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Denver Native (Carol)
09-06-2007, 10:28 AM
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5691207,00.html

Letter reveals feds' belief in link to Williams' death
Suspected gang member eyed in slaying of Bronco


By Sara Burnett, Rocky Mountain News
September 6, 2007
Federal prosecutors connected suspected gang member Brian Hicks to the murder of Denver Broncos player Darrent Williams in a letter to the Department of Justice more than four months ago, according to court filings.

The letter, made public recently, is the first official, signed document to link Hicks and his associates to the New Year's Day drive-by shooting, as well as other killings.

"Hicks is a suspect in several murders being investigated in the Denver area," Assistant U.S. Attorney Michele Korver wrote in an April 22 letter to officials in Washington.

"One of the murder victims . . . an eyewitness in Hicks' attempted murder case, was shot before she was to give testimony against Hicks at trial. In addition, Denver homicide detectives suspect Hicks was involved in the recent shooting death of an NFL player."

No charges have been filed in either killing, and Hicks' attorneys have denied he was involved.

Hicks, 28, was in jail when both Williams and the witness, Kaloniann Clark, died. In a phone call recorded shortly after Williams' murder, Hicks repeatedly said he didn't know anything about it.

"The only time I find out something is when I use the phone or watch the news or something," Hicks said, according to a transcript of the call. "I don't even know what's going on."

Police say the shots that killed Williams were fired from an SUV registered to Hicks. They also have said that Hicks and other members of his gang may be involved in as many as 11 unsolved murders.

All of those suspects were indicted on federal drug charges as part of a massive April bust, authorities said.

Prosecutors now hope the charges will motivate some of the defendants to provide information against other suspects in exchange for lighter prison sentences.

Police zeroed in on Hicks and the people close to him early in the investigation, visiting him at the jail and quickly taking one of his friends, Willie Clark, into custody for questioning.

They also started putting pressure on his girlfriend, Veronica Garcia, according to a court document filed by her attorney.

A few weeks after Williams' murder, Denver homicide detectives visited Garcia's relatives, defense attorney John Mosby wrote. They also took one of her friends to the police station, where they told her about a reward for information in the killing, and began asking her about Garcia.

The next day, detectives told Garcia they wanted to talk to her about the Williams murder. Garcia told detectives several times that she knew nothing about the killing, and she refused to go to the police station for questioning, according to the document.

She also said police visited her house again the following day, and that detectives told her they would subpoena her to appear before a grand jury if she didn't cooperate.

Garcia still refused.

So in April, federal prosecutors sought permission from the Department of Justice to file federal charges against Garcia for a 2004 drug charge in Adams County, even though she already had been sentenced to a halfway house for the crime.

The legal tactic is used occasionally in federal court, usually to get a tougher sentence against a defendant, and must be approved by officials in Washington.

In the letter, Korver said investigators didn't have enough evidence to file new drug charges, and that the government thought Garcia's state court sentence had provided "little to no motivation" for her to cooperate with police.

She also said prosecutors believe Garcia is closely connected to Hicks, and likely to have information about the murders.

Garcia was indicted along with the others three days later. But prosecutors dropped the charges last month, after Garcia's attorney filed a motion calling it a "vindictive prosecution."

Jeff Dorschner, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, declined to comment Wednesday on the decision to drop the case.

Hicks' phone call

Excerpts from a phone call between Brian Hicks and his girlfriend, Veronica Garcia, and an unidentified male. The call was recorded by the Denver jail, where Hicks was being held.

• On being questioned by police about the Darrent Williams murder:

"They come up here asking me. You know, I don't know nothing, (expletive), I been in jail, so as a matter of fact, don't even come up here. I told that to the major. He was like, who do you want to talk to? I said (defense attorneys) Harvey Steinberg and Walter Gerash."

• On possible reasons someone shot Williams:

"He could have argued with somebody . . . or he might have told somebody something they didn't like. I don't know . . . all they really saying is, oh, they get into an altercation and this happened. There got to be more to the story that the other people ain't telling, you know what I mean?"

• On learning about the shooting, and that his SUV was involved, then later spray-painted and abandoned:

"I still don't believe it's true . . . I really didn't believe it, but then when I seen my (expletive) car on the damn TV all (expletive) up, spray painted . . . I was like, what the (expletive) is going on?"

• On what Garcia should tell Willie Clark, who had just been picked up for questioning in the murder:

"If he don't know nothing, he need - he just need to tell them, 'I don't know' . . . You should go talk to him. Just tell him - just tell him that if he on TV, just - just chill the (expletive) out."Source: Transcript Filed In U.S. District Court

burnetts@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5343

Lonestar
09-06-2007, 11:04 AM
Just like the mafia if they can't get someone to talk this is gonna stay unsolved for ever. Omerta I think is the correct term.

Watchthemiddle
09-06-2007, 02:13 PM
Just like the mafia if they can't get someone to talk this is gonna stay unsolved for ever. Omerta I think is the correct term.

Somebody will talk. THey busted over 40 people ( if I recall correctly ) in that sting in April. OVer 400 regional officers and SWAT members were involved in the operation.

THese guys might be close, but they are not "mafia" close or smart to keep quiet. One of them will squeel like a little baby...:Cry::Cry:

Lonestar
09-06-2007, 04:17 PM
Somebody will talk. THey busted over 40 people ( if I recall correctly ) in that sting in April. OVer 400 regional officers and SWAT members were involved in the operation.

THese guys might be close, but they are not "mafia" close or smart to keep quiet. One of them will squeel like a little baby...:Cry::Cry:

Lets hope so But knowing how Mexican gangs work, I won't hold my breath.