Golden, Colo. (AP)-Three teenagers in the Denver area cheered each other during the night of rocking on the cars-where one of the stones did not bump through the windshield and killed a woman, which led to a sentence for murder on Friday after the trio turned to each other.
The jurors found Joseph König guilty of first -degree murder at the death of Alex Bartel on April 19, 2023, after the other young men who rode with him reached deals with prosecutors and testified against him. Koenig, who has already been 20 years old, has also been convicted of attempting murder and other less serious crimes for rocks and other objects thrown into vehicles, Bartel was killed at night in previous weeks.
Bartel’s family and friends hugged and cried in court after the sentence.
Her mother Kelly Bartel said later that justice had been done, but she had mixed feelings, expressing some sympathy for Koenig and the other two young men who were 18 years old when her daughter was killed.
“It is difficult to be happy or to feel pleased that justice has been served today because I feel that an incredible life has been lost, and three others are lost and affected,” she said.
The jurors had to consider the displacement and competition of the truths offered by the former Koenig co-defenders during the two-week test.
No one disputes that a 9-pound (4-pound) landscaping rock taken from Walmart’s parking lot crashed through Bartell’s windshield, killing it instantly. The problem was who threw it. The only DNA found on the rock was Bardel, making the testimony of the other two, Zahari Kack and Nicholas Carol-Ok, the key to the prosecutor’s office.
Koenig’s lawyers said Quak was throwing the rock that killed Bartel. But Quak and Carol-Ok, whose legal basis agreements on smaller accusations could lead to shorter sentences in prison, said König had thrown it away. Although Carol-Ok said that everyone had thrown about 10 rocks tonight, Quak testified that he had not thrown any.
Chief Deputy Prosecutor Katarin Decker told the jurors that the damage to Bartel’s car was in accordance with König-which was left and driving-throwing the rock, the style of the shot, through the driver’s window, as the Carol-Oki testified. Even if the jurors were uncertain that König had thrown it, she told them that they still needed to be guilty of a first -degree murder as a conspiracy.
Koenig’s lawyers said he did not know that someone had been injured until Bartel’s car gets out of the way. They also claim that he has a borderline personality disorder, affecting his impulse control and judgment.
Defense lawyer Martin Stewart asked the jurors instead of finding Koenig guilty of murder, the least serious accusation he was confronted with, saying he was not trying to deliberately kill her. The jurors also had the opportunity to plead guilty as a murder as a conspirator.
After seeing Bartel’s car leaving the road, the three friends went around several times to look again, as evidenced. Quak took a picture as a memory, but no one checked the driver or called for help according to their testimony.
Bartel’s body would not be discovered while her girlfriend Jenna Grigs, who was calling her when she cut her sharply, followed her phone in the field, she testified.
The three agreed not to talk to anyone about the incident, but Quak, the most to the group of friends, later told investigators that König had thrown the rock. Carol-Ok, who said Koenig was like a “brother” to him, initially pointed his finger at a Quak before changing his story and blaming Koenig.
Carol-Oki testified that König looks “excited” while driving by Bartel’s car and at one point it made a “bite” sound.
“It sounded like him celebrated,” said Carol-Oki, who admitted that he had put the rock next to König so that he could catch her and throw her.
Koenig’s lawyers tried to question the reliability of the stories of other men, but also stressed that none of the three intended to hurt anyone. The defense declined to comment on the sentence.
Quak concluded the first legal basis agreement, pleading guilty in May 2024 as a first -degree attack. In this way, he acknowledged that it acts in a way that creates a serious risk of death. He also pleaded guilty to a second-degree attack and tried to attack a second degree of rocks that were thrown earlier at night. He collides between 20 and 32 years in prison, according to prosecutors.
About a week later, Carol-Ek pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and committed a crime of violence. He also pleaded guilty to a first-degree murder attempt to throw rocks at a total of nine people that night and earlier in 2023. According to his agreement, Carol-Ek can be sent to prison for between 35 and 72 years when he was sentenced to Thursday, the day before the Quock.
Koenig must be sentenced on June 3 and face a mandatory life sentence for the murder sentence.
___
This story has been updated to correct that the rock was taken from Walmart parking.