DENVER (AP) — Friends of a Denver chef stabbed to death by a homeless man say they don't believe the suspect's claim that he was trying to defend himself.
Raoul Solis Lanius told police he stabbed 35-year-old Marlon Casanova after Casanova tried to force him and his girlfriend from their sleeping spot in Denver's LoDo neighborhood early Monday. The 53-year-old acknowledged using a racial epithet against Casanova, whom he said charged him. Following the stabbing, Lanius flagged down a couple walking nearby and asked them to call 911.
But a half dozen friends told The Denver Post that Casanova was walking to his nearby apartment when he was stabbed. They say he was a soft-spoken person who never raised his voice at anyone and worked six or seven days a week at two upscale restaurants.
Friend Conner Gooding called Casanova "one of the nicest guys I've ever met."
Lanius was charged Thursday with murder in the first degree.
