According to court transcripts acquired by The Associated Press on Friday, a judge dismissed the 2021 kidnapping case against the Colorado gay nightclub gunman despite her previous concerns about the defendant accumulating weapons and explosives and organizing a shootout.
According to the documents, relatives, including the grandparents who claimed to have been kidnapped, notified Judge Robin Chittum in August 2017 about Anderson Aldrich’s difficulties with mental illness during a hearing in which the judge stated that Aldrich needed therapy or “it will be so horrible.”
Yet, during a July hearing, neither the suspect’s violent behavior nor the condition of his mental health treatment were mentioned.
And Chittum, who had received a letter from relatives of Aldrich’s grandparents warning that the suspect would commit murder if released, approved a defense attorney’s motion to dismiss the case as the trial deadline approached and the grandparents ceased cooperating.
The news that Chittum viewed the defendant as a potentially grave threat adds to the known warnings authorities received about Aldrich’s increasingly violent behavior and raises additional questions about whether the recent mass shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs could have been avoided.
In Colorado Springs, Anderson Lee Aldrich surrenders to police at a residence where his mother, Laura Voepel, was renting a room.
AP
Five persons were murdered and 17 were injured in the attack on November 19. Aldrich was charged with 305 offenses, including hate crimes and murder, last week. The public defense for Aldrich has declined to discuss the case, and investigators have not disclosed a motive.
Alan Dershowitz, a professor of law at Harvard, stated that records of court proceedings in the case corroborated his belief that “more could have been done to avert the violence.”
Dershowitz said that he did not know every aspect in front of Chittum during the hearings, but he stated that “judges are normally more forceful in instances such as this, when the writing is on the wall”
In many cases, said Dershowitz, prosecutors overreach in order to obtain a conviction, but “here, the judicial system is failing.”
The court seal on Chittum’s statements in the Aldrich kidnapping case was lifted last week at the request of prosecutors and news organizations, including the Associated Press. Friday, Chad Dees, Chittum’s assistant, reported that the judge declined to comment.
Aldrich’s mugshot after his arrest for the Club Q shooting.
Chittum said Aldrich during a hearing in August 2021, after the defendant testified about a fondness for shooting firearms and a history of mental health issues, “You have obviously been plotting something else.”
“It had nothing to do with your grandparents. It was stockpiling weaponry, attempting to construct a bomb, and making claims about others being involved in a shootout and a massive event. “This is essentially how it evolved,” the judge remarked.
Aldrich, whose defense attorneys claim is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, spoke to Chittum in court that day about their father’s frequent abuse as a child and their long-term issues with severe post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar disorder, according to the transcript.
The vast majority of persons with mental disease are not violent, according to studies, and most violent people do not have mental illness, according to specialists. In addition, nonbinary individuals and activists caution against forming assumptions about individuals with unconventional gender identities.
Transcripts indicate that Aldrich, who was mostly reared by their grandparents, intended to join the military as a teenager but decided against it. According to the transcripts, the suspect described refusing to take drugs and then “getting on track” after moving to Colorado, acquiring a medical marijuana card, and beginning college.
Mourners gather outside Club Q to visit a monument, which has been relocated from a sidewalk outside the perimeter of the club’s police tape.
AP
Aldrich stated, “I also went to the (shooting range) as often as I could after turning 16,” according to the transcripts. “My mother and I would go… many times per week and enjoy shooting. This is a significant hobby of mine. After school, work, and relaxation at the shooting range.”
Friday at Dragonman’s shooting range east of Colorado Springs, the unpaved driveway was lined with bloodied mannequins, according to Aldrich. Some nearby rusting vehicles were riddled with bullet holes. Two individuals who appeared to work at the range denied knowing Aldrich and declined to say further.
Aldrich informed Chittum that target shooting was “very therapeutic for me” and a nice way to spend free time.
When Aldrich’s grandparents announced their intention to go to Florida, the suspect grew depressed. The transcript reveals that before to his interaction with law enforcement in 2021, Aldrich began frequently consuming alcohol and taking heroin, dropped out of school, and stopped working.
The accusations against Aldrich, who allegedly stockpiled explosives and discussed becoming the “next mass murderer” before engaging in an armed standoff with SWAT, were dismissed during a four-minute hearing in July of this year, during which the prosecution did not even try to keep the case open.
Ian Farrell, associate professor of law at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, stated that the prosecution was the entire duty of the district attorney and that judges like Chittum have no authority to compel charges.
A couple embraces at an improvised memorial next to the Q Club.
AP
“Since the time for commencing with (Aldrich’s) trial was approaching and it was evident that the prosecution was not prepared to move… Farrell stated that the trial judge had no choice but to dismiss the case.
Farrell stated that judges can appoint special prosecutors in severe circumstances, such as when a decision not to prosecute is made in ill faith. However, the case of 2021 did not appear to meet this standard, as witnesses were unavailable.
The representative for the district attorney’s office, Howard Black, stated that he cannot discuss the kidnapping case because it is now under investigation. El Paso County District Attorney Michael Allen has consistently declined to expand on his statement that his office tried everything possible to prosecute the case, including attempting to subpoena Aldrich’s mother.
During the standoff in 2021, Aldrich allegedly informed the terrified grandparents that there were firearms and bomb-making materials in the basement of their shared residence. Aldrich promised not to allow the grandparents to thwart his plans to “burn to death.”
Aldrich aired live on Facebook a following standoff with SWAT forces at their mother’s house, when the defendant eventually surrendered, was arrested, and weapons, ammo, and more than 100 pounds (45 kilograms) of explosives were recovered.
The FBI received a tip about Aldrich one day before to the threat, but ended the case weeks later without filing any federal charges.
When Aldrich was released on bond in August 2021, his grandparents described him as a “nice young man,” according to the transcripts. According to the transcripts, during two following sessions that fall, defense attorneys described Aldrich’s therapy and medication use.
In a courtroom conversation in October 2021, Chittum advised Aldrich to “keep taking his medications.”
“It’s definitely an adjustment phase,” Aldrich responded, to which the judge answered, “Yeah, don’t worry. Good luck.”
Aldrich’s 69-year-old grandmother Pamela Pullen, who was bedridden in Florida and was subpoenaed to testify, was unable to be served with a subpoena because family members ceased cooperating and prosecutors were unable to successfully serve her with a subpoena.
In the transcripts, there is no discussion of efforts by prosecutors to summon other potential witnesses, including Aldrich’s mother, grandfather, and an unidentified fourth individual referenced in court filings.
In Minnesota this week, a man who said he admired Aldrich was detained after allegedly attempting to purchase grenades from an FBI informant and assembling an arsenal of automatic guns to use against police.
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