I have reason to believe that the Gibbons may have rented out a basement room in their house at some time - - don't know if they had a boarder at the time of the murder, however.

Diane Brumfitt and her two sons lived to the south of the Ramseys and she had an upstairs area that was rented out at some time. Again, I don't know if it was rented out that Christmas or not.

And at least one house that shared the alley with the Ramseys - - on the same block - the woman had boarders as well - - but again I don't know if she had company that Christmas.

I don't know if the BPD checked on those things - - I would hope they did - - but I am not sure and hope the new investigative team will.

edited to add;
"I waited until the lights in the house next door were off because I didn't want the boys there watching."

In fact, a few years later the University Hill homeowners formed a group to clean up the hill---violence was increasing...as was drug use...crime was increasing. They also wanted to limit occupancy numbers of residences. Then there were the riots with confrontations between the police and university students.

With property values going sky high, you had owners that rented out their homes---hanging on to them to take advantage of appreciation---there were plenty of renters---both students and nonstudents.

A short two blocks away you had the place for homeless, where Gary Oliva picked up his mail---where meals were served.

A stranger walking down the street would not be noticed.

Eric Sanderson sat in Beech Park near University Hill on Thursday and slurped down a single long blade of grass like a strand of spaghetti.

"I eat grass when I don't have that much money for food," the 19-year-old Georgia native said, pausing to remove his ripped, black Grateful Dead T-shirt. "And I don't want to work, so that's why I came to Boulder to live on Pearl Street. But I can't hang out on Pearl Street anymore because there's no grass in front of the courthouse. That's why now my friends and I live near the Hill."

Construction at the Boulder County Courthouse, Mall ordinances and inexpensive Hill housing have prompted Sanderson and hundreds of other transients to move from the Downtown Mall to the University Hill area, officials and the youths say.
Several shop owners say the shift has reduced Hill business and increased graffiti and robberies throughout the area.

In response last week, the Boulder Police Department increased police presence throughout the Hill business district, said Boulder police Sgt. Joe Pelle, who supervises the Hill Police Team.

"People are upset, and in the past, we've had two to three officers there from Wednesday to Saturday nights to help," Pelle said. "But there has never been an officer assigned specifically to the Hill during the daytime, and that's been a problem."

Each day, transients on the Hill generate about 20 complaints - some of them drug-related - from residents and business owners, Pelle said. To help respond, the department has assigned two officers during the day and about four to six officers most nights to the Hill.

"I don't know if adding more police will make a difference," said Michal Feuer, 19, who has worked at Josh and John's Naturally Homemade Ice Cream on University Hill for a year. "But it's frustrating to see people your own age asking you for money as you go to work, and you know they are perfectly capable of working themselves."

Carmen Epstein, owner of Mamacitas Restaurant on the Hill, noted that she has discussed job opportunities with several of the youths. About 80 of them gather in front of her restaurant at 1149 13th St. each night, she said.

"I was sympathetic," she said. "I'd let them wash dishes and give them the pots and pans they asked for. But now they slash my cook's tires in the back alley, they urinate on the door and spit on the window. Customers are afraid to come in here because they get harassed for money so much."

Police issue 10 to 20 citations each night, Pelle said. "They're mostly for things like trespassing, urinating in public and brawling," he added.

Chris Heinritz, an owner of The Sink, 1165 13th St., said the transients have violent tendencies.

"These are not peace-loving people like the old Rainbows," who came to Boulder after gatherings of the so-called Rainbow Family, he said. "They're willing to fight at the drop of a hat. They carry knives and tell you that they own the Hill.

"We've been tagged with graffiti three times this summer," he added. "People see the graffiti and the transients, and it just creates a scary atmosphere."

But Rebecca Berzoza, assistant manager at Circle K, 1275 13th St., countered that the youths do provide some benefits. They constitute about 40 percent of her customers, she said.

"They buy food and cigarettes here," she said. "It just gets to be a problem when they form a wall of people around the store as they play with their dogs."

Commander Jim Hughes of the Boulder Police Department said less stringent dog ordinances on the Hill also attract the transient youths.

"The Mall doesn't allow them to have dogs there, so that's why so many of them have moved here," he said. "And they can jam several people in cheap homes around the Hill, so that's contributed to the problem."

The increased police force may reduce the number of transients on the Hill, Hughes said.

"But no matter how many officers we have up on (the Hill), there will always be a segment of the public that will be frustrated by what they perceive as a police failure to control certain behavior," he said. "We just have no legal authority to control loitering."

John Torlekson, an 18-year-old Ohio resident, said he plans to continue "loitering" all summer.

"I don't want to work, and I don't go to school," he said. "It's nice to be in an area where you're with friends and you're not pressured to conform to society. That's why I plan on staying right here."

Crime reports are up in Hill area, police say

Street robberies and reports of fighting have increased lately around the University Hill area, Boulder police say. "A lot of the robberies probably involved drugs and drug money," said Boulder police Sgt. Joe Pelle. "Most of them have been around the Hill. Several transient youths have been victims, and the suspects are other kids."

Of the 10 street robberies around the city reported since June 1, seven have occurred during daylight hours, officials say.

The young robbers usually choose victims in their late teens and request cash, Pelle said.

Sgt. Molly Bernard of the Boulder Police Department offered the following tips to protect yourself:

Don't carry large sums of money.

Travel in groups.

If confronted, give the robber what he asks for.

"Money and property are replaceable," she added.

In addition, several fights occurred on the Hill this week.

At 11:30 p.m. Monday, police responded to a report of 12 to 15 people attacking each other at 12th and Pennsylvania streets, police reports said. One man, Steven Reinhart, 20, suffered several cuts to the head during the fight. He told police the scuffle involved a bad drug deal.

In another fight at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, about 20 transient youths and local teenagers brawled at Central Park at Canyon and Broadway, Pelle said.

Wednesday night, officers arrested one young male swinging a chain on the Hill, Pelle said. During the evening, police also responded to several other fight reports, he said.

"People get into arguments up here every night," said Jenna Freeman, 17, a transient from Oregon. "People just don't always report them."

- ALLI KRUPSKI

http://www.ci.boulder.co.us/publicworks/uhag-report.htm

Interesting read on what the residents are doing to prevent the area from spiralling downward into decay. Points out that the University Hill area has the highest crime rate in the city.

An exerpt from the executive summary:

"This report, Reviving University Hill, is a call to action for the Boulder City Council. Based on ten weeks of listening and learning, the report recommends more than thirty projects and five broader policies for reviving the University Hill neighborhood.

The University Hill Action Group’s fifteen members are very concerned by the continuing decline of the University Hill neighborhood--physically, socially, and economically. What was an historic and once prestigious area now suffers from neglected buildings and trash, the city’s highest crime rate, and sharply declining sales tax revenues.

The Hill’s decline has been gradual but relentless. Now the neighborhood has reached a critical moment when, unless City Council acts swiftly and decisively, it will tilt dangerously downward. This has happened elsewhere as weary neighbors give up and move out in a rush to avoid being the last one on the block.

The Action Group identified five strategic goals for reviving University Hill and used them to guide our specific recommendations for action to City Council. The goals are:

Clean up The Hill and keep it clean.
Set standards for neighborly behavior, communicate them to newcomers, and when required, enforce them fairly and consistently.
Improve the physical conditions on The Hill on both public and private properties.
Broaden the commercial mix to better serve the community.
Promote a sense of community among University Hill neighbors. "

Three to stand trial for robberies
By Sandra Fish
Camera Staff Writer
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A judge ordered three young men to stand trial and accepted guilty pleas from three others Tuesday in connection with three armed robberies.
Five other suspects are set to enter plea deals in a complex string of robberies where some of the suspects allegedly invaded the mobile home of two men they had robbed earlier and were reported to police.

The cases involve three armed robberies:

On Sept. 25, a deal for a pound of marijuana turned into an armed robbery when a juvenile allegedly pulled a gun and the suspects fled Sugarloaf Road with about $3,500 from the drug buyers.

On Oct. 2, some of the same suspects allegedly barged into a Marine Street home on University Hill armed with guns, a stun gun and a bat. They took a laptop computer, computer games, money, wallets, marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms.

On Oct. 14, several of the suspects allegedly stormed into a mobile home on Valmont Road, forcing a couple and their two children into a bathroom at gunpoint and taking a safe from the home. The victims in that case were the same people involved in the Sugarloaf robbery. They called 911 to report the second crime.

Judge Roxanne Bailin on Tuesday ordered three men to stand trial for various felony counts in some or all of the incidents after a preliminary hearing. She said she'd rule later on whether two of the men should be charged with felony kidnapping or misdemeanor false imprisonment in connection with the Oct. 14 robbery.

They are:

Mahir Lamar Wade, 18, of Boulder, charged with numerous felonies in all three robberies. He remains in jail in lieu of $60,000 bond.

James Duncan Longfellow, 18, of Boulder, charged with numerous felonies in all three robberies.

Leslie Cornell Williams II, 19, of Boulder, charged with five counts in the Sept. 25 robbery.

"I think we're looking at a matrix here of jury trials," Bailin said, noting that each man has a different lawyer, each had different levels of participation and the three incidents were different.

A 17-year-old who told sheriff's deputies he was "the mastermind of all those licks" will appear before Bailin at a disposition hearing Dec. 13. Witnesses Tuesday identified the teen as carrying a gun in two of the robberies. Senior Trial Deputy District Attorney John Pickering said the youth has been offered a deal that includes a sentence of six years in the youth corrections system with an 18-year suspended sentence as an adult.

Two juveniles and two adults also waived preliminary hearings Tuesday, planning to enter plea agreements later. The three juveniles remain in custody.

Bailin accepted guilty pleas from three others Tuesday in plea agreements:

Marcus Brewster, 18, of Boulder pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit second degree burglary for driving to the Oct. 14 robbery. He remained in the car. Prosecutors are recommending a four-year deferred sentence.

Michelle Sammoury, 19, of Boulder pleaded guilty to conspiracy. She was in the car during the Sept. 25 Sugarloaf robbery. Prosecutors are recommending a two-year deferred sentence.

Ashley Steele, 18, of Boulder pleaded guilty to conspiracy. She drove the car to the Sept. 25 Sugarloaf robbery. Prosecutors are recommending a two-year deferred sentence.

Contact Sandra Fish at (303) 473-1356 or fishs@thedailycamera.com.

December 5, 2001

Police search for suspects in mall attack
By Robyn Mayer
Enterprise Staff Writer

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Broomfield Police have released composite drawings of two robbery suspects who attacked a woman at the FlatIron Crossing mall on Thursday, Nov. 29, but otherwise have no leads, Sgt. Dan Schuler, Broomfield Public Information Officer said Friday......

Two men forced a 38-year-old Superior woman into the back of her parked car on the east side of the mall near Eddie Bauer and Dillards about 2:30 p.m. Thursday. Just after the victim had parked her car, the suspects stopped their vehicle next to hers and accosted her. One of the suspects used a stun device on her leg and stole her purse, police reports stated. The victim received minor injuries but did not require medical treatment. Her purse was later recovered in the street at a nearby office complex.

"It was a very aggressive move on their (the suspects) part, and if they had been any slower, they would have been caught because police were immediately there, Crawford said.

Suspect description
The victim and witnesses helped police create composite images on a computer. The victim said the main difference between the subjects was that one of the suspect's hair was "gelled" and that one was taller than the other. Both are described as tanned white or Hispanic men between 17 and 21 years of age. The first suspect — described as 5 feet, 6 inches tall, of stocky build with black hair and brown eyes — hit her with the stun gun and took the purse, then handed it to the second suspect. According to reports, the victim is more certain about the identity of the second suspect, who is described as 6 feet tall, of average build, with black hair, brown eyes and wearing a blue or black long-sleeved V-neck shirt and jeans.

Witnesses described the vehicle in which the suspects fled as a silver, gold or champagne-colored four-door, late-model Toyota Camry or Corolla.

Note: Again, young ages...and they used a stun gun.

Woman receives deferred sentence in robbery series
By Christine Reid and Pam Regensberg
Camera Staff Writers

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The first of a dozen people charged in a series of armed robberies that targeted drug buyers was sentenced Friday.

Michelle Sammoury, 19, received a two-year deferred sentence after pleading guilty to conspiracy and was ordered to complete 96 hours of community service by Chief Judge Roxanne Bailin.

"I feel awful for what I did," said Sammoury, who now attends a California college. "I shouldn't have been there. I don't know how I got sucked into it."

Sammoury is accused of being part of a group that drove to Sugarloaf Road to complete a drug transaction Sept. 25. Instead, police said, a juvenile from the car she was in pulled out a pellet gun and stole $3,500 from two men who were expecting to purchase marijuana.

Sammoury's attorney told the court her client thought "they were joking around" and went along to protect her best friend, Ashley Steele, who is accused of driving. But as the car meandered up the mountain roads, Sammoury tried to be the "voice of reason" to no avail, her attorney said.

Leslie Cornell Williams II, 19, also accused of taking part in the robbery, was in court Friday as well. The Mesa College sophomore pleaded guilty to robbery, a Class 4 felony.

Under a plea bargain, he could be sentenced to prison for two to six years, or up to 12 years in a community-based program such as probation or community corrections. Williams is scheduled to be sentenced March 22.

Police say the two are part of a ring of 12 people who targeted drug buyers in three separate armed robberies.

On Oct. 2, assailants barged into a Marine Street home on University Hill with guns, a stun gun and a bat. They took a laptop computer, computer games, money, wallets, marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms.

On Oct. 14, a group stormed into a mobile home on Valmont Road, forcing a couple and their two children into a bathroom at gunpoint and taking a safe from the home. The victims in that case were the same people involved in the Sugarloaf robbery, police said.

Prosecutor John Pickering said Williams, if asked, must testify against the other co-defendants including his relative James Duncan Longfellow, 19.

Longfellow and Mahir Lamar Wade, 18, are scheduled to stand trial for various felony counts in connection with some or all of the crimes.

Steele and Marcus Brewster, both 18, also pleaded guilty to their roles in the crimes and are scheduled to be sentenced Friday.

The remainder of the suspects are juveniles.

January 12, 2002

One Boulder sees glimpse of the other

There are two Boulders. There's the visible Boulder, with its glittery cars, imposing homes and sculpted bodies. Then there's the other Boulder, where life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and usually short. One Boulder has means. One does not. One Boulder is hard to see. Unless you look.

Early Friday afternoon, a man approached a Boulder resident and asked her to call 911. The man, who appeared to be homeless, told the resident there was a dead body in a ravine near the Wonderland Lake Trailhead.

Police cordoned off four acres of open space, and forensic investigators combed the scene for indications of what had happened. Police called it a "suspicious death," and they said the deceased appeared to have suffered head trauma.

On Saturday, the coroner's office reported that the deceased had not, in fact, suffered lethal injuries, that the "visible trauma" was merely a bloody nose. Officials did not rule out homicide, and the coroner said he would not make a determination on the cause or manner of death until other tests were completed.

The man who approached the resident was identified as Arthur J. Seery, a 45-year-old with no fixed address. Police said Seery was misleading when questioned about his identity. Records indicate that Seery has used the names John Davis and John Shraeder and answers to Mad Dog.

Seery was jailed on suspicion of criminal impersonation, and bond was set at $500,000. On Monday, his bond was reduced to $1,500. He is not being held on charges related to the death. Apparently, Seery and the deceased slept in the Wonderland Lake area, a nice part of town along the foothills, on Thursday night.

The deceased was identified as Joseph Allen Bernal. Police said he appeared to be homeless. But according to voting-registration records, he lived in Erie as recently as July 1999, and he may have lived previously in Taos, N.M., Tulsa, Okla., and Denver. He would have turned 41 in November.

Bernal is the newest name on a long list of people who have died after living on Boulder's streets. In 1982, a Vietnam veteran froze to death in Boulder's Central Park, shocking the city into launching the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless. But not all of those who lack a home use the shelter. And some still die, often from hypothermia — freezing to death.

Bob Mann, executive director of the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless, estimates that 35 homeless people have died in the Boulder area in five years. In about half of those fatalities, hypothermia was a factor. Alcohol is a common contributor.

What becomes striking about those who die this way is the contrast between their world and the one enjoyed by most of us. Their paths and ours cross and criss-cross, weaving a disparate social fabric.

Richard Caddell, 54, was found frozen to death inside a makeshift tent near Taft Drive and 28th Street in early February. He was camping at the bottom of University Hill, a short walk away from the Boulder Creek Path, where hundreds of people run, bike and skate.

In 1997, David Simpson, a homeless man, was found beaten to death a few steps away from the 19th Street footbridge over Boulder Creek. In 1992, Nathan Trujillo was found dead early one Sunday morning in a public restroom on the Pearl Street Mall. The list gets longer, but the common theme is contrast: death within sight of life; poverty dwarfed by affluence.

William Blake, the British poet, wrote that some are born to sweet delight, and some to endless night. Joy and woe are woven fine, he said, with silken twine. So it is in Boulder, where the desperate watch life jog by, and where the destitute walk the same path only to stumble.

Reach Clint Talbott at (303) 473-1367 or talbottc@thedailycamera.com.

March 13, 2001

The Gibbons cannot have rented out a basement room in their house. According to Boulder County assessor real estate records, their house has no basement.

http://iaspub1.co.boulder.co.us/pls/asrpub/asrpub.property_dsc?vROWID=000120901

I didn't know about that basement room until later - - but with 3 full baths inthe house, there certainly could be one in the basement.