The University of Colorado student arrested in last week’s dorm-room shooting threatened to kill his roommate in January over being asked to take out the trash, according to an arrest affidavit released Friday.
Nicholas Jordan, 25, has been charged with two felony counts of first-degree murder, one misdemeanor count of menacing and one count of committing a crime of violence, El Paso County Court Judge David Shakes said in Friday morning’s court hearing.
If convicted, Jordan faces two life sentences without the possibility of parole, Shakes said.
The January trash dispute and the original 911 call reporting last week’s shootings of Samuel Knopp, 24, and Celie Montgomery, 26, that shut down the CU Colorado Springs campus came from a third roommate living in the same dormitory pod, according to the arrest affidavit.
Each dorm pod consists of a common area and four individual bedrooms with locking doors. Knopp, Jordan and the third roommate shared a pod with an empty fourth bedroom, according to the affidavit.
Knopp and Jordan’s January argument sparked when Knopp gathered up a bag of trash from around the pod and set it outside Jordan’s door, according to the arrest affidavit.
Jordan threatened to kill Knopp over the bag and promised “there would be consequences” if he was asked to take out the trash again, the affidavit stated.
There were multiple instances when Knopp and the third roommate reported Jordan for unsafe living conditions and smoking inside the room, according to the affidavit. The two also filed several complaints with UCCS Police and UCCS Housing about Jordan’s smoking marijuana and cigarettes as well as the general lack of cleanliness in the living area.
Shakes unsealed the arrest affidavit during Friday morning’s court hearing, ruling the “bare bones” document should be made available to the public in the interest of transparency.
On Feb. 16, the third roommate was woken by the sound of gunshots, followed by someone moaning. He then heard a door shut and what sounded like someone running and called the police at 5:59 a.m., according to the affidavit.
When campus police arrived on scene, they found Knopp and Montgomery’s bodies with multiple gunshot wounds to the torso inside Knopp’s bedroom, the arrest affidavit stated. Multiple spent handgun cartridge cases were found in the room and there was no sign of forced entry.
The affidavit did not specify the Pueblo woman’s relationship to the roommates.
Officers also noticed that Jordan’s bedroom had been emptied, the affidavit stated. Thursday afternoon, just 14 hours before the shooting, Jordan filed an electronic request to be withdrawn from both classes and housing.
When Jordan was arrested on Feb. 19, all of his belongings were packed up in his car, according to Friday’s court hearing.
Employees with the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender, which assigned representation to Jordan, continues to face issues accessing work computers, court dockets, evidence and other documents after being hit with a cyberattack earlier this month.
Jordan’s lawyer, Nick Rogers, attempted to push the upcoming preliminary hearing out two months to effectively build a case and wait for access to be restored, but Jordan refused to waive his right to trial within 35 days.
The preliminary hearing was scheduled for 9 a.m. March 27 and will also be livestreamed.
Rogers also attempted to get Jordan released on a PR bail — that is, a bail based on reputation where an individual doesn’t have to pay anything.
Shakes denied Rogers’ motion, leaving the $5 million, cash-only bail in place because of Jordan’s lack of connections to the community and lack of incentive to return to court given the high sentence he faces if found guilty.
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