DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. — A defendant accused of stabbing three people — including the back of a 7-year-old's head — in Douglas County earlier this year has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.
Luke Barkhaus, 32, pleaded not guilty on Friday morning to all eight felonies filed against him, which include two counts of first-degree assault, attempted first-degree assault, second-degree assault, three counts of felony menacing and child abuse.
Barkhaus was arrested on the morning of Jan. 28 in Aurora.
Two days prior, officers with the Parker Police Department responded to a restaurant after receiving a report that a person had stabbed an employee and fled. About an hour later, another Parker business called police and reported a stabbing by a suspect that matched the description from the first case. The suspect had fled from that scene as well, and police could not immediately locate him. One of the victims from these two incidents — though police did not say which — was transported to the hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.
While looking at surveillance footage from the second incident, police watched the suspect get into a car and were able to read its license plate number.
Parker detectives worked with the Douglas County Sheriff's Office to search the suspect, and they tracked him to Aurora. He was taken into custody two days after the stabbings and brought to the Douglas County Jail. His bond was initially set at $100,000 but was increased to $1 million.
The day after his arrest, Denver7 learned that Barkhaus was also suspected of stabbing a 7-year-old in the back of the head at a local Walmart. It's not clear when this happened in relation to the two other stabbings. The child was expected to be OK, Denver7 learned.
Barkhaus is next due in court on Jan. 9, 2026. His trial is currently slotted for April 6-9, 2026.
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