Arrests made in Durst and George slayings

Tiffany Durst and Terence George

AURORA | Police have arrested three people in connection with the slayings of an Aurora couple. 

Police said Thursday that Terrence Andre McNeal, 20, Janelle Kimberly Harris, 20, and Tiera Lachae Homes, 19, are all facing murder charges in connection with the slayings of Terence Scott George, 22, and Tiffany Durst, 21. 

Police found George’s body in November at the apartment he shared with Durst near East Mississippi Avenue and South Peoria Street. George died of multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Arapahoe County coroner’s office. 

After police found George’s body, they asked the public for help in finding Durst, who hadn’t been seen since a few days before George was found dead.

Last week, police found Durst’s body near East Yale Avenue and South Chambers Road. 

Police have not said how Durst died but on Thursday called her death a homicide. 

**UPDATE** Bikers ID'd in Friday's fatal crashes

AURORA | Police today released the names of two motorcyclists killed in separate crashes Friday night.

In the first crash, which happened around 8 p.m. near East Alameda Avenue and South Troy Street, police said Guillermo Vasquez-Lopez, 37, was killed after crashing his motorcycle into a Honda Civic. 

Police said Vasquez-Lopez was possibly racing a second motorcycle and may have reached speeds of around 100 mph before the crash. 

the driver of the Civic will not be charged, police said. 

The driver of the motorcycle Vasquez-Lopez was racing, Jose Garcia-Reyes, 38, was cited for DUI after police say he returned to the scene after the crash. 

A few hours after that crash, police say Daniel Martin, 25, died after crashing his motorcycle into an SUV near East Quincy Avenue and Buckley Road.

Police said Martin was headed south on Buckley and made a right turn onto westbound Quincy, accelerating rapidly after the turn.

He then slammed into a maroon Pathfinder that was turning into a shopping center.

Martin was wearing a helmet but suffered a serious head injury and later died, police said.

The driver of the Pathfinder likely will not be charged, police said.

Chief discusses recent shootings

AURORA | In a typical year, Aurora police average about three officer-involved shootings, Aurora police Chief Dan Oates said Tuesday. 

But in less than four months in 2010, the department saw five officer-involved shootings, including four in which the suspect was killed. Two officers were also shot, but are expected to survive. 

“Obviously, the volume is disproportionate to our normal activities,” Oates told a meeting of City Council’s Public Safety and Courts Committee Tuesday. 

Oates cautioned against trying to draw conclusions from the recent rash of shootings — which included three fatal shootings in less than a week last month — other than to call the incidents an “unfortunate series of events.”

Police have already turned over the first two incidents — one involving suspected bank robbers in January and one involving a suspected drug dealer in February — to prosecutors who will make a ruling on whether the shootings were justified. 

The three from March have not been presented to prosecutors but police will give those cases to prosecutors at some point, he said. 

No updates on Durst case

Tiffany Durst

AURORA | Police today said they still were not ready to release further details about the death of Tiffany Durst, the 21-year-old woman missing since November whose body was found last week. 

A police department spokesman declined to say Tuesday how Durst died or when she may have died.

Reports have said her body was badly decomposed when police found it last week near the Cherry Creek Dam Spillway trail, just west of the intersection of South Chambers Road and East Yale Avenue. 

Police had been searching for Durst since she disappeared from her Aurora apartment in November. 

At the time Durst disappeared, police found her live-in boyfriend, Terrence Scott George, 22, dead in the apartment. 

The Arapahoe County coroner’s office said Tuesday that George was shot several times in his head, neck and torso. His death was ruled a homicide. 

Bassett arraignment delayed

Steven Wayne Bassett

AURORA | The arraignment for a man accused of helping to arrange a marijuana deal that led to the dealer’s death last fall has been delayed. 

Steven Wayne Bassett, 27, was scheduled to appear in court Friday for arraignment, where he will enter a plea to first-degree murder and other charges. But the hearing was pushed back until May 20, according to prosecutors. 

It wasn’t clear from court records why the hearing was delayed. 

Bassett was charged along with Maliek Bailey, 36, and Robert Lee Harper, 18, in connection with the Oct. 15 slaying of Michael Pinkus at the Crestwood Suites motel.

Harper, 18, pleaded guilty to burglary and robbery on Feb. 24, according to prosecutors. In exchange for the plea, prosecutors dropped several other charges against Harper, including first-degree murder and kidnapping.

It wasn’t clear from court records this week what sentence Harper may face at his April 15 hearing or if he is expected to testify against Bailey and Bassett. If he is required to  testify, the sentencing could be delayed until after the other two go to trial.

APD: Detectives investigating Aurora link to accused serial rapist

Marc Patrick O'Leary

AURORA | Police said Monday they continue to investigate an accused serial rapist who may have attacked a woman in Aurora in 2009. 

Marc Patrick O’Leary, 32, has not been charged in connection with the Aurora case, a police spokesman said, but investigators with the department’s sex crimes unit continue to investigate him. 

O’Leary was arrested in February at his Lakewood home and charged with attacking two women in separate attacks, one in Golden and one in Westminster. 

Police said at the time of O’Leary’s arrest the attacks were both committed by strangers and had many similarities. As the investigation expanded, authorities say they discovered a similar attempted sexual assault in Lakewood in July.

Aurora police said at the time investigators from Aurora believe O’Leary could be connected to an October 2009 sex assault on a woman in southeast Aurora.

In the Aurora case and the others O’Leary is accused of, the attacker was a stranger to the victim and attacked them in their home, police said.

O’Leary appeared in court Monday for a preliminary hearing where a judge ruled there was ample evidence for him to stand trial on 32 charges against him, a spokeswoman for the Jefferson County district attorney’s office said. 

He is set for arraignment in May. 

According to a 9News report on the hearing, O’Leary took pictures of his victims during the assaults and told them he had been stalking them before the attacks. The report also said DNA evidence tied O'leary to the Aurora case.

CSP continues campaign vs. distracted driving

AURORA | Colorado State Patrol yesterday released a video encouraging drivers to focus on the road and avoid distractions when they’re behind the wheel. 

The video, available on CSP’s Facebook page, is part of CSP’s ongoing efforts in conjunction with National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. 

CSP said in a statement the video highlights the number of crashes CSP has investigated over the last five years directly attributed to distractions.

“In today’s highly technical environment we have a lot of opportunities for distractions inside our vehicles and behind the wheel,” Col. James Wolfinbarger, chief of CSP, said in a statement announcing the video. 

CSP is also hosting a webinar April 20 about distracted driving. 

To see the video, visit the CSP’s Facebook.com page.