WEEK OF APRIL 24, 2025
VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 43
FREE
Rock throwing murder trial begins with opening statements, witness testimony Apex Board Candidate Bob Loveridge. COURTESY PHOTO
Apex Board Candidate Abby McNeal COURTESY PHOTO
Apex Board Candidate Robert Zimmerer. COURTESY PHOTO
BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
RECORD ATTENDANCE COUNTED FOR 20TH KITE FESTIVAL P4
Why are you running for a seat on the Apex Park and Recreation District Board? I’m running for re-election because parks and recreation are more than just “fun and games”—they’re essential to a thriving community. Apex PRD enhances social, emotional, and physical well-being by bringing people together through activities and programs for all ages and abilities. I’m passionate about continuing this mission, ensuring our parks, programs and events remain a trusted resource that strengthens connections and improves quality of life. What experiences in your background do you feel make you qualified to serve on the Apex Board? As a therapeutic recreation professional, I’ve been utilizing recreation, leisure and parks as a means towards optimal wellness with communities for over 30 years. Not only do I have the program and people experience, but I have high-level leadership and administration skills from operating multi-million dollar collaborative recreation and camp programs.
Editor’s note: The case of Colorado vs. Joseph Koenig is ongoing and will likely have further developments in the time between this print edition of the Arvada Press being sent to print and its publication date. Please visit Arvadapress.com for the most recent updates on this case. The defense for the man accused of killing 20-year-old Arvada resident Alexa Bartell with a landscaping rock on April 19, 2023 is positing that it was one of his friends who threw the rock that fatally struck Bartell. Opening statements in Joseph Koenig’s first-degree murder trial for the death of Bartell saw his attorney, Martin Stuart, state that Koenig did not commit first degree murder, and that the rock that killed Bartell was actually thrown by Zachary Kwak. Kwak — who is set to testify against Koenig as part of a plea deal he took to lessen his own sentence — has admitted to being with Koenig and their other friend, Nicholas Karol-Chik, the night of the rock throwing incidents, which saw nine drivers get struck by landscaping rocks before the 10th collision caused the death of Bartell. Stuart said Kwak received a “sweetheart deal” from prosecutors in exchange for his testimony against Koenig. Karol-Chik is also set to testify against Koenig and took a plea deal similar to Kwak’s. “Mr. Kwak is going to take the witness stand and tell the same story, and you will also hear that in exchange for telling that story,” Stuart said. “Zach Kwak is getting a sweetheart deal from these prosecutors, and instead of facing most of the same charges that Mr. Koenig is sitting here facing today, he pled guilty to reduce charges. “He will receive a sentence that is drastically reduced from what he was looking at,” Stuart continued. Kwak is currently facing 20 to 32 years in jail, as opposed to the possible life sentence that could be handed down to Koenig if he is found guilty.
SEE CANDIDATES, P14
SEE TRIAL, P15
Apex Board Candidate Lynn Emrick. Apex Board Candidate Liz Tomsula. Apex Board Candidate Jo Burns
A LOOK INTO DENVER’S THRIVING FIBER ARTS SCENE P10
Apex Park and Recreation District Board of Directors candidate questionnaires Seven candidates vying for three board seats; election day is May 6 BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
MINES BASEBALL, SOFTBALL TEAMS CELEBRATE SENIORS P17
Defense argues friend threw the rock that killed Alexa Bartell
The Apex Park and Recreation District will hold an election on May 6 to determine three seats of its five-person board of directors. Directors will be elected to four-year terms expiring in May 2029. Ballots can be dropped off at the Apex Center, the Apex Community Recreation Center, Arvada Fire Protection District Headquarters, Arvada Fire Protection District Station 60 and the Office of the Designated Election Official. Any resident of the special district is eligible to vote. Requests for absentee ballots can be sent to info@ccrider.us or by calling 303-482-1002. Absentee ballots must be returned by April 29. Of the five-person Apex Board, three incumbent candidates will seek re-election: Abby McNeal, Jo Burns and Liz Tomsula. Apex Board Directors Vicki Pyne and Rich Garrimone have two years left on their terms, at which time Pyne will be term-limited. Six of the seven candidates for the Apex Board returned candidate questionnaires to the Ar-
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vada Press, with Ken Harrell not responding to multiple requests for comment by press time. Jo Burns
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