Trial opens against man charged with ten murders in Colorado supermarket

DENVER, Aug 26 (Reuters) – Jury selection began on Monday in the long-delayed trial of a man accused of murdering 10 people at a Colorado supermarket in 2021. In the case, the suspect was declared mentally incompetent before pleading not guilty on the grounds of insanity.

The outcome of the trial depends on whether the defense can convince the jury that 25-year-old Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa was so mentally ill at the time of the massacre that he could not distinguish between good and evil and therefore should not be held responsible for the murders.

The basic facts of the case are undisputed. Alissa stormed a King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, about 28 miles northwest of Denver, on March 22, 2021, armed with a legally purchased Ruger AR-556 pistol, which resembles an AR-15-style rifle.

According to police, he killed two people in the supermarket parking lot before shooting eight more inside the supermarket. Among those killed was a police officer who arrived at the scene.

The shootout ended when a police officer shot Alissa in the leg, prompting the gunman, who was wearing only underwear, to surrender. He has been in custody since the day of the shooting.

Alissa is accused of ten counts of premeditated murder, as well as dozens of attempted murder, assault and weapons offenses in connection with the shooting spree.

A conviction would automatically result in a life sentence without parole. There is no death penalty in Colorado.

The trial officially began Monday morning when the judge and attorneys for both sides began selecting jurors for the case, a court spokesman said.

Jury selection is expected to be completed by the end of the week, with opening statements possible as early as Friday or the Tuesday after Labor Day.

Alissa's case stalled after he underwent a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation and was diagnosed with schizophrenia in late 2021. Boulder District Court Judge Ingrid Bakke then relied on the conclusions of state psychologists and declared him unfit to stand trial.

In November 2023, Bakke found that the defendant's mental state had improved sufficiently under psychiatric treatment to declare him competent to stand trial and proceed with the prosecution.

Sanity is a legal determination that assesses whether defendants understand the charges against them and can reasonably defend themselves. A plea of ​​insanity instead refers to the defendant's mental state at the time of the alleged crime.

Gruesome details of the killings emerged during his hearing last year, when a Boulder homicide detective testified that Alissa shot a man in the back, then chased the victim as he tried to crawl away, then shot him again. The investigator also testified that the suspect shot and wounded a woman, then fired several more shots at her as she curled up in the fetal position, killing her.

All victims hit by gunfire died from their injuries, authorities said.

The prosecution has not given an exact motive for the shooting, but according to a psychologist who treated the shooter in a state mental hospital, Alissa had said he wanted to “commit suicide by killing a police officer.”

Sign up Here.

Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.opens new tab