GUILTY CO - Andrea Bartmess, 28, abducted, tortured & killed, Fort Collins, 7 Oct 2014

Cotten said Saturday she learned her daughter, 28-year-old Andrea Bartmess, was found dead along Larimer County Road 74E near mile marker 10. Cotton said she hadn't seen her in nearly two months. A mother's intuition and a lack of communication pushed Cotten to report Bartmess missing in mid-November...

"She had bipolar disorder," Cotten said. "She was diagnosed when she was 12." Cotton added Bartmess spent several years in and out of rehabilitation programs. "She struggled with drug addiction with cocaine, she struggled with drug addiction with meth," Cotten said.

Bartmess was most recently living in a hotel in Fort Collins. The last time Cotton heard from her was through an email on Oct. 6. "And it says 'mom, just wanted to let you know I'm okay,'" Cotten said. "I was kind of suspicious because email is not her normal communication style. She hates email."

Click to expand...

Authorities who recovered human remains in the northern Colorado town of Livermore have ruled the death a homicide.

The Larimer County Coroner's Office released its finding Monday, but investigators did not say how 28-year-old Andrea Bartmess was killed.

Click to expand...

Michael Louis Bensen, 45, and Patrick Austin Hannon, 51, were jailed late Wednesday on suspicion of first-degree murder, second-degree kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder, court records show. Larimer County Sheriff's Office investigators on Friday would not explain the circumstances leading up to the arrests, nor would they explain how the two apparently came to know Andrea Bartmess...

Bensen and Hannon on Friday afternoon appeared in court via video conference. Both are being held without bond and have been ordered not to have contact with Bartmess' parents...

Arresting documents in the case have been sealed. The sheriff's office has not yet released booking photos, nor has it said whether the two men are the only suspects in the case or how they were identified as suspects.

Click to expand...

Larimer County Sheriff's Office announced Saturday that two more have been arrested in connection to the murder of Andrea Bartmess, bringing the total arrests in the case to four.

Jose G. Rosario, 35, and Kimberly D. Guinn, 32, were arrested on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and second-degree kidnapping, according to the Larimer County Sheriff's Office...

Bartmess' family said while they don't know the suspects, they don't believe the crime was random.

Click to expand...

Formal charges have not yet been filed against a quartet of suspects accused of murdering a Fort Collins woman, and the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office on Monday remained mum on the case...

The sheriff’s office on Monday said it could not comment on how the four suspects reportedly knew each other, nor would the agency say when booking photos were likely to be made publicly available. Calls were not returned seeking more general comments about the investigation or whether additional suspects were sought.

The quartet of suspects is due in court Friday morning, and each is being held without bond due to the seriousness of the allegations.

Click to expand...

A fifth person was arrested in connection the murder of 28-year-old Andrea Bartmess, the Larimer County Sheriff's Office announced Tuesday.

Chataigner McCaffrey-Pickett, 21, of Fort Collins, was arrested Monday in connection with the crime.

Click to expand...

All five suspects now face formal first-degree murder charges...

Bensen, 45, and Hannon, 51, have both been charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, first-degree and second-degree kidnapping and felony sexual assault. Hannon also faces an additional felony count of sexual contact without consent...

Guinn and Rosario, as well as 21-year-old Chatainger McCaffrey-Pickett, arrested this week, have also been charged with murder, kidnapping and conspiracy. First-degree murder charges suggest each five suspects deliberated how to kill the woman. Court records allege they killed Bartmess about Oct. 7.

Click to expand...

While investigators remain mum and court documents stay sealed, details may surface next week about evidence apparently tying five Larimer County residents to the death of a woman whose body was found northwest of Fort Collins late last year...

A day-long preliminary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday for Guinn and Bensen. Investigators at that time will outline specific evidence that could be used against the suspects if the case progresses to a jury trial.

At that hearing, witness and expert testimony would offer the greatest insight into the case, and it has been suggested evidence against that pair may be similar to evidence for the additional suspects.

Click to expand...

What stood to be the first glimpse into evidence tying a quintet of suspects to a body found northwest of Fort Collins ended up as yet another succinct meeting to talk about scheduling...

Attorneys again on Wednesday cited the “mountain of discovery” released to each defense team in recent weeks. Details about the discovery, however, remains under wraps. Court records are still sealed.

Though he granted the continuance, Eighth Judicial District Chief Judge Stephen Schapanski warned attorneys that delaying the preliminary hearing should not be used as a routine practice.

Click to expand...

colette said:

View attachment 67915

Click to expand...

A pair of preliminary hearings slotted for April may shed light on the homicide probe that last year prompted five arrests tied to a woman's body found northwest of Fort Collins.

Michael Bensen, 45, and Chataigner McCaffrey-Pickett, 21, are due in court April 1. Patrick Hannon, 51, Jose Rosario, 35, and Kimberly Guinn, 33, will each stand for a preliminary hearing April 30, at which time prosecutors may reveal some pieces of evidence that allegedly tie them to the death of 28-year-old Andrea Bartmess, whose remains were found Nov. 21 along Red Feather Lakes Road.

Click to expand...

Events began unfolding Oct. 7 when Bartmess and a man identified as 28-year-old Tyson Darby went to a residence at Pier Apartments in south Fort Collins to buy drugs... Bartmess and Darby were then forced into a car and driven to a home in the 6000 block of Larimer County Road 54G, Servin said.

That's where Bensen allegedly pummeled her with coins rolled up in duct tape while others in the group choked her, electrocuted her with a stun-gun on her and stomped on her. Then, Bensen and Hannon allegedly sexually assaulted her before her half-naked and unconscious body was shoved into the backseat of a car, Servin said, pausing at times to recount the torturous scene that was described to her...

The second half of Wednesday's preliminary hearing was expected to include details about the forensic evidence in the case, ranging from DNA testing of blood stains to a deeper examination of the rugged terrain where the remains were found. Eighth Judicial District Chief Judge Stephen Schapanski is then expected to rule whether there is enough evidence to continue the case to trial.

Click to expand...

Prosecuted recapped the story of five co-defendants conspiring to kidnap, beat and kill Bartmess in early October — they said Bensen admitted to "finishing the job" when he drove her out on Red Feather Lakes Road about 9.5 miles west of U.S. 287 to kill her and dump her body.

Bensen's attorney said a majority of the narrative came from Tyson Darby, a man who said he was kidnapped along with Bartmess and witnessed Bartmess' multiple assaults and eventual murder.

In his closing remarks, Bensen's attorney told Judge Schapanski that Darby was simply unbelievable and not credible — he said Darby was not kidnapped but actually partaking in the crimes against Bartmess. He explained that Darby is currently facing habitual criminal charges, was in possession of Bartmess' credit cards after the homicide and that he denied to be questioned in court because his answers would incriminate him in the case.

Click to expand...

A judge on Thursday sent a clear message to the first of five homicide suspects to be sentenced for the murder of Andrea Bartmess, a 28-year-old Fort Collins woman who was kidnapped and killed last year after what her mother described as a night of "drinking, drugs and evil."

Eighth Judicial District Chief Judge Stephen Schapanski sentenced 46-year-old Michael Benson to 75 years in prison — the maximum allowed for the murder, kidnapping and criminal trespass charges to which Benson pleaded guilty. But Schapanski, in an uncharacteristically scornful manner, lambasted Benson for his drug-induced involvement in what ranks among the most egregious homicide cases to hit Larimer County in recent memory.

Schapanski succinctly summarized the October 2014 killing during Thursday's two-hour sentencing hearing with words including "torture," "inhuman" and "unconscionable"...

[T]he Larimer County coroner ruled her cause of death was blunt force trauma to her head, a stab wound to the neck and prolonged exposure to the cold. "She was alive up there long enough to get hypothermia," Vandenberg said after a passionate appeal for the stiffest sentence possible in the case.

Click to expand...

Fort Collins 22-year-old Chataigner McCaffrey-Pickett was originally charged with first-degree murder, second-degree kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder — all felony charges — before she took a deal offered by the District Attorney's Office and pleaded guilty to first-degree assault with a deadly weapon.

Schapanski sentenced her to serve the maximum 32 years in prison (...)

Jose Rosario, 36, of Fort Collins faced two counts of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping and second-degree kidnapping. He pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder.

Schapanski sentenced him to 40 years in prison (...)

Click to expand...