Jury finds Alissa guilty of murder in Colorado grocery store massacre trial

Boulder, Colorado
CNN
—

A jury has found Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa guilty of ten counts of murder in the March 22, 2021 massacre at a King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, Colorado, in which ten people were killed.

The jury, which deliberated for just over five and a half hours, found Alissa guilty but rejected his plea of ​​insanity.

Alissa’s sentencing is expected shortly.

In addition to the 10 murder charges, 25-year-old Alissa was also found guilty on 45 other counts, including attempted murder, assault and using a prohibited large-capacity magazine during the commission of a crime.

Alissa's lawyers did not dispute that he committed the shooting. To determine whether he was insane at the time of the shooting, jurors had to weigh whether they believed he was capable of forming intent or knowing right from wrong.

In recent weeks, jurors have heard 10 days of testimony in which the prosecution argued that Alissa was sane at the time of the crime, even though he was diagnosed with schizophrenia after the shooting.

The shooter was declared incompetent to stand trial in 2021, but was declared sane in 2023 after being treated at a state hospital.

“The evidence in this case is clear. What happened on March 22, 2021 is not a mystery; it was captured on video,” said Assistant District Attorney Ken Kupfner in his closing argument before going through all the charges against Alissa and pointing out the actions that prosecutors say prove beyond a doubt that he acted “deliberately and with intent.”

Alissa is “not crazy. … Someone who thinks mass murder is fun is sick. We agree that he is mentally ill. He has schizophrenia, but he is not crazy,” Kupfner said.

Alissa's defense attorney Kathryn Herold told the jury in her closing argument that “this tragedy was the result of an illness and not a conscious choice.”

“Mr. Alissa committed these crimes because he was psychotic and delusional on March 22, 2021,” Herold said. “We also know that this tragedy would never have happened without the psychosis he was suffering from.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.