KELSEY SHANNON - 13 yo - Broomfield CO

The man accused of murdering 13-year-old Kelsey
Shannon was shocked to learn rumors were circulating accusing him of
the crime, according to a Broomfield Police detective.
During
an interview in November, which was discussed at length during a Friday
hearing, detective Chris Kearns said Alexander "Alex" Paul Pacheco "was
shocked by those allegations and that he had not killed her and he
didn't know what the cause of those statements were." Pacheco
then speculated that past boyfriends and girlfriends of Kelsey's were
spreading the rumor because they were jealous, Kearns said. Pacheco,
19, is facing charges of first-degree murder, child abuse resulting in
death and abuse of a corpse. He is accused of killing Kelsey after
Alex Pacheco, 19, is accused of murdering 13-year-old Kelsey Shannon



she disappeared in October 2008. At
the hearing, District Court Judge John Popovich postponed Pacheco's
trial from Nov. 30 to March 1, but Pacheco will return to court at 8
a.m. Friday for another motions hearing. Pacheco was arrested
early Jan. 24, the day after Kelsey's body was identified and three
days after it was found near a ditch not far from her Broomfield home. Pacheco,
who pleaded not guilty, was Kelsey's boyfriend at the time she
disappeared. He is being held without bond in the Broomfield County
Detention Center. Pacheco met with Kearns and another detective
on Nov. 14 for what Kearns described as a 90-minute voluntary
interview. What was discussed in the interview and whether Pacheco
could have been under the impression he was being detained was the
subject of lengthy testimony during Friday's evidentiary and motions
hearing. In November, Pacheco told police he had not seen
Kelsey since the day she disappeared. He said Kelsey was planning on
attending a party in Aurora that night, Kearns said. According to Kearns, Pacheco told him he and Kelsey used drugs, and she introduced him to crack cocaine. Whether Pacheco knew he did not have to talk to police was an issue raised by defense lawyers on Friday. Pacheco was told he was free to end the interview at any time, Kearns testified. Kearns
said Pacheco was a cooperative witness, going so far as to name him
"the most helpful person we talked to" while Kelsey's disappearance
still was considered a runaway case. Defense lawyers later
questioned whether police adequately investigated reported sightings of
Kelsey after she disappeared and argued police should have reported
other leads in their requests for arrest and search warrants. The
hearing started with questioning of Kearns, who was the lead
investigator assigned to what police originally considered a runaway
case after Kelsey disappeared. Kearns remained the lead investigator
when the case changed to a homicide, and was one of officers who
arrested Pacheco at his mother's home in Lakewood. Defense
attorneys also questioned whether there was enough probable cause for a
warrant to search Pacheco's uncle's Broomfield home, where Pacheco had
been living. In May, prosecutors and Broomfield detectives laid
out their case against Pacheco. They allege Pacheco strangled Kelsey
and stabbed her in the neck before having sex with her dead body. Pacheco then bragged to his friends, police say. The
prosecution's case relies largely on testimony of Pacheco's
acquaintances and a document found on his family's computer discussing
his belief Kelsey was cheating on him and expressing interest in
necrophilia. Defense attorneys said the testimony of his
acquaintances, some of whom he only knew for a few weeks, was
unreliable. They also questioned the physical evidence. The coroner said Kelsey died of homicidal violence, but could not determine a cause of death.

The man accused of killing 13-year-old Kelsey
Shannon appeared in court Thursday in Broomfield to face charges for
sexual assaults he allegedly committed while an inmate at the
Broomfield County jail.
Alexander “Alex” Paul Pacheco, 19, faces three charges of sexual
assault and one charge of retaliating against a witness. The assaults
occurred between June 12 and June 19, and the retaliation charge stems
from an incident on July 15.
All charges are class 3 and 4 felonies.
Pacheco appeared in the courtroom of Judge Amy Bockman for what was
to be a preliminary hearing, but Pacheco ended up waiving his right to
the hearing. An arraignment hearing has been scheduled for Nov. 30, the
same day prosecutors and Pacheco's counsel are scheduled to meet for a status conference on the Shannon murder case.
Lawyers on both sides of the case told Bockman they want the most
recent charges to proceed after the Shannon murder trial, which is
scheduled to start March 1.
Pacheco is charged with first-degree murder, child abuse resulting in death and abuse of a corpse. He pleaded not guilty.
Pacheco has been in the Broomfield County Jail since he was arrested on Jan. 24.
Broomfield Police Chief Tom Deland confirmed the sex assault and
retaliation charges were filed, but he said he could not comment on the
details of the case while it is being prosecuted.
Deland said there only have been a handful of sexual assaults in the
jail since it opened in 2001. Officers conduct regular checks of cells
and closely monitor inmates when they are in common areas.
“We do everything that we can to prevent it, but in a setting like that it does occur,” Deland said.
Deland would not say if Pacheco was in the general population at the jail or if he was segregated from other inmates.Pacheco is accused of killing Kelsey, a Westlake Middle School
student, who disappeared Oct. 14. Her body was found Jan. 21 in a
drainage ditch near the intersection of Lowell Boulevard and West 136th
Avenue, not far from her family's home.
Prosecutors and police allege Pacheco strangled Kelsey, who was his
former girlfriend, and stabbed her in the neck before having sex with
her dead body.
In May, prosecutors and Broomfield detectives laid out their case
against Pacheco. They allege Pacheco strangled Kelsey, who was his
former girlfriend, and stabbed her in the neck before having sex with
her dead body.
Pacheco then bragged to his friends, police say.
The prosecution's case relies largely on testimony by Pacheco's
acquaintances and a document found on his family's computer discussing
his belief Kelsey was cheating on him and expressing interest in
necrophilia.

The teen accused of killing 13-year-old Kelsey Shannon will go to trial May 10 in Broomfield. The
date is two months later than Alexander "Alex" Paul Pacheco, 19, of
Broomfield, was originally set to stand trial on charges of
first-degree murder, child abuse resulting in death and abuse of a
corpse. The new trial date was set Friday, at which a defense motion to move the proceedings out of Broomfield also was heard. Pacheco's
trial was originally slated to start March 1, before District Court
Judge John Popovich on Tuesday ordered it be delayed because the
defense did not have adequate access to evidence collected by
Broomfield police before Kelsey's body was discovered on Jan. 21, 2009.
In weighing the defense's request for a change of venue, Popovich
acknowledged the case has received a large amount of publicity but,
citing precedent, said the test was whether publicity was "massive,
pervasive and prejudicial" or would have "an actual adverse effect on
the jury." Popovich ruled media coverage was not biased against Pacheco and the defense had not shown the jury pool would be tainted. Popovich
said the defense could again ask to move the trial if, during jury
selection, it could show it was impossible to find an unbiased jury in
Broomfield. The postponement of the trial's start came three
days after a Tuesday hearing, at which the defense argued it had not
received a large volume of evidence police collected after Kelsey was
reported missing on Oct. 14, 2008.Diaries, notes and an address
book were among the items police collected when they thought Kelsey had
run away. Some of that evidence was stored separately from evidence
gathered during the murder investigation, which began in January 2009,
after Kelsey's body was found in a drainage ditch north of 136th Avenue
and Lowell Boulevard, not far from her family's home. On Tuesday it was thought that about 700 pages of evidence were not turned over to thedefense until early February. The defense on
Friday acknowledged the evidence it had not received wasn't as
voluminous as stated Tuesday and some evidence, such as several hundred
text messages, were already handed over to the defense. But
the defense still needs time to track down people mentioned in Kelsey's
journals and address book, defense attorney Julia Lee said. Popovich agreed and denied the prosecution's motion to start the trial on March 1. The
discussion of when to start the trial provoked a sharp outburst from
assistant district attorney Cynthia Kowert, who is the lead prosecutor
on the case. Popovich initially scheduled the trial for May 3,
but moved it back a week to accommodate the defense, which had several
hearings scheduled for the week of May 3. Defense attorney Megan Ring said she'd have to discuss the delays to those cases with several judges and incarcerated clients.Kowert immediately objected. "I have to explain (the delay) to a family that lost their 13-year-old daughter," Kowert said. Pacheco
has been in the Broomfield County jail since he was arrested on Jan.
24, 2009. His arrest came the day after the Adams County coroner
identified Kelsey's body. Prosecutors believe Pacheco strangled and
stabbed Kelsey not long after she disappeared in October 2008. He is
accused of then having sex with her corpse.

BROOMFIELD -- A judge ruled Friday that the
trial of Alexander Paul Pacheco -- the teen accused of murdering
13-year-old Kelsey Shannon -- will not be moved out of Broomfield. Pacheco,
19, of Broomfield, was originally set to stand trial March 1 on charges
of first-degree murder, child abuse resulting in death and abuse of a
corpse. District Court Judge John Popovich delayed the trial, agreeing
with the defense that it did not have adequate access to evidence
collected by Broomfield police before Kelsey's body was discovered. The judge on Friday set May 10 as Pacheco's new trial date. In
weighing the defense's request for a change of venue, Popovich
acknowledged the case has received a large amount of publicity butsaid the test was whether the publicity was
"massive, pervasive and prejudicial" or would have "an actual adverse
effect on the jury." Popovich ruled the media coverage was
not biased against Pacheco and the defense had not shown the jury pool
would be tainted. He said the defense could again ask to move the trial
if, during jury selection, it could show it was impossible to find an
unbiased jury in Broomfield. The postponement of the trial came
three days after a hearing at which the defense argued it had not
received a large volume of evidence that police collected after Kelsey
was reported missing on Oct. 14, 2008. Diaries, notes and an
address book were among the items police collected when they thought
Kelsey had run away. Some of that evidence was stored separately from
evidence gathered during the murder investigation, which began in
January 2009, after Kelsey's body was found in a drainage ditch north
of 136th Avenue and Lowell Boulevard, near her home. On
Tuesday, it was thought that about 700 pages of evidence were not
turned over to the defense until early February. The defense on Friday
acknowledged the evidence it had not received wasn't as voluminous as
stated Tuesday and that some evidence, such as hundreds of text
messages, was already handed over to the defense. But the
defense still needs time to track down people mentioned in Kelsey's
journals and address book, defense attorney Julia Lee said. Popovich
agreed. Prosecutors believe Pacheco strangled and stabbed Kelsey. He is accused of then having sex with her corpse.

Yesterday, Alex Pacheco, 19, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder
in the death of Kelsey Shannon. Pacheco received a 48-year
prison sentence for his plea; in exchange, the charges of
first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, and child abuse resulting in
death were dropped. Shannon, 13, went missing in October 2008. By
November, as many Broomfield voters were celebrating President Obama's
election, "missing" flyers of Shannon were ubiquitous as authorities and
family members searched for her. Her body was not found until January
2009, in a drainage ditch not far from her home, and by that time,
physical evidence was scarce. Pacheco's arrest stemmed largely
from witnesses who heard Pacheco brag about the murder or who helped him
dispose of the body, as well as from circumstantial evidence from
Pacheco's computer. Residents of Broomfield, the up-and-coming
community with a generally low crime rate, were shocked by the
perversity of the crime: while no official cause of death could be
determined from her body, Pacheco is suspected of stabbing and
strangling Shannon and then copulating with her dead body.

Shortly after Shannon's body was found, friends posted the following memorial tribute on Youtube:

A 19-year-old Broomfield man accused of killing
his ex-girlfriend and having sex with the corpse pleaded guilty to a
lesser charge Monday.Alex Pacheco, 19, was accused of killing
13-year-old Kelsey Shannon.Shannon disappeared Oct. 14, 2008.
Her decomposed body was found three months later in a drainage ditch a
short distance from her home.
Prosecutors say Pacheco covered up the crime and even helped searchers
look for the victim.He was originally charged with first-degree
murder, abuse of a corpse and child abuse resulting in death. Under the
plea deal, those charges were dropped and the defendant pleaded guilty
to second-degree murder.He also pleaded guilty to retaliation
against a witness in a separate, but related case.During the
sentencing phase of the trial, the victim’s godfather told the court
that Pacheco’s plea represented “a chance for the family to put an end
to one chapter of this whole sordid tale.”“It’s a sad day,”
Timothy Horne said. “Kelsey’s never going to get a chance to experience
the independence and joy of getting her driver’s license.”“She’s
never going to feel the elation of her own wedding,” he added. “And
she’s never going to feel the awesome responsibility of having her own
child.”“We are broken-hearted,” said Dorothy Shannon, the
victim’s mother.“Some have tried to paint a picture of a wild
girl who was allowed to date an 18-year old. The truth is that he
(Pacheco) came into our lives for two months in the summer of 2008
wearing a hoodie, riding a bicycle and looking like the 14-year-old that
he claimed to be,” Dorothy Shannon added.“Once we learned he was
18, we immediately ended the relationship,” she said.The
victim’s father told the court that he misses Kelsey.“It’s a
reality that I struggle to accept every day,” said Thomas Shannon. “The
vicious, non-sensical act that took her life is despicable and I want a
punishment that fits the crime that Alex Pacheco committed.”Broomfield
County District Court Judge John Popovich, Jr. sentenced the defendant
to 48 years in prison plus five years of mandatory parole on the murder
charge, and 20 years in prison plus five years of mandatory parole on
the retaliation charge. The sentences will run concurrently.Before
he handed down the sentence, the judge also heard from Pacheco’s family
and from the defendant himself.“Never in a million years did I
think we’d be in a situation like this,” said Pacheco’s brother, Mike
Chavez.The young defendant, dressed in a black suit and tie,
dabbed at his eyes with a tissue several times while family members
spoke on his behalf.“I pray that the Shannon family and their
friends will someday forgive him, as we will,” said his grandmother,
Debbie Apodaca.“This has been a tragic situation for both the
Shannon family and our family,” said Linda Chavez, Pacheco’s mother. “By
not going to trial, Alex is letting us move forward without further
damaging our families or putting us through more pain and heartache.”Then,
Linda Chavez turned toward her son and said, “For that Alex, I thank
you and I’m very proud of you.”The defendant then stood in front
of the podium and professed his love for Kelsey.“I would like to
state for the record that my love for Kelsey Shannon is unmistakably
true,” Pacheco said. “My love for her is such that I would travel to the
deepest, darkest depths of hell just to be with her, but I know that
she is with the Father and has found peace.”Pacheco then asked
people to join him in prayer and recited the Lord’s Prayer.Afterward,
he said, “We’re not here because I fully agree that the terms and
conditions of what is about to happen are righteous, fair or just,
because I don’t. We are here today simply and purely because of a brave,
selfless act of love. So, once again, before I continue, I would like
to further express the reason and meaning of why we are here today – the
meaning of love.”Pacheco also recited several Bible verses, then
said, “I am not a bad person but I have done things I regret. I am
many things, but I am not a killer and I am not a rapist.”He said
he wanted the family to know that they are in his prayers.He
closed his address to the court by saying, “I would like Dotty (Dorothy)
Shannon to know that if down the road she feels she would like to speak
to me, I will be more than willing to make myself available.”Pacheco’s
father lashed out at the news media for their coverage of the case.Gene
Chavez also lashed out at Broomfield police who he said ordered his
wife to “shut up and sit down, you cannot talk to the prisoner,” because
she waived to Alex when he was brought into court.“I’m ashamed
of what they did,” Gene Chavez said, comparing the department’s initial
efforts to find Kelsey to efforts underway in Greeley to find another
missing girl.“In Greeley, they’ve got the FBI involved, they’ve
been searching,” he said. “Here, if your children go missing, I hope
they look for them.”The victim’s sister painted a different
picture of Broomfield police, thanking them and the District Attorney’s
office for hard work and support.She said one officer in
particular who had promised to bring Kelsey home alive did everything in
his power to do so.“He is a hero to me,” she said.After
the judge passed sentence, the Shannon family left the courtroom without
comment.Dorothy Shannon walked over and hugged Pacheco’s mother
and father.