AURORA, Colo. – DNA evidence led to a man’s conviction Friday in a triple shooting that left one man dead and another paralyzed at a bar in Aurora in November 2014.
Ignacio Luque-Verdugo, 32, was convicted Friday in Adams County District Court of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder charges.
Andres Clinto-Duran, 29, died after being shot six times at the Bronco Bar in the early-morning hours of Nov. 21, 2014. Sergio Clinto-Duran, 35, was shot three times and survived, but was paralyzed when a bullet hit his spine.
Manuel Rios-Rios, 30, survived the shooting after being hit twice.
Detectives found that Sergio had been stabbed ahead of the shooting, which Andres tried to stop when he and the others were shot. Andres Clinto-Duran was shot five times in the back while he lay on the floor.
He had been set to become an American citizen in May 2015.
Investigators had originally sought two male Hispanic suspects in the shooting, but were not able to immediately arrest anyone.
But when they looked at surveillance video from inside the bar, they discovered that Luque-Verdugo had been drinking a beer, which he set on a pool table at the bar to grab for his gun and shoot the men.
DNA evidence taken from the beer bottle showed it belonged to Luque-Verdugo. He had fled the state after the shooting, but was arrested in California in July 2015 and extradited back to Colorado to face charges.
“Thank God he calmly placed that beer bottle on the pool table. We wouldn’t be here today if that hadn’t happened,” said District Attorney Dave Young.
Young called Luque-Verdugo’s actions “cold” and “calculated” in court ahead of the jury’s decision.
After three hours of deliberation, the jury found Luque-Verdugo guilty of first-degree murder after deliberation, first-degree murder with extreme indifference, four counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault and eight sentencing enhancements for crimes of violence.
He is set to be sentenced June 19, where he faces life in prison.
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