Filing: Man threatened to kill roommate
DENVER -- A college student accused of killing his roommate and another person in a University of Colorado-Colorado Springs dorm room last week told his roommate a month earlier that he would "kill him" if he was asked to take out the trash again, according to a court document released Friday.
The dispute in early January was reported to campus police and housing officials but there is no indication in court documents that university officials made any attempt to remove the suspect from the room despite multiple reports of conflicts, including the threat.
Chris Valentine, a spokesperson for the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, said because of the ongoing investigation and federal student privacy laws, the university couldn't "provide any additional information about the people involved in this incident."
The new details about the shooting and the threat were included in an arrest affidavit that was unsealed by a judge after charges against the suspect, Nicholas Jordan, 25, of Detroit, were announced during a court hearing Friday.
Jordan is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, felony menacing and committing a crime of violence in the Feb. 16 killing of his roommate, Samuel Knopp, 24, of Parker, Colo., and Celie Rain Montgomery, 26, of Pueblo, Colo., in a dorm room at the university.
Jordan's lawyer, Nick Rogers, objected to the document's release.
Jordan was eager to have a hearing on the evidence as soon as possible, even though his lawyers, who are public defenders, had asked for it to be delayed because their office was recently hit by a cyberattack. Shakes agreed to schedule it March 27.
Man killed on NYC subway train
NEW YORK -- A 45-year-old man was killed in a New York City subway car early Friday morning, police said.
The New York Police Department said the man was killed about 5 a.m. as he was riding a southbound D Train that was pulling into the 182-183 streets station in the Bronx.
Michael Kemper, the Police Department's transit chief, said the victim's fatal wound appeared to be from either a gunshot or a sharp object. Medical examiners were working to confirm the exact cause of death.
Officers found the man, a Bronx resident, unconscious and he was later pronounced dead at St. Barnabas Hospital.
Authorities said they are searching for two men and one woman who fled the train after the incident. Kemper said the three people were physically fighting with the victim before he was killed.
No arrests have been made and an investigation is ongoing.
Court hearing set for ex-FBI informant
A federal judge in California will consider whether a former FBI informant charged with lying about a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden's family must remain behind bars while he awaits trial after prosecutors pushed to have him locked up over fears that he would flee the country.
Earlier this week, U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel Albregts in Las Vegas allowed Alexander Smirnov to be released from jail on electronic GPS monitoring. But U.S. District Judge Otis Wright II ordered Smirnov to be returned to custody after prosecutors asked Wright to reconsider the earlier ruling releasing him.
Wright has set a hearing for Monday in Los Angeles on prosecutors' request to keep Smirnov in jail. Smirnov was returned to custody Thursday after meeting with his lawyers in Las Vegas.
Smirnov's lawyers said in a statement Friday that they were continuing to fight for his release and would have no further comment on the case. They filed an emergency petition with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that Wright did not have the authority to order that Smirnov be re-arrested and brought to Los Angeles.
Head-on crash leaves 8 people dead
MADERA, Calif. -- Seven farmworkers traveling in a van and the driver of a pickup were killed Friday in a head-on crash in a farming area in central California, police said.
The crash at 6:15 a.m. left the van crumpled among blooming almond trees near the town of Madera, about 25 miles outside Fresno, Highway Patrol Officer Javier Ruvalcaba said.
One farmworker seated in the rear of the van survived and was taken to a hospital, Ruvalcaba said. He is expected to recover, Ruvalcaba said.
Only two of the farmworkers were wearing seatbelts, he said. "If they had been wearing their seatbelts, the rear passengers would have probably survived," Ruvalcaba said.
A witness told police the black pickup was swerving in and out of its lane on a two-lane rural highway before crashing head-on with the van, Ruvalcaba said.
"At this point, we don't know whether alcohol or drugs played a factor," he said.
The farmworkers were about 5 miles from the vineyard where they worked as pruners when the crash happened, Ruvalcaba said. The van was headed to the farming community of Firebaugh.
The site of a head-on crash involving a van and a pickup truck where eight people were killed is checked on Friday in Madera County, Calif. (AP/The Fresno Bee/Anthony Galaviz)