BRIGHTON, Colo. — A judge entered a not guilty plea for the man suspected of shooting and killing three people in a Thornton Walmart last November.
Scott Ostrem appeared in court Friday. The judge denied Ostrem’s attorneys’ effort to postpone the trial in order to file a mental illness or insanity plea.
The next motion hearings are scheduled for Dec. 7 and 14. Ostrem’s trial is set to begin Jan. 28, 2019. However, that date could change.
During today’s court procedures, there was an emotion outburst in the courtroom when two of the victims’ family members used an expletive and called Ostrem a “coward,” “liar,” and “human waste.”
Ostrem sat quietly and said nothing, as he has done in earlier court appearances.
Ostrem faces six first-degree murder and 30 attempted murder charges.
The three people killed in the shooting are Pamela Marques, 52; Carlos Moreno, 66; and Victor Vasquez, 26.
Adams County District Attorney Dave Young said the number of victims presents a challenge as he considers whether to pursue the death penalty for Ostrem.
Young said he was “meeting with all the victims of this case and then meeting with my trial team and doing what I think is right.”
In a hearing earlier this summer, prosecutors said Ostrem went to a shooting range, Colorado Clays Shooting Park, the afternoon of the shooting and fired more than two dozen shots at a target.
They also said Ostrem was wearing the same clothes seen on the shooter in surveillance video from the Walmart.
During that hearing, Ostrem’s defense attorneys did not question the video, but rather statements from some of the witnesses whose descriptions of the shooter varied. Some told police the shooter had red hair, was Hispanic, had a mustache or wore glasses.
In April, Ostrem was determined mentally competent to stand trial.