Two due in court in Pinkus slaying

Steven Bassett

AURORA | Two of the three men arrested last fall in connection with a slaying at an Aurora hotel and burglary at a nearby home are set to appear in court next week.

Steven Wayne Bassett, 27, and Maliek Bailey, 35, are scheduled for preliminary hearings Feb. 4 in Arapahoe County Court.

Both men, along with a third co-defendant, Robert Harper, 18, face murder and other charges in connection with the Oct. 15 slaying of Michael Pinkus, 51, at the Crestwood Suites Hotel. They also face charges in connection with a burglary that night at Pinkus’ home in the 14200 of East Baltic Place.

Maliek Bailey

At the preliminary hearing, a judge is set to rule whether there is enough evidence for Bassett and Bailey to stand trial.

The hearing likely will include some of the first public discussion from police and prosecutors about what happened that night at Pinkus’ home and later at the hotel. Since police announced Bassett’s arrest in the days after Pinkus’ slaying, court files in the case have been sealed due to a judge’s order.

Harper’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for later in February.

Police said after Pinkus’ death that the night he was killed, two men, including Bassett, robbed his house on East Adriatic Place, a short distance from the hotel. He later went to the hotel, where he was killed.

The counts against Bassett and Bailey include felony murder, burglary, robbery, larceny and kidnapping, according to Colorado Bureau of Investigation records.

Police said after Bassett’s arrest that the kidnapping charges don’t apply to Pinkus but to someone else.

Prosecutors filed four kidnapping charges against Bassett and Bailey, three of them are listed in CBI records as “kidnapping 2-victim sex offense/robbery” and the fourth as “kidnapping 2-seize/carry victim.”

Harper faces all the same charges except the kidnapping/sex offense charges, according to state records.

All three are being held in the Arapahoe County Jail without bond.