(CO) Woman cleared in death of boyfriend 08-26-03
Woman cleared in Eagle death
Jury decides fur shop owner killed ex-boyfriend in self-defense
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~1591706,00.html
By Steve Lipsher, Denver Post Mountain Bureau
Tuesday, August 26, 2003 - 12:00:00 AM MST
The wealthy owner of Aspen and Vail fur shops was acquitted Monday
evening
of murder in the slaying of an ex-boyfriend during the disintegration of
a
stormy love triangle. Kathleen Denson, 46, admitted killing Gerald
"Cody"
Boyd at her Draggin'-A quarter horse ranch last summer, but said the
shooting with an antique black- powder handgun was in self-defense from
a
cocaine-crazed, self-proclaimed hit man.
"I'm relieved. I'm not surprised," Denson said outside Eagle County
District
Court. "I expected a 'not guilty."'
The jury of nine men and three women returned its verdict at 7:15 p.m.
after
two hours of deliberation. The panel rejected charges of second-degree
murder and manslaughter. Prosecutors had argued that Denson shot Boyd in
a
jealous pique after he left her for one of her employees. "Cody Boyd
didn't
have a gun in his hands," Assistant District Attorney Phil Smith said in
his
closing arguments. "Rage took over."
But defense attorney Scott Robinson argued that the shooting was in
self-defense as Denson dumped Boyd, a renowned Texas ladies' man who had
become romantically involved with one of her employees. "Denson had
terminated the relationship, and Boyd knew it. The gravy train was
pulling
out, and he was no longer aboard," Robinson said.
Boyd, a collector of assault weapons who frequently bragged that he had
killed 32 people, had received $100,000 from Denson a month earlier and
threatened her into giving him more when he stormed uninvited into her
home,
amped up on cocaine, Robinson said.
The "other woman," longtime fur-shop employee Monique Seebacher,
recounted
an awkward vacation to Cancun, Mexico, that the three took together on
Denson's tab, and testified that Denson bought Boyd a wedding ring just
weeks before the shooting.
Prosecutors suggested those were the desperate acts of a spurned lover
who
then fired the fatal shot with a .44-caliber handgun she bought as a
gift
for Boyd. "He was crazy. I thought he'd kill me if I didn't shoot him,"
Denson said in testimony last week. Denson still faces a wrongful-death
lawsuit from Boyd's 11-year-old daughter, Callie, as well as a
wrongful-termination suit filed by Seebacher.
"It's been a long year. It's been a really long year," Denson said,
adding
that she regrets the entire ordeal. "How could you not?" Denson had been
free on $600,000 bond secured by her ranch between Eagle and Gypsum.
In addition to Seebacher, witnesses included Boyd's mother, Mary Jo, who
testified that her son stretched the truth but was not violent. But his
former wife, Debra Griffith, testified that she had once sought a
restraining order against Boyd, 45, after their separation because she
feared he would turn violent.
The case seemed the stuff of sensational fiction, replete with tales of
greed, jealousy, and rage; investigators told of drug-and-booze binges
and
found video and photos of Denson and Boyd engaged in sexual acts. And it
even featured a little courtroom drama when Deputy District Attorney
Greg
Crittenden collapsed from exhaustion just before closing arguments,
originally scheduled for Friday.
Prosecutor Smith declined comment, other than to say he respects the
jury's
verdict. "Only two people were there that day," Smith said in closing
arguments of the June 27, 2001, slaying, "and one of 'em isn't talking."
Woman cleared in Eagle death
Jury decides fur shop owner killed ex-boyfriend in self-defense
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~1591706,00.html
By Steve Lipsher, Denver Post Mountain Bureau
Tuesday, August 26, 2003 - 12:00:00 AM MST
The wealthy owner of Aspen and Vail fur shops was acquitted Monday
evening
of murder in the slaying of an ex-boyfriend during the disintegration of
a
stormy love triangle. Kathleen Denson, 46, admitted killing Gerald
"Cody"
Boyd at her Draggin'-A quarter horse ranch last summer, but said the
shooting with an antique black- powder handgun was in self-defense from
a
cocaine-crazed, self-proclaimed hit man.
"I'm relieved. I'm not surprised," Denson said outside Eagle County
District
Court. "I expected a 'not guilty."'
The jury of nine men and three women returned its verdict at 7:15 p.m.
after
two hours of deliberation. The panel rejected charges of second-degree
murder and manslaughter. Prosecutors had argued that Denson shot Boyd in
a
jealous pique after he left her for one of her employees. "Cody Boyd
didn't
have a gun in his hands," Assistant District Attorney Phil Smith said in
his
closing arguments. "Rage took over."
But defense attorney Scott Robinson argued that the shooting was in
self-defense as Denson dumped Boyd, a renowned Texas ladies' man who had
become romantically involved with one of her employees. "Denson had
terminated the relationship, and Boyd knew it. The gravy train was
pulling
out, and he was no longer aboard," Robinson said.
Boyd, a collector of assault weapons who frequently bragged that he had
killed 32 people, had received $100,000 from Denson a month earlier and
threatened her into giving him more when he stormed uninvited into her
home,
amped up on cocaine, Robinson said.
The "other woman," longtime fur-shop employee Monique Seebacher,
recounted
an awkward vacation to Cancun, Mexico, that the three took together on
Denson's tab, and testified that Denson bought Boyd a wedding ring just
weeks before the shooting.
Prosecutors suggested those were the desperate acts of a spurned lover
who
then fired the fatal shot with a .44-caliber handgun she bought as a
gift
for Boyd. "He was crazy. I thought he'd kill me if I didn't shoot him,"
Denson said in testimony last week. Denson still faces a wrongful-death
lawsuit from Boyd's 11-year-old daughter, Callie, as well as a
wrongful-termination suit filed by Seebacher.
"It's been a long year. It's been a really long year," Denson said,
adding
that she regrets the entire ordeal. "How could you not?" Denson had been
free on $600,000 bond secured by her ranch between Eagle and Gypsum.
In addition to Seebacher, witnesses included Boyd's mother, Mary Jo, who
testified that her son stretched the truth but was not violent. But his
former wife, Debra Griffith, testified that she had once sought a
restraining order against Boyd, 45, after their separation because she
feared he would turn violent.
The case seemed the stuff of sensational fiction, replete with tales of
greed, jealousy, and rage; investigators told of drug-and-booze binges
and
found video and photos of Denson and Boyd engaged in sexual acts. And it
even featured a little courtroom drama when Deputy District Attorney
Greg
Crittenden collapsed from exhaustion just before closing arguments,
originally scheduled for Friday.
Prosecutor Smith declined comment, other than to say he respects the
jury's
verdict. "Only two people were there that day," Smith said in closing
arguments of the June 27, 2001, slaying, "and one of 'em isn't talking."
