crime

A Cortez man accused of brutally beating three men in Veterans Park in 2025, killing one of them, entered a not-guilty plea in District Court on Wednesday. In other news, a man who was struck by a plane and killed after he trespassed onto a runway at Denver International Airport on Friday reportedly had lived in Montezuma County.

A Cortez woman accused of killing her 5-year-old daughter in 2022 entered a not-guilty plea Monday morning in District Court.

A 21-year-old Cortez woman charged with first-degree murder entered a not-guilty plea in District Court Thursday, but attorneys indicated a disposition of her case may be in the works.

A Cortez man charged with murder in the brutal death of a 40-year-old man in Veterans Park last summer may face a second murder charge. And a hearing on the lawsuit between Leaf Properties and the Montezuma County commissioners has been set for May 21 at 2 p.m. in District Court.

A lawsuit filed by Maria’s Bookshop against the city of Durango and a police detective over a demand for records of a customer’s book purchases is now essentially defunct.

The Montezuma-Cortez Re-1 School District Board voted unanimously Tuesday night to place a chair in the high-school cafeteria to honor a young boy who was shot and killed in December of 2024.

Cases against two Cortez residents charged with beating one man to death and assaulting two other men in Veterans Park last year are moving toward trial.

Concerns about violence have prompted the Ute Mountain Ute tribal council to implement a nighttime curfew on the reservation.

Shelters are full, violence is intensifying, and advocates warn Colorado can't keep up as calls for help surge statewide.

Federal officials have requested Tina Peters be moved from a Colorado state prison to a federal facility as she appeals her conviction, citing safety concerns.