Transcript Golden
November 15, 2012
50 cents
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourgoldennews.com
Jefferson County, Colorado • Volume 146, Issue 50
Candidates recounting on it Three Jeffco races could be subject to recount By Glenn Wallace
gwallace@ourcoloradonews.com Election Day has passed but the race is still on in three Jefferson County races. Tightest of the races is the one for District 2 county commissioner. With all 262 county precincts reporting, appointed incumbent John Odom leads challenger Casey Tighe by only 133 votes. “It’s exciting. We just needs to count up all the ballots and see who won,” Tighe said.
Odom said he had no comment on the state of the election, only that he trusted in county Clerk and Recorder Pam Anderson and her department to determine the election winner soon. The RTD race for District M, which is entirely within Jeffco, is also likely to trigger a mandatory recount, as Natalie Menten currently leads Matt Cohen by 119 votes. A ballot recount is done whenever the percentage of victory is one-half of 1 percent or less of the winner’s vote total. In the state Senate District 19 race, the vote results fall just outside that range, with Democrat incumbent Evie Hudak beating Republican Lang Sias by 332 votes.
But with Jeffco’s Clerk and Recorder’s Office still sifting through more than 7,000 provisional ballots that were turned in on Election Day, any three of those races could move in or out of the threshold. “That’s entirely possible,” said Josh Liss, deputy of elections for Jeffco. “But what we’ve seen in recent years is that the provisional ballots seem to reflect what we see on election night.” Liss said the provisional ballots had to be processed, followed by the official certification of the election results. If the numbers of those certified results still triggered the need for a recount, then the county would have until Dec. 13 to do so.
“But we know everyone’s anxious to find out who won. If we can we’d like to get any recount started that last week of November,” Liss said. The optical vote-counting machines used by Jeffco, which Liss described as “simple and reliable,” would be checked for accuracy. Then the recount would begin, which in the case of the Odom and Tighe contest would involve recounting every ballot in the county. The process is expected to take three to four days. Liss said the county’s equipment is rarely wrong the first time around though. “I don’t think we’ve ever seen a recount in Jeffco where the result changes.”
Double trouble in DeWild trial
GOING, GOING ... GONE
Twin brother’s confession at heart of case against DeWild By Glenn Wallace
gwallace@ourcoloradonews.com
Maj. Janet Schonberg, instructor with the Colorado School of Mines Army ROTC, browses silent auction items up for bid during “A Salute to Veterans” at The Golden Civic Foundation 37th annual dinner and auction at the Denver West Marriott Saturday. Photo by Andy Carpenean
Community network feeds those in need By Glenn Wallace
gwallace@ourcoloradonews.com Many Golden residents will likely worry about overeating this holiday season, but a significant number will be more worried about having food at all. Luckily for those who do not know exactly where their next meal may be coming from, there is a loose network of volunteers, businesses and orgaPOSTAL ADDRESS
nizations that all help try to fill that need. Calvary Church’s pastor for outreach, Bethany Thomas said all the church-based food banks, and CAG all pass resources and referrals between one another. “We value all members of the community and want to make sure that we provide for those who might need extra support. Our energy is to make sure that individuals and fami-
lies are food secure,” Thomas said. Calvary is preparing to deliver more than 300 Thanksgiving food boxes to the needy, but also provides food to other charitable groups who do similar work. The Christian Action (CAG) Guild Food Pantry is one of those assisting organizations, serving as a nondenominational food distribution site. The food pantry helps individuals and families on a referral basis, with other churches, social workers, schools or doctors sending the neediest of Golden residents there. “We do additional bags of food for Thanksgiving and Christmas,” said CAG board member and volunteer Audrey Brennecke. She said the lack of plentiful food can become more noticeable this time of year, when big feasts are the norm. Visiting family members and school-age children with more Pantry continues on Page 20
The term double jeopardy had new meaning in a Jefferson County courtroom last week, as the murder trial of Daniel DeWild got under way, with the defendant’s identical twin brother David serving as the prosecution’s star witness. Daniel DeWild, 40, stands accused of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the death of his estranged wife Heather (Springer) DeWild. She was last seen alive on July 24, 2003, just one week before her divorce was to be finalized. Her body was found wrapped in plastic and buried in a shallow grave in Clear Creek Canyon two months later. The DeWild twins, and David’s wife Roseanne DeWild, were charged with first-degree murder in December 2011. The following July, David met with the Jeffco DA’s office, and worked out a plea agreement for his “truthful testimony” against his brother, in exchange for a reduced sentence. Roseanne DeWild’s charges were dropped, after investigators became convinced that she was not part of a murder plot. With the defendant’s table and the witness box only a few yards from each other, the twins appeared to never make eye contact. “How close were you to your brother,” Chief Deputy DA Bob Weiner asked David DeWild, whose testimony filled up most of day two and part of day three of the trial. “Very close,” David said. “How close are you now?” “I think we’re going our separate ways,” David replied. Under direct examina-
‘I’m the last thing she saw and I didn’t help her.’ David DeWild
tion David described how his brother grew increasingly angry about his impending divorce, and began talking about wanting to kill Heather DeWild. He said the two made plans about where to hide the body, and how to cover up evidence. Defense attorneys raised questions about David’s trustworthiness after lying to investigators for nine years, and raised the theory that David was the one with motive to kill. “David, did Heather reject your advances in 2003? Did you kill her in 2003? Or did you just not want your brother to go through the same kind of painful divorce you did?” Defense attorney Tom Ward said during cross examination. On July 24, 2003, Daniel asked Heather DeWild over to his house. She brought their children, ages 3 and 5. David testified that he was in the garage when his twin lured Heather DeWild there to kill her. “He throws her to the ground. He picks up a rubber mallet and hits her in the head,” David said to the court. “She didn’t know what was going on. She looked to the left and to the right. She looked me right in the eye and had a look like ‘help me,’” David said. “I’m the last thing she saw and I didn’t help her.”
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