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The 25-year-old student suspected of shooting dead his University of Colorado Colorado Springs roommate and a 26-year-old woman in a campus dorm had made previous threats to kill his roommate, according to court documents unsealed Friday.
Nicholas Jordan, originally from Detroit, made his first appearance in an El Paso County courtroom Friday morning following his Monday arrest in connection with the deaths of Samuel Knopp, 24, and Celie Rain Montgomery, 26. They were found fatally shot on 16 February in Crestone House, residential housing in the campus Alpine Village area.
Jordan faces charges of first-degree murder and appeared nervous Friday as he sat in an orange jumpsuit, flanked by his lawyers and a deputy, before Judge David Shakes.
(AP)
The judge ordered the unsealing of the probably cause affidavit – in which a third roommate detailed how Jordan threatened to kill Knopp if he was asked to take out the trash again, AP reported. The dispute happened in January and was confirmed by police and housing records, the outlet added.
“We have recently discovered that, in addition to the handgun found in his vehicle, he had a full-loaded AK-47 rifle,” prosecutor Robert Willett said Friday, adding that Jordan had been “in the process of withdrawing from school” and had no known family or close relationship “within 500 miles of this jurisdiction.”
The defense requested a reduction in bond, citing Jordan’s lack of previous convictions and family support, describing him as a junior studying for his undergraduate degree with ties to the community through temp jobs he worked.
The prosecution countered, noting both the severity of the crimes and the vehement objections from both victim families to any reduction.
The prosecutor also pointed out that Jordan is facing life sentences without parole if convicted.
“I think that he’s a danger to the community; he’s obviously a flight risk, with indications that everything he owned was in the car he was contacted in,” Willett said, also pointing out that Jordan had made “no effort to contact police or to turn himself in” before his arrest.
Judge Shakes denied bond reduction, particularly citing the severity of the crimes and the discovery of Jordan’s alleged weapons, and also ordered the unsealing of the probable cause affidavit.
Defense lawyers explained how an ongoing cyber attack on state public defenders was limiting their ability to commit to a preliminary hearing date. When the judge explained the delay to Jordan and how his representation may be pushed back to 60 days, the 25-year-old asked: “Can that date come up faster … next week? Tomorrow?”
Proceedings were temporarily halted as Jordan consulted further with his lawyers, eventually refusing to waive his 35-day right to a preliminary hearing, with a date set for 27 March at 9am.
A status conference hearing was set for 15 March, which Jordan requested to attend, as well.
UCCS confirmed after Jordan’s arrest that he had been enrolled at the school and had been Knopp’s roommate. The 24-year-old was a senior studying music, known as a talented guitarist, while 26-year-old Montgomery was not a UCCS student. She was a mother of two young children from Pueblo.
A cousin of Ms Montgomery’s called the shooting “senseless, and definition of wrong place, wrong time!” Michael Montgomery wrote on Facebook. “Celie was the example of a Montgomery! An individual, a beautiful soul, and a wonderful mother, daughter, niece, cousin, granddaughter, certainly friend, and human being in general!”
