.

    snip

    Update: 10:16 a.m.

    Ex-girlfriend said she met Alcalde when she was 18

    Sonci Francis, Diego Alcalde's ex-girlfriend, is now on the stand.

    She said she met him when she was a senior in high school. She testified that he is nine years older than she is.

    She said he was "charming" and "romantic" when they began dating in 1996.

    Update: 9:49 a.m.

    Ona Bayers, Diego Alcalde's younger half-sister, testified that Alcalde drove her up to the mountains around Christmas of 1997 and told her a story about hitting a man with a bat in Boulder.

    She said he told the story outside of the bar Kermits, at the junction of U.S. 6 and I-70.

    She told the jury she remembered the year because she was pregnant at the time. Susannah Chase was beaten near her Spruce Street home on Dec. 21, 1997 and dumped in an alley, barely alive.

    Bayers said she had been living with her half-brother at his Denver apartment at the time because she wasn't getting along with her parents.

    She and Alcalde, who is 10 years older, would often drive up to the mountains together, Bayers testified.

    Alcalde looked down at the table in front of him during much of his half-sister's testimony Wednesday morning.

    "He proceeded to tell me he had gone to Boulder and gotten into a bar fight with a gentleman and had hit him on the head with a bat and then drug him into the woods to let him die," Bayers testified.

    She said she could smell alcohol on Alcalde.

    When she expressed concern about her half-brother's victim, Bayers told the jury, Alcalde "immediately stopped crying and started laughing and told me he was joking."

    snip

    Update: 9:10 a.m.

    Alcalde's half-sister takes the stand

    Ona Bayers, Diego Olmos Alcalde's half-sister, is on the stand.

    She testified that she and Diego both have the same mother.

    snip
    read entire story here:
    http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/jun/24/chase-trial-blog-defendants-half-sister-stand/
     
  6. Little

    Little Member

    Honestly KK, these are so difficult to cut down. John Aguilar is a terrific writer and there's just really nothing you want to cut out of his articles.

    Little
     
  7. koldkase

    koldkase FFJ Senior Member

    Oh, I so agree! But I was watching for the DNA on the bat testimony, because it's being used by the defense as their "intruder" theory, so to speak. I've been waiting to see how the prosecution handled it.

    So here is what I found yesterday at the blog you posted, and it's very interesting: the LAST CONTRIBUTOR theory, put forth by the scientist who does the DNA protocol for the state and has lots of experience at it. Here is how it goes:

    http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009...der-murder-cu/
     
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2009
  8. koldkase

    koldkase FFJ Senior Member

    So here is the part I'm wondering about, as regards the JB "mystery" DNA:

    So now I have to ask--again--about that DNA the Bode Tech DNA analyst Williamson said SHE DISCARDED. Not only do we not know whose it was, we don't even know HOW MUCH it was. If there was any DNA on the waistband of those longjohns that was identified as known, or even unknown but not matching the underwear DNA, why did Williamson not talk about that? What kind of slight of hand is going on here?
     
  9. Little

    Little Member

    CHASE TRIAL BLOG: Defense rests, closings Friday

    CHASE TRIAL BLOG: Defense rests, closings Friday
    By John Aguilar (Contact)
    Originally published 09:33 a.m., June 25, 2009
    Updated 02:31 p.m., June 25, 2009

    Camera reporter John Aguilar is covering Diego Olmos Alcalde's murder trial and will be filing live updates throughout the day from the courtroom in Boulder District Court.

    Alcalde, 39, is charged with beating and raping 23-year-old University of Colorado senior Susannah Chase on Dec. 21, 1997 and leaving her in a Boulder alley to die.

    Update: 2:31 p.m.

    The defense rested Thursday afternoon without calling any more witnesses, ending 9 1/2 days of testimony in the closely watched trial of Diego Olmos Alcalde.

    All but one day of the trial consisted of witnesses for the prosecution.

    snip

    Update: 1:57 p.m.

    Alcalde will not take the stand

    Defendant Diego Olmos Alcalde told the judge this afternoon that he will not testify on his own behalf.

    "No, sir," Alcalde, standing at the defense table, said quietly in answer to the query from Boulder District Judge James Klein.

    Klein told Alcalde that if he chose to testify, the prosecution would have the right to question him about any past felony convictions he may have.

    snip

    Update: 12:01 p.m.

    The defense called to the witness box two Boulder police detectives to close out Thursday morning's testimony.

    First up was Boulder police Sgt. Kerry Yamaguchi, who was asked by the defense about his decision to take a DNA sample from Gabriel East -- a man the defense has fingered as a possible suspect in the murder of Susannah Chase.

    "We had reasonable suspicion, not amounting to probable cause," Yamaguchi said of East.

    Boulder police detective Chuck Heidel took the stand for the second time in the trial.

    snip

    Update: 11:17 a.m.

    Second witness: Statements to cops akin to 'fictional book'

    The defense called to the stand a friend of Gabriel East, named Billy Stewart.

    The jury learned that Stewart, also a former member of the now-defunct Boulder gang KSR, was the source of much of the information implicating East as Chase's possible killer.

    In court Thursday, Stewart said he made it all up.

    Defense attorney Steve Jacobson showed Stewart a transcript of a conversation he had had with police in the summer of 1998 in which he claimed that East appeared at his house in the early morning hours of Dec. 21, 1997 covered in blood and asking for a place to hide.

    Stewart was quoted as saying that East had told him he beat up a guy outside a bar and later found out the man was actually a woman.

    "The majority of things I told the officers at the time were untruthful," Stewart testified.

    snip

    Update: 10:40 a.m.

    Witness said he lied to police

    Gabriel David East, a man who the defense has mentioned as a possible suspect in Susannah Chase's death, told the jury this morning that he lied to police when he was picked up in late December 1997 and questioned about the crime.

    He testified that he told police he could point them to some people who hung out on the Pearl Street Mall who might have had something to do with Chase's death.

    "I was a dumb kid, I wanted to see if I could get myself out of trouble," East said. "I was just making things up."

    snip

    Update: 9:39 a.m.

    Defense questions man it claims has connection to crime

    A man the defense has fingered as a possible suspect in the murder of Susannah Chase took the stand Thursday.

    Gabriel David East, 33, stood up in court this morning before the jury was brought in and told Boulder District Judge James Klein he would be willing to answer questions in the witness box without a lawyer present.

    He said he just wanted to tell the truth about what he had told police when interviewed nearly 12 years ago.

    East testified that he lived on and off at 2507 Spruce St. in Boulder at the time Chase was beaten in December 1997 and was a member of a small-time Boulder gang known as KSR, which stood for Keep Suckers Running.

    "Yes, I was an idiot," he said about his youthful indiscretions.

    snip
    read entire story here:
    http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/jun/25/susannah-chase-diego-alcalde-boulder-murder-cu/
     
  10. Little

    Little Member

    Alcalde guilty on all counts in 1997 Chase murder

    Alcalde guilty on all counts in 1997 Chase murder
    By John Aguilar (Contact)
    Originally published 08:48 a.m., June 26, 2009
    Updated 05:50 p.m., June 26, 2009

    BOULDER, Colo. — Camera reporter John Aguilar is covering Diego Olmos Alcalde's murder trial and will be filing live updates throughout the day from the courtroom in Boulder District Court.

    Alcalde, 39, is charged with beating and raping 23-year-old University of Colorado senior Susannah Chase on Dec. 21, 1997 and leaving her in a Boulder alley to die.

    Update: 5:19 p.m.

    A Boulder jury Friday afternoon found Diego Olmos Alcalde guilty of kidnapping, raping and murdering Susannah Chase, providing her family a long-awaited sense of finality in what has been an almost 12-year quest for answers to one of the city's most vexing cold cases.

    The jury, made up of six men and six women, came to its verdict after 4 1/2 hours of deliberation.
    They found Alcalde, 39, guilty of first-degree murder, first-degree murder felony murder, first-degree sexual assault and second-degree kidnapping.

    As each guilty count was read, Chase's family members nodded affirmatively. They hugged the prosecutors after Alcalde was led away.

    "We were just happy to see this resolved in the way it should have been resolved," the victim's mother, Julie Chase, said after the verdict.

    Prosecutors claimed Alcalde beat the 23-year-old University of Colorado senior with a baseball bat, dragged her to his car and raped her, and then dumped her in an alley just north of Pearl Street.

    She died of her injuries the next day.

    The defense contended that Alcalde, whose DNA was matched to semen found inside Chase, had consensual sex with her and that someone else — still unknown — killed her.

    Alcalde, who faces a minimum of life in prison without the chance of parole, will be sentenced Monday.

    Update: 4:59 p.m.

    The jury in the murder and rape trial of Diego Olmos Alcalde has reached a verdict.

    The family of Susannah Chase, who was found beaten and near death in an alley in downtown Boulder on Dec. 21, 1997, is headed to Court Room Q at this hour.

    The lawyers on both sides of the case just arrived.

    It's not certain exactly when the verdict will be announced.

    Update: 1:25 p.m.

    Jury deliberates

    The jury now has the Susannah Chase case in its hands, and deliberations have begun toward a verdict in the closely watched trial.

    Early this afternoon, Boulder District Judge James Klein dismissed the alternate jurors -- three women -- and gave the remaining 12 jurors the rest of their instructions before asking them to retire to the jury room.

    That leaves an evenly split jury of six men and six women deciding Diego Alcalde's guilt or innocence.

    Before the jury took the case, prosecutor Ryan Brackley gave the prosecution's rebuttal closing argument.

    He said all evidence in the case points to Alcalde as Chase's rapist and killer.

    "The murder weapon and the murder victim point to him," Brackley said. "And everything else, ladies and gentlemen, is trash."

    He asked the jury to use its common sense.

    How did it happen that the bat belonging to Alcalde ended up at the beginning of a blood trail on 18th Street? How did that bat have Alcalde's girlfriend's DNA on it? And how did it happen that his semen ended up inside Chase?

    "You have to ask yourself: 'What is the interrelationship of all the evidence in this case?'" Brackley said. "Or you can talk about cigarette butts."

    His comment was a direct counter to the defense's claim that evidence is still out there -- on cigarette butts and other uncollected debris at the crime scene -- pointing to a different suspect.

    Brackley said "there's no evidence there was consensual sex between the defendant and Susannah Chase" and that the defense is using that contention to try and confuse the jury.

    He said Alcalde told police he hadn't been to Boulder since he was a teenager and didn't recognize Chase from a picture.

    And how would Chase have ditched her boyfriend's family in the days leading up to her death to have consensual sex with a man she'd never met, Brackley queried.

    He said Chase didn't show signs of genital trauma for one obvious reason: She had been incapacitated by a series of blows to her head.

    "Render a verdict that is fair, just, and makes sense," Brackley said. "Tell him he did it."

    Update: 12:55 p.m.

    Prosecution only showing you 'half the story,' defense tells jury

    Defense attorney Mary Claire Mulligan accused the prosecution of only presenting part of the picture -- the part that would lead to the conviction of her client.

    "They only want you to see half the story," she said. "The physical evidence does not lie. They're trying to make it fit, even though it doesn't."

    read entire story here:
    http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/jun/2...lder-murder-cu/
     
  11. Little

    Little Member

    Murder ‘played on everybody’s fear’
    Conviction ends painful chapter in Boulder’s history
    By Heath Urie (Contact)
    Friday, June 26, 2009
    BOULDER, Colo. — When news broke on Dec. 21, 1997, that a University of Colorado student had been brutally beaten with a baseball bat, it sent a shockwave through Boulder.

    Susannah Chase was walking home from a downtown pizzeria when she was bludgeoned across the street from her Spruce Street house, dragged to a car, raped and left in an alley to die.

    “This is your quintessential university student doing completely normal university student things in Boulder, Colorado, and the worst imaginable things happened to her,†said Janine D’Anniballe, former director of Boulder’s Moving to End Sexual Assault. “It just really rocked everyone’s feeling of safety at that time, because it could have been any woman.â€

    D’Anniballe said she, like most people who lived in Boulder at the time, remembers the fear that came afterward — the worry that police couldn’t find a suspect.

    “It did play on everybody’s fear,†she said. “I think for a while after that, Boulder did not feel the same to walk around. In crimes like that, when there isn’t a suspect, I think it stays in the subconscious in people.â€
    read entire story here:
    http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/jun/2...lder-cu-murder/

    *******************
    Conviction can’t heal loss for Chase family
    Victim’s brother: ‘I’m just glad he can’t hurt anyone else’
    By Heath Urie (Contact)
    Friday, June 26, 2009
    BOULDER, Colo. — While being escorted out of the courthouse Friday, a group of jurors saw Julie Chase in the parking lot.

    They had just convicted Diego Alcalde of raping and murdering her daughter.

    They asked sheriff’s deputies to take them to her. One by one, the jurors reached out to embrace the mother.

    Julie Chase, with her family, was in tears. She hugged the jurors back.

    “Thank you,†she said, according to juror Patti Harris.

    Moments earlier, Susannah Chase’s family — her mother, father, two sisters and two brothers — had let out a collective sigh as the first “guilty†verdict was read in a Boulder County Justice Center courtroom. Julie Chase cried.

    “It doesn’t seem like this ends anything,†she said. “It’s a relief in terms of justice. It’s not a particular relief in terms of the loss to our family.â€

    Julie Chase said finally having an end to the long search for her 23-year-old daughter’s killer did bring some satisfaction, but she didn’t give Alcalde more than a passing glance.

    “I did not spend much time looking at him,†she said.
    read entire story here:
    http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/jun/2...s-chase-family/

    *********************

    Half-sister says she received strength from looking at Chase family
    Prosecution witness: ‘I love my brother very, very much’
    By John Aguilar (Contact)
    Friday, June 26, 2009
    BOULDER, Colo. — The half-sister of Diego Alcalde said it was difficult to testify against the man who often provided her with a place to stay during her angst-ridden runaway days as a teenager, but Ona Bayers said she had to do the right thing.

    “I do believe justice was served,†Bayers, 28, said Friday, just hours after a jury convicted Alcalde of murdering, raping and kidnapping Susannah Chase in 1997. “I love my brother very, very much — it is painful knowing that he was capable of doing something like that.â€

    When she looked at members of Chase’s family sitting in the front row of the spectator gallery in the courtroom, Bayers said, the task of testifying against Alcalde on Wednesday didn’t seem quite so wrenching.

    “Seeing their faces made it feel a lot easier about what I was doing,†Bayers said. “My heart goes out to the Chase family.â€
    read entire story here:
    http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/jun/2...th-looking-cha/

    ******************
    Alcalde juror: Decision "pretty much" unanimous from the start
    By Heath Urie (Contact)
    Friday, June 26, 2009
    BOULDER, Colo. — The only juror who spoke publicly after convicting Diego Olmos Alcalde of first-degree murder Friday said the decision was "pretty much" unanimous from the beginning of deliberations.

    Six men and six women found Alcalde guilty of all charges in the 1997 beating death of University of Colorado student Susannah Chase, 23, after 4 1/2 hours of deliberations.

    He faces a mandatory punishment of life in prison without parole, and will be sentenced Monday in Boulder County District Court.

    "It was difficult, and an experience," juror Patti Harris said of the decision to convict Alcalde, a 39-year-old Chilean native who was arrested 10 years after the crime.

    Alcalde's DNA -- entered into a federal database after he was convicted of kidnapping in Wyoming -- matched crime-scene evidence.

    Asked whether any of the jurors were swayed by a defense argument that there was also unidentified male DNA found on the murder weapon, Harris shook her head no.
    http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/jun/2...nanimous-start/
     
  12. koldkase

    koldkase FFJ Senior Member

    Thanks for keeping us updated on this trial, Little, again. I have been unavoidably offline most of the week and missed all this, so I am delighted to see that justice prevailed in this case.



    Though somehow, it only makes the lack of justice for JonBenet seem even sharper in contrast.
     
  13. koldkase

    koldkase FFJ Senior Member

    Gosh, I was reading the DC articles and found this in the "comment" section of one. I thought this person's account of Diego Alcalde's behavior in jail awaiting his trial is a TEXTBOOK example of how a psychopath thinks. Read it and weep:

    http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/jun/26/susannah-chase-diego-alcalde-boulder-murder-cu/

    They need to take this sick animal out, just euthanize him--now.
     
  14. Voyager

    Voyager Active Member

    Thanks Little...

    Thanks Little for bringing the results on this case to us....Justice was so long denied on this case, her family must have despaired many times in these long twelve years between her murder and this trial.

    Perhaps there is some justice after all....The resolution in this case with the proper organization and presentation of existing evidence gives one hope that eventually there may be an indictment and prosecution in the Ramsey case as well. Surely the evidence is there in that case as well. With new eyes, new administration and fresh determination I believe that the possibility exists.

    If I were John Ramsey, I would be afraid, very afraid.....Justice for Susana Chase, and now Justice for JonBenet Ramsey. :survivor:

    Voyager
     
  15. RiverRat

    RiverRat FFJ Sr. Member Extraordinaire (Pictured at Lef

    Patience IS a Virtue.....
     
  16. Little

    Little Member

    Alcalde receives life sentence for Chase murder

    Alcalde receives life sentence for Chase murder
    Family members remember Susannah as 'sunshine of my life'
    By John Aguilar (Contact)
    Originally published 08:10 a.m., June 29, 2009
    Updated 03:16 p.m., June 29, 2009
    Update: 3:16 p.m.

    Diego Olmos Alcalde will spend the rest of his life in prison with no chance of parole for the 1997 murder of Susannah Chase, Boulder County District Judge James Klein decided Monday afternoon.

    The Chilean native, who turns 40 Tuesday, was also handed 48 years for sexually assaulting Chase and 24 years for kidnapping her, the respective maximum ranges for each charge.

    The judge said he would impose his sentence for Alcalde's lesser offenses consecutive to the life sentence.

    "The thought of any human being doing to another human being what Diego Alcade did to this victim is simply unthinkable," he said.

    Members of Chase's family took to the podium and spoke about Susannah during the hearing.

    "Some days, I think I'll turn a corner in New York and see her crouched down and talking to a homeless person -- the nicest words he'll hear all day," said her brother Steven Chase.

    Chase's other brother, Doug, said his sister's opposition to the death penalty spared her killer the ultimate punishment.

    "The ironic thing is that the very person whose life you stole from us is the reason you won't be sentenced to death today," he said.

    Alcalde, who declined to speak at the sentencing, mostly conferred with his attorneys and wrote on a piece of paper as the Chase family spoke. Occasionally, he looked up to glance at an old photograph of his victim as it was displayed on a screen. He was dressed in a white Boulder County jail suit, with his hands and legs shackled.

    Christy Chase, one of Susannah's older sisters, called her little sister the "sunshine of my life."

    "I felt such joy on the day she was born and I rode around on my bicycle and shouted to anyone who would listen that she had been born," she said.

    Susannah's other sister, Carrie, said she wished her daughters could have met their aunt before she was killed.

    "If Susannah were alive, my girls would sing loudly and out of tune with her," she said, as several spectators laughed in the courtroom.

    Eight of the jurors came to the sentencing Monday and many of them hugged members of the Chase family.

    None of the jurors would speak to reporters after the hearing.

    Prosecutor Amy Okubo said she was "happy" and "satisfied" with the judge's sentence.

    Alcalde's attorney, Mary Claire Mulligan, wouldn't comment but said she planned to appeal.

    In court, Mulligan said that the judge should consider her client's history and allow her to assemble a pre-sentence report before imposing the final sentence.

    "Mr. Alcalde has had a background that would make most people blanch," she said.

    But Klein declined her request.

    Chase's mother, Julie Chase, told reporters after the hearing that her daughter would have looked upon Alcalde as someone who had something go terribly wrong in his life and would not have chosen to have him put to death.

    "She wouldn't have hurt anything," Julie Chase said. "Even her killer. She was a very sympathetic soul. She would not have killed him."

    Alcalde will be psychologically diagnosed at the Colorado Department of Corrections Diagnostic Center before being assigned to a prison.

    Update: 2:30 p.m.

    Sentence comes down

    Diego Olmos Alcalde, the man convicted of killing 23-year-old University of Colorado student Susannah Chase nearly 12 years ago, has been sentenced to life in prison, without the option of parole.

    He also was handed the maximum 48 years in prison for the sex-assault conviction and 24 years for the kidnapping conviction.

    Update: 2 p.m.

    Courtroom Q at the Boulder County Justice Center is quickly filling up as Diego Alcalde's sentencing hearing nears.

    The sentencing is set for 1:30 p.m.

    Staff from the district attorney's office is handing out bottles of water to the family of Susannah Chase.

    Some of them have their spouses with them.

    Leticia Olmos Snyder, Alcalde's mother, is sitting behind the defense table in the spectator gallery.

    The defendant has not yet arrived.

    Nearly half a dozen jurors from the three-week trial are also in attendance.

    Update: 11:04 a.m.

    Diego Olmos Alcalde, who will be sentenced this afternoon, faces a mandatory prison term of life without parole for raping and killing 23-year-old University of Colorado student Susannah Chase nearly 12 years ago.

    The 39-year-old Chilean native was convicted by a Boulder jury Friday of first-degree murder, first-degree sexual assault, and second-degree kidnapping.

    Boulder District Judge James Klein wanted to sentence Alcalde immediately following the guilty verdict Friday but the victim's family asked that they be given the weekend to prepare some remarks for court before the punishment is handed down.

    Alcalde's defense team asked the judge for even more time -- at least 10 days -- before sentencing but Klein denied the lawyers' request.

    Chase, who was walking home alone from the Pearl Street Mall in the early morning hours of Dec. 21, 1997, was struck on the head multiple times with a baseball bat, raped and then dumped in an alley just a block away from her home at 1802 Spruce St.

    She died the next day.

    For more than a decade, police were unable to link a suspect to the killing until sperm recovered from Chase's body was matched to DNA taken from Alcalde.

    He was arrested in January 2008.

    Alcalde argued during the three-week trial that he had consensual sex with Chase in the days before she died but did not kill her.
    http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2009/jun/29/susannah-chase-murder-alcalde-life-prison-sentence/
     
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