4 MARCH 19-25, 2026 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | To Which Degree? COLORADO MAY CHANGE EXTREME INDIFFERENCE MURDER LAW. BY HANNAH METZGER Joseph Koenig was sentenced to life in prison without parole after he hurled a nine-pound rock through the windshield of a moving vehicle, killing the driver, twenty-year-old Alexa Bartell. During Koenig’s trial, he insisted that he did not intend to hurt Bartell. Then eighteen, Koenig and two other high school seniors had spent the night of April 19, 2023, driving around Jefferson County, throwing rocks at oncoming traffi c. The teens struck six vehicles before targeting Bartell’s car. Most of the victims were unharmed, and two reportedly sustained just minor injuries. In another state, the crime might have landed Koenig a second-degree murder con- viction, sparing him from a mandatory life sentence. Second-degree murder is defi ned as knowingly causing a person’s death, while fi rst-degree murder is intentionally killing a person after deliberation. But Koenig was convicted of fi rst-degree murder under a le- gal theory that is largely unique to Colorado: murder with extreme indifference, defi ned as causing a person’s death while engaging in conduct that creates a grave risk to human life with an extreme indifference to the value of human life. State legislators could soon restrict pros- ecutions of fi rst-degree extreme indifference murders. Under House Bill 26-1281, in order for a suspect to be charged with fi rst-degree murder with extreme indifference, they must be accused of either killing more than one person, killing a child under twelve years old, killing an emergency responder on duty, or killing one person and seriously injuring at least two people with a deadly weapon. So if a person kills just one victim (who is not a child or an emergency responder), they could not be charged with fi rst-degree mur- der with extreme indifference. Instead, they would be charged with second-degree mur- der with extreme indifference, which would carry a sentencing range longer than the current penalty for second-degree murder but shorter than the mandatory life sentence for fi rst-degree murder. However, depending on the circumstances of the crime, they could potentially still be charged with fi rst-degree murder after deliberation. The sponsors of House Bill 1281, all Dem- ocrats, call Colorado’s current extreme indif- ference statute “one of the most punitive” in the country. “Colorado is the only state that has extreme indifference as a common-law holdover,” says State Representative Ce- celia Espenoza, one of the lead sponsors. “A couple of other states still have the term ‘ma- lignant heart murder,’ but they do not usually have a model pe- nal code. We’re the only state that contains both the original common law and a model pe- nal code statute. Which is why there’s confusion.” Espenoza, a former judge and law professor, joined forces with Representative Michael Carter, a long-time criminal defense attorney, to sponsor the bill. Though they’re both Democrats, the two lawmakers have mark- edly different perspectives on the criminal justice system and often fi nd themselves at odds in policy debates. “She’s a judge. I’m a criminal defense attorney. That’s like the snake and the mon- goose,” Carter describes. “One of the biggest pieces of inequity in the law is the extreme in- difference portion. ...These disparities have been around for a while, and it took a pairing like myself and Representative Espenoza to actually attempt to get something done.” Though the bill has brought these two together, not everyone is on board. The pro- posal has received formal opposition from the Colorado District Attorneys’ Council, Colorado Organization for Victim Assis- tance, Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police, Colorado State Patrol Association and City of Colorado Springs, according to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Offi ce. The only organization registered in sup- port of the bill as of March 16 was the Colo- rado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition. Victim Discrimination or Preventing Overcharging? Some opponents argue that the bill un- fairly differentiates crimes based on a vic- tim’s traits. For example, a person accused of killing an eleven-year-old could be charged with fi rst-degree extreme indifference mur- der, but the same charge wouldn’t apply if the victim were twelve. “The bill would have Colorado’s judicial system treat victims differently based on arbitrary categories of age, profession and whether death or injury was suffered by mul- tiple victims, rather than asserting the value of each individual life,” says Robert Fallbeck, executive director of the Colorado Organiza- tion for Victim Assistance. “This is neither fair nor just, and it doesn’t align with COVA’s core belief that every victim of a crime deserves justice and equal treatment under the law.” The bill sponsors say their primary goal is not to change the criminal charges in single- victim cases, but to prevent the stacking of numerous charges in multi-victim cases. Under current law, if a person fi res a gun in a room and kills one person, then the killer would be charged with one murder — but they can also be charged with one count of attempted fi rst-degree extreme indifference murder for each individual present in the room, even if no one else was hurt. “You already have the option to charge for fi rst-degree homicide if you kill one person. ...The situation we’re trying to rectify is over- charging in circumstances where someone is not actually harmed,” Espenoza says. “It’s often unharmed bystanders whom the de- fendant is being charged for harming. What we’re doing is saying you don’t get multiple life sentences if you kill one person and then do not kill fi ve others, which is how extreme indifference has been used. There shouldn’t be the same charge if the conduct doesn’t result in the same consequence.” The charge of attempted fi rst-degree extreme indifference murder is often used in instances of public violence or mass at- tacks. That’s because prosecutors only have to prove the suspect created a grave risk to human life for each victim/bystander. Mean- while, to charge a suspect with attempted fi rst-degree murder after deliberation, pros- ecutors have to prove the suspect intended to harm a specifi c person or group. Law enforcement offi cials argue that it is a necessary tool for them, and oppose the limitations that House Bill 1281 would create. “In crimes like a drive-by shooting or a vehicle driving into a crowd, the bill would significantly reduce potential sentences merely due to potential victims surviving, and not because the offender’s conduct was any less dangerous,” says Tom Raynes, executive director of the Colorado District Attorneys’ Council. “Colorado must main- tain strong accountability for any acts that demonstrate such an extreme disregard for human life.” According to a statement from the Colorado Asso- ciation of Chiefs of Police: “These crimes involve the most violent and dangerous conduct — actions showing a complete disregard for human life and often put- ting multiple people at risk, such as with mass shoot- ings, school shootings and other mass casualty events. Colorado already ranks on the lower end compared with many other states for sentencing on serious violent crimes, and reducing penal- ties further would send the wrong message about accountability for the most dangerous offenders.” The sponsors argue that carve-outs in their bill would allow attempted extreme indifference murder charges to be utilized in necessary cases, such as when multiple victims are killed or seriously injured. “The prosecutors will still have all the tools in the toolbox to prosecute any of the horrifi c crimes that the statute has been used for,” Carter says. “They’ll still have fi rst-degree murder, they’ll still have second- degree murder, they’ll still have attempt. ...But instead of them using a blunt force object with extreme indifference, they will have to use the actual statutes that were created for those specifi c charges.” Carter introduced a similar proposal last year with House Bill 25-1206, which would have eliminated the charge of attempted extreme indifference murder. That 2025 bill failed in committee as opponents, including Espenoza, argued that it would erase over fi fty years of case law. “I saw the problem but believed we needed to approach it from a different angle. That’s why I got on the bill this year, to maintain case law, but also create a better pathway to situate extreme indifference in between fi rst-degree murder and second- degree murder,” Espenoza says. “This just says there has to be harm to the bystand- ers before you charge them with extreme indifference.” The sponsors say they are hopeful their bill will pass the Colorado Legislature, though the bill has not yet been scheduled for its fi rst hearing with the House Judiciary Committee, and it likely faces a tough road ahead. “I feel more confi dent about what we’re doing this time,” Carter says in com- parison to his 2025 bill. “But it’s still a big bill. It’s still a heavy lift.” Email the author at hannah.metzger@westword. com. NEWS KEEP UP ON DENVER NEWS AT WESTWORD.COM/NEWS The sponsors of House Bill 26-1281 call Colorado’s current extreme indifference statute “one of the most punitive” in the country. RDNE/PEXELS
