December 6, 2012
Arapahoe County, Colorado • Volume 123, Issue 46
75 cents
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourlittletonnews.com
Accused killer’s sanity at issue
CHRISTMAS MAGIC
Hearing delayed for man charged in mother’s death By Jennifer Smith
jsmith@ourcoloradonews.com
Olivia Key, 5, of Littleton, meets Santa Dec. 1 at Buck Recreation Center. About 250 people attended the two seatings of Breakfast with Santa, which featured a picture with Santa, a pancake breakfast and special crafts. The annual tradition was made possible with volunteer help from the Littleton Rotary and students from Heritage High School. Photo by Courtney Kuhlen
Driver in fatal crash has court date Nebraska man facing two counts in deaths of workers By Ryan Boldrey
rboldrey@ourcoloradonews.com Nebraska resident Thomas Garrity, facing charges in the deaths of two construction workers at Broadway and C-470, will make his first appearance in a courtroom on Jan. 16. Garrity, 74, from the Omaha suburb of Bellevue, was driving a borrowed Subaru Tribeca on Nov. 20 when he lost control. As he was exiting westbound C-470 onto Broadway, the vehicle traveled into the grassy area between C-470 and the ramp, and then rolled off an embankment, where it struck the two workers, killing them instantly. The victims were identified as Joseph Schwartz, 47, of Morrison, and Jesus Villalobos, 27, of Brighton. According to Trooper Nate Reid, public information officer with the Colorado State Patrol, a vehicle inspection a week after the incident concluded that the Subaru had no mechanical failures leading up to the accident. Garrity will appear in a Douglas County court to face two Class 1 misdemeanor
People gather at the scene of a fatal accident at C-470 and South Broadway in which a Subaru lost control and struck two construction workers Nov. 20. Photo by Chris Michlewicz counts of careless driving causing death. Both he and his 72-year-old female passenger were treated for minor injuries and released the day of the accident. A second vehicle, driven by 39-yearold Lara Mooney of Highlands Ranch, was heading northbound on Broadway and was struck by the Subaru after it collided with
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Schwartz and Villalobos. Mooney was uninjured in the crash. Schwartz and Villalobos were employed by Concrete Works of Colorado, which was performing work beneath the C-470 bridge over Broadway. The $5.1 million project involves widening South Broadway between Dad Clark Drive and County Line Road by expanding into the existing concrete slope beneath the C-470 bridges. The planned improvements are expected to help reduce congestion and improve traffic operations between Dad Clark Drive and County Line Road, and provide increased left-turn lane area for the C-470 eastbound and westbound on-ramps, according to Douglas County’s website. Staff writer Chris Michlewicz contributed to this report
His long beard growing ever bushier after six months behind bars, Darin Ninneman listened as his attorney made it clear he intends to pursue a defense based on his client’s mental status. Ninneman, 30, is charged with seconddegree murder in the May 5 stabbing death of his mother, Lori Ninneman. He was to be arraigned Nov. 30, but public defender James Karbach said a private evaluation of Darin Ninneman’s mental state has yet to happen. He asked for more time to determine whether his Ninneman client should plead not guilty by reason of insanity or not guilty by reason of impaired mental condition. District Court Judge Donald Marshall granted a continuance until Feb. 1. According to the Boulder County Bar Association’s website, insanity and impaired mental condition are complicated defenses that are rarely used. In the legal sense, “insanity” means not being able to tell the difference between right and wrong; “impaired mental condition” means not having the mental capacity to form the intent to commit a crime. Karbach tried several times to inject testimony regarding Ninneman’s mental state during a probable-cause hearing in September, but Judge Gerald Rafferty ruled it inadmissible at that point. At that time, the testimony focused on the Ninneman family’s drug use. Littleton Police Detective Erin Brannan testified that Lori Ninneman’s boyfriend, Bobbie Ullery, admitted that he, the mother and son all were meth users. He said the mother regularly shared her meth and other drugs with all three of her sons. According to Brannan, Ullery said he “wasn’t sure if Darin had been bugging his mother for some meth and she might have said no. At this point, Darin might have snapped.” He told police he saw Ninneman sitting on top of his mother and pounding her chest, “as if he was trying to get the blood out of her.” After Ninneman ran out of the house, Ullery found a knife under the victim’s hand. Officer Sean Carlson helped arrest a compliant Ninneman just a block from the scene, at Windermere Street and Powers Avenue. He testified that Ninneman did not seem to be intoxicated or under the influence of anything but did make several unsolicited comments, asking whether his mother was OK and if he could get his iPod. “I don’t want to say he was rambling, because it wasn’t to that extent,” said Carlson. “I would say he was just talking.” Ninneman is being held in jail with no bond, charged with second-degree murder.