Ex-officer formally charged in crash deaths
Judge rebuffs try for hearing delay until end of July
Ellen Miller, Special to the Rocky
Published April 4, 2007 at midnight
GRAND JUNCTION - Liane VanFeldt clutched the piece of paper charging Patrick Strawmatt with the murder of her daughter as the shackled and handcuffed former cop was led into a courtroom here Tuesday.
Sitting next to her husband, Peter VanFeldt, and her daughter, Jamie Kois, she put her hand to her mouth when she saw him for the first time.
Strawmatt, 42, of Westminster, was formally charged with two counts of first-degree murder in a 22-page complaint filed in Mesa County District Court.
He also was charged with vehicular homicide, assault, DUI and other crimes, according to the complaint.
Strawmatt's sport utility vehicle reached speeds of 120 mph on March 22 as he tried to outrun state troopers along Interstate 70.
He slammed into the rear of the car carrying college sweethearts Jennifer Kois, of Brighton, and Jake Brock, of Eagle.
Both 19-year-olds were students at Mesa State College, in Grand Junction.
Authorities said Strawmatt was drunk at the time.
Strawmatt would face life in prison or possibly the death penalty if convicted.
The former Lafayette police officer displayed "an attitude of universal malice manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life," the complaint said.
District Judge Brian Flynn set a preliminary hearing for June 11, overriding defense suggestions that the probable-cause hearing be delayed until the end of July.
"I've talked at length with the families, and they have a desire to move relatively quickly," District Attorney Pete Hautzinger said.
Flynn agreed, saying that scheduling the preliminary hearing at the end of July "would be an unreasonable delay."
Strawmatt, who is jailed on
$1 million bail in Mesa County, had been free on $15,000 bail from Park County the night of the fatal crash near Clifton.
He allegedly eluded Park County law enforcement officers in a chase Feb. 15 that ended with Strawmatt ramming the patrol car of Sheriff Fred Wegener and punching him in the jaw.
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