El Paso DA: Colorado nightclub shooting suspect had 2021 case dropped for lack of cooperation

Suspect Anderson Lee Aldrich — who according to court documents intended to “hurt or murder a set of grandparents” if released from custody — had all charges dropped in spite of the “tub” full of chemicals used for making bombs found in his home.

Aldrich’s mother and the grandparents deliberately evaded process servers and law enforcement who were attempting to serve them with a subpoenas. Defense attorneys managed to argue that the delays this caused compromised the “speedy trial rule” and eventually lead to the dismissal of charges.

The former El Paso County District Attorney, Dan May, who preceded Michael Allen told reporters that he had seen many attempts to derail a case by dodging subpoenas, but referred to the difficulty faced while trying to serve Aldrich’s family as extraordinary.

Pamela Pullen, Aldrich’s grandmother said (through an attorney) that she found a subpoena in her mailbox, but claimed that it was never physically handed to her.

May said, “I don’t know that they were hiding, but if that was the case, shame on them. This is an extreme example of apparent manipulation that has resulted in something horrible.”

Joseph Archambault, Aldrich’s attorney, a public defender made the case that his client’s right to a fair trial was top priority.

Archambault said, “This will make sure there is no presumption of innocence.”

22 year old Aldrich was arrested in June of 2021 after roughly ten homes were evacuated following threats. According to court documents, Aldrich bragged to grandparents about bomb-making material in their basement and demanded that they not interfere with his plans to be “the next mass killer” and “go out in a blaze.”

According to documents, Aldrich was arrested after a standoff with SWAT in which he said he was determined to “go to the end.” Later, Investigators searching the mother’s and grandparents’ home found and seized handguns, body armor, a gas mask and a tub of bomb making chemicals.

A report from a sheriff’s office pointed to prior 911 calls made in response to Aldrich’s “escalating homicidal behavior” but did not say more.

Xavier Kraus, a former friend and neighbor of Aldrich, told reporters that, “At the end of the day, [the grandparents] weren’t going to testify against Andy.”

Kraus has text messages from Aldrich’s mother stating that she and her son were “hiding from somebody.” Kraus later found out that it was officials trying to serve the subpoena that they were hiding from.

Kru said that Aldrich’s “words were, ‘They got nothing. There’s no evidence.'”

Colorado law automatically seals records “when a case is dropped and defendants are not prosecuted”. It was this sealed case that made it impossible to seize weapons from Aldrich before the shooting at the Colorado night club.

According to a statement from Bill Elder, El Paso County Sheriff, a red flag order wasn’t necessary because Aldrich’s weapons were already seized.