There is sufficient evidence to send to trial the person accused of killing five people in a mass shooting last year at a Colorado LGBTQ club, a judge ruled Thursday.
The ruling that sends Anderson Lee Aldrich to trial on dozens of murder and hate crime charges came after a hearing Wednesday in which prosecutors presented evidence that they visited Club Q at least six previous times, drew a map showing the layout of the club, and appeared to be planning to livestream the attack using a mobile phone duct taped to a baseball hat found in their SUV.
Aldrich, who wore an orange jail jumpsuit at the hearing and cried at times, had no visible reaction to the judge’s ruling. The 22-year-old, who identifies as nonbinary and uses the pronouns they and them, is charged with 323 criminal counts, including first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault and bias-motivated crimes.
District Attorney Michael Allen told the judge that the evidence showed that Aldrich had an “aversion to the LGBTQ community.” The prosecution argued that the attack last November was inspired by a “neo-Nazi white supremacist” shooting training video.
Aldrich’s lawyers countered with a picture of a suspect under the influence of drugs. The defense also brought up Aldrich’s mental health for the first time, showing photographs of pill bottles for drugs that Aldrich had been prescribed to treat mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and PTSD. But defense attorney Joseph Archambault didn’t say whether Aldrich had been formally diagnosed with any of those mental illnesses.
Archambault told the judge that what happened was “senseless and it was tragic” but noted that Aldrich expressed remorse.
“It does not excuse it but it is categorically different from people who target a group,” Archambault said.
Judge Michael McHenry also ordered Aldrich to continue to be held without bond. He had to decide only whether prosecutors have shown…
Read the full article here
