Latest news with #JosephKoenig
CBS News
6 days ago
- General
- CBS News
Third defendant sentenced to life without parole in Colorado prison in deadly rock-throwing case
The third and final defendant was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in a Jefferson County, Colorado courtroom on Tuesday for his role in a deadly rock-throwing case. A jury found Joseph Koenig guilty of first-degree murder in April after he threw a rock through the windshield of Alexa Bartell's moving vehicle, killing her. GOLDEN, CO - MAY 3: Defendant Joseph Koenig listens to First Judicial District Court Judge Christopher Zenisek as Koenig is formally charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder, assault and attempted assault, in Jefferson County court on Wednesday, May 3, 2023. AAron Ontiveroz/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images Koenig was also found guilty on 18 other counts for his role in throwing rocks at other vehicles in a series of incidents in Jefferson County that caused damage to vehicles and injuries to drivers. During the sentencing hearing, Bartell's mother gave an emotional statement. These moments, these milestones, were stolen from her and from me and from all of our family by these three individuals who made a conscious decision to hurl a rock through her windshield. They watched her car run off the road into the field, turned back and watched them, then got rid of the evidence, drove back to get a better look twice, took photos, whooped, and drove away. They never called for help. They made no effort to save her. Instead, they formed a pack to be blood brothers, as if taking my daughter's life was something to be proud of," said Kelly Bartell. "Alexa was my only child, my daughter, my best friend and the greatest joy of my life." Two co-defendants, Nicholas "Mitch" Karol-Chik and Zachary Kwak, pleaded guilty last year for their roles in the 2023 attack. Both men testified against Koenig as part of their plea agreements. Both claimed that it was Koenig who threw the rock that killed Bartell. Zachary Kwak Jefferson County Last month, Kwak was sentenced to 27 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections for the first-degree assault charge relating to Bartell's death, five years in the DOC to be served consecutively for a second-degree assault charge in the series of rock-throwing attacks and another sentence of eight years in the DOC to be served concurrently for another count of second-degree assault for a total of 32 years in prison with 738 days credit for time served. Nicholas "Mitch" Karol-Chik Jefferson County The day before Kwak's sentencing, Nicholas "Mitch" James Karol-Chik was sentenced to 45 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors. Last May, he pleaded guilty to his role in a series of rock-throwing attacks between Feb. 25, 2023, and April 19, 2023. Alexa Bartell Alexa Bartell's family Twenty-year-old Bartell was struck and killed late at night on April 19, 2023, when she was struck by a rock that was thrown into her windshield. Several others were injured in similar incidents with what authorities described as "large landscaping rocks," concrete, and in one case, a statue. Her mom said losing her daughter has impacted every facet of her life, "It didn't just change my life. It changed who I am. Losing my daughter didn't just break my heart. It broke me. It shattered my soul. Everything I see and live is different now, my desires, my dreams, my relationships, all are touched by this grief. There isn't any part of my life that has not been touched by grief. My family will never be the same."
Daily Mail
11-05-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Girlfriend describes last call with her partner killed when a rock was hurled into her car during a lovers' spat
Jenna Griggs wants the world to know just what three Colorado high schoolers shattered when they drove around hurling landscaping rocks at random cars. One rock about the size of a football smashed through a windshield of an oncoming Chevy, hitting her girlfriend, Alexa Bartell, as she was driving to Jenna's place. It killed the 20-year-old instantly. Joseph Koenig and his two co-defendants, Zachary Kwak and Nicholas Karol-Chik, have each been convicted for their fatal throwing spree between February and April 2023, when they were 18 and high school seniors in Denver's northwestern suburbs. Kwak and Karol-Chik recently agreed to plea deals that carry prison sentences of 32 and 45 years, respectively. Koenig, the one who hurled the rock at Alexa, is expected to be handed a life sentence for first-degree murder on June 3. Jenna, now 21 and working as a bartender at a golf course, will have only a few minutes to speak at the hearing – not nearly enough to describe the full impact of that rock and the stone-hearted thug who threw it. She sat down for an exclusive interview with to discuss Alexa and life after losing her first love to such a hideous act of violence. 'I need him to know that I hate him, and that I hate hating him, and that Alexa shouldn't be dead,' she said. Alexa was driving to Jenna's home when the rock crashed into her windshield and killed her Jenna and Alexa stood out among millennials in the suburbs between Denver and Boulder. Having met in the summer of 2021 at a party near the University of Colorado in Boulder and later that week during a Zeds Dead show at Red Rocks, the two blondes were both as gregarious as they were gorgeous. 'There might have been a little, well, maybe a lot of love at first sight,' says Jenna, who until meeting Alexa had neither dated nor thought much about doing so, let alone with which gender. Alexa, a gifted athlete, possessed a mix of butch swagger and natural beauty that infatuated Jenna and many of their peers. 'She had the perfect amount of feminine and masculine where, like, boys and girls all had crushes on her,' Jenna said. 'She kind of came into Boulder like a bomb because everybody was obsessed with her. She was the most beautiful, handsome thing I've ever seen.' After their first kiss about a week after they met, the duo spent almost all their free time together for nearly two years. They loved to dance, party with friends, and hang out memorizing everything about each other. 'We told each other every detail,' she said. Alexa – a year older and the more responsible of the two – grounded the more femme and mercurial Jenna, calming her when she became anxious or insecure and encouraging her to stay on track at work and school. 'Back that summer, Jenna started coming home with this certain sort of spark in her eyes. Once I met Alexa, she had that same gleam, too,' said Jenna's mother, Eva Griggs, whose house became like a second home for Alexa. 'They were so obviously in love with each other, it was striking.' Joseph Koenig and his two co-defendantshave each been convicted for their fatal throwing spree between February and April 2023, when they were 18 and high school seniors in Denver's northwestern suburbs Eva's iPad and Jenna's phone are full of pictures and videos of Alexa and Jenna at beaches and backyard barbecues, playing with dogs and wearing matching pajamas as Christmas. Here is Alexa dancing. There she is scootering or sleeping or carrying luggage for Jenna's grandmother. 'Here I made her wear a dress and make up looking so gorgeous, but she was like, 'Oh my God, I look so silly!'' Jenna said. As she told it this week over coffee at her parents' kitchen table, her and Alexa's plans as a young couple were simple: To save up enough money so they could get their own place, and 'just be together, no matter what else was happening around us'. In April 2023, Alexa was working at a flooring company and Jenna as a server at a pizza joint. Alexa and some friends came into the restaurant the evening of April 19 to surprise Jenna and eat dinner while she worked. Jenna remembers feeling badly when a colleague served Alexa a plate of bone-in chicken wings rather than the boneless ones that she ordered. Jenna wanted to take them back for the right order, but Alexa insisted: 'No, honey, it's ok.' Jenna replays other details, big and small, of that night over and over in her head. Like the way the bartender was pressing her to stop socializing and start bussing tables. And how she wanted nothing more than to stay in the booth next to Alexa, who urged her: 'Go, baby. Go do your job.' And how her love for her felt like her heart was bursting out of her chest. 'It was so powerful that whatever she wanted me to do, I'd do it,' she said. Jenna remembers returning from the back of the restaurant, where she had been washing the floor, to find the booth where Alexa and their friends had been sitting empty. She knows they were only being considerate, trying to not distract her at work, yet still regrets not having had a goodbye. 'Just a kiss. And I'd be like: 'Okay, love you, see you later.'' She recalls asking her manager to leave work early that Wednesday evening because business was slow. She also recalls that shift as the only one in her year working at the restaurant when she was asked not only to sweep and mop the kitchen floor, but then to do it all again after having missed some spots. Eager to meet up with Alexa, she asked again to clock out, only to be assigned more side work. Jenna chatted with Alexa by phone as she folded silverware into napkins, hoping they would make plans to meet up with a friend that night. Alexa, who was driving toward Jenna's parents' place as they spoke, said she just wanted to meet Jenna there and go to bed. Jenna feared the friend might be disappointed. Alexa stayed firm about not going out. Jenna – caught up in the urgency and intensity of her first love – worried she had pushed her girlfriend too hard. 'Even though she was never mad at me, never once raised her voice, I was crying on the phone, saying sorry, freaked out that she was going to break up with me,' Jenna said. Alexa's response soothes her nearly two years later. 'She was like: 'No baby, don't worry, we're never gonna break up. I love you. Please stop worrying,'' Jenna said. The phone went silent while Alexa was in mid-sentence, still reassuring her. Jenna had been tracking Alexa's geolocation through her 'Find My Friends' app, watching her inch closer and closer to home as they spoke. But once the call cut off, she could now see that Alexa's car stopped moving northbound on the rural road where she had been driving. Jenna called Alexa nine or ten times, hoping that she had hung up on her, although that would have been out of character. Panicked, she called her mom, Eva, and then Alexa's mother Kelly Bartell, as she ran out of the restaurant and drove the 15 minutes toward the spot where GPS showed Alexa had stopped. Jenna figured along that way that Alexa must have accidentally dropped her phone out her window. She finally arrived at the location about 12 miles southeast of Boulder. She saw nothing at first, then spotted a break in a cattle fence and the yellow Chevrolet Spark that Alexa was driving about 200 feet into the field behind it. Jenna called Alexa nine or ten times, hoping that she had hung up on her, although that would have been out of character. She and Alexa's mom drove to the spot after Alexa failed to pick up her several calls When she found Alexa's car, she was heartbroken. Jenna noticed holes in the Chevy's back window and windshield as she opened the driver's door to find Alexa, lifeless on the steering wheel 'It's her car, my God, her car,' she screamed to Kelly, who told Jenna to call 911 as she made her own way toward the field. Jenna noticed holes in the Chevy's back window and windshield as she opened the driver's door to find Alexa, lifeless on the steering wheel. She screamed to the 911 dispatcher, who was asking if Alexa was alive. Jenna said she didn't know and couldn't bring herself to move her in all the blood. The dispatcher kept asking what happened and Jenna kept saying she didn't know, begging for emergency workers to hurry. 'It was so cold and nothing was registering and it felt like forever.' Alexa was pronounced dead on the scene around the time Kelly arrived, saying: 'That's my daughter,' and collapsing on the ground. Jenna sat in the back of her own mom's car for about six hours while police questioned her, social workers offered granola bars and juice boxes, and one asked if she had a dog, as if that would distract her. Jenna rocked back and forth, chewing on the end of a Chapstick tube. Tearing up and shaking as if reliving that horrible night two years later, she remembers not being able to answer officers' repeated questions about what happened. Police ended up arresting Kwak, Karol-Chik, and Koenig a week later for throwing rocks and other heavy objects from moving vehicles multiple times over three months. Prosecutors claimed that the trio hit 10 vehicles over three separate nights between February and April, with the final rock – which they stole from landscaping in a Walmart parking lot – being the one that killed Alexa. The young men ultimately turned on each other, with Kwak testifying that Koenig, who was driving that night, sped up to 103 miles per hour before shot-putting the 9lb. rock out the driver's window toward the Chevy's windshield, creating a sound he likened to artillery fire. The trio reportedly cheered and laughed, then drove past the scene three times, with Kwak taking a picture. Despite seeing blood on the road, none of the three bothered to check on Alexa or called 911 for help. The jury didn't buy evidence presented by defense lawyers showing that teenagers are more impulsive than adults and arguing that Koenig had been diagnosed with mental health conditions that impaired his decision-making at the time of the attacks. Jenna, while at the scene, had noticed the huge holes in the Chevy's windows, but told herself that something had somehow defied gravity by bouncing onto her windshield or defied probability by falling from the sky. 'I wouldn't have ever thought that somebody was malicious enough to throw a rock,' she said. 'That's how naïve I was, and Alexa, too, not to think anyone would do something like that on purpose.' It has rattled Jenna even more that, four months before Alexa's killing, an image of a sticker appeared on Koenig's Facebook page reading, 'Just killed a woman… Feeling good.' She wonders why his parents, teachers and friends didn't see that post as a red flag. It took Jenna weeks before she could close her eyes without flashing back to the sight of Alexa dead in the car. It took months before she could sleep in the bed she shared with her or drive alone, especially in the dark. 'I wonder all the time why my life keeps moving forward and hers doesn't. And I wonder if Alexa would be more sad for the people down here than she'd be for herself,' Jenna told It has taken two years to work through the pain of being referred to as Alexa's 'friend,' rather than her 'girlfriend.' And it may take many more years to forgive people who barely knew Alexa from purporting on social media that they had been close with her. The world still seems more cruel and less beautiful than it used to for Jenna. Meanwhile, Alexa has now been gone longer than she knew her, and Jenna is now older than the woman she calls her 'beloved' ever was. 'I was never an angry person before this, like ever. But now I have these three guys to hate, plus a lot of ruined relationships. I'm seeing the bad in people, rather than the good, which I wish I didn't do,' she said. 'I wonder all the time why my life keeps moving forward and hers doesn't. And I wonder if Alexa would be more sad for the people down here than she'd be for herself.'
Toronto Star
25-04-2025
- Toronto Star
Teens' night of rock throwing leads to murder conviction for 1 of them
GOLDEN, Colo. (AP) — Three Denver-area teens cheered each other during a night of throwing rocks at cars — until one of the stones crashed through a windshield and killed a woman, leading to a murder conviction Friday after the trio turned on one another. Jurors found Joseph Koenig guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Alexa Bartell on April 19, 2023, after the other young men riding with him reached deals with prosecutors and testified against him. Koenig, now 20, was also convicted of attempted murder and other less serious crimes for rocks and other objects thrown at vehicles the night Bartell was killed and in previous weeks.
Toronto Star
25-04-2025
- Toronto Star
Teens' night of rock throwing leads to murder conviction for one
GOLDEN, Colo. (AP) — Three Denver-area teens cheered each other during a night of throwing rocks at cars — until one of the rocks crashed through a windshield and killed a woman, leading to a murder conviction Friday after the trio turned on one another. Jurors found Joseph Koenig guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Alexa Bartell in 2023, after the other young men riding with him reached deals with prosecutors and testified against him. Koenig, now 20, was also convicted of attempted murder and other less serious crimes for rocks and other objects thrown at vehicles the night Bartell was killed and in previous weeks.
Toronto Sun
25-04-2025
- Toronto Sun
Driver convicted of murder in case of Colorado teens who threw fatal rock at car
Published Apr 25, 2025 • 4 minute read Defendant Joseph Koenig listens to district court judge Christopher C. Zenisek during an arraignment in Jefferson County district court on Wednesday, May 3, 2023, in Golden, Colo. Photo by AAron Ontiveroz / AP The last of three friends accused of killing a driver in Colorado by throwing a rock through the windshield of her car was convicted of first-degree murder Friday. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The teens were driving around suburban Denver throwing rocks at passing cars when one struck and killed 20-year-old Alexa Bartell, in a crime prosecutors classified as murder. After two of the defendants had taken plea deals, a Colorado jury found the third, Joseph Koenig, guilty at the conclusion of a two-week trial during which jurors had to wade through the shifting and competing versions of the truth offered by the defendants. Koenig, now 20, insisted that another person in the trio threw the rock that killed Bartell. But the two friends — whose agreements with prosecutors could lead to shorter prison sentences _ said Koenig threw it. Chief Deputy District Attorney Katharine Decker told jurors the damage to Bartell's car was consistent with Koenig — who is left-handed and was driving — throwing the rock, shotput-style, out the driver's side window at Bartell's car as one of the friends, Nicholas Karol-Chik, testified. Even if jurors weren't convinced Koenig threw the rock, she had urged them to still find him guilty of first-degree murder as a conspirator with his friends, who both pleaded guilty to lesser charges. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The defense didn't dispute that Koenig participated in the night of rock-throwing but said the third defendant, Zachary Kwak, threw the fatal rock. His attorneys argued Koenig did not know anyone had been hurt until Bartell's car went off the road, and that he had borderline personality disorder, which affected his impulse control and judgment. One of Koenig's lawyers, Martin Stuart, told jurors to instead find him guilty of manslaughter, the least serious charge he faced in Bartell's death, because he didn't knowingly try to kill her. Jurors also had the option of finding Koenig guilty of manslaughter as a conspirator, even if they didn't think he threw the rock himself. On April 19, 2023, after seeing Bartell's car leave the road after being hit, the three friends circled back a few times to look again, according to testimony and investigators. One of them, Kwak, took a photo as a memento but no one checked on the driver or called for help, according to their testimony. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Bartell's body would not be discovered until her girlfriend, Jenna Griggs, who was on the phone with her that night when the call abruptly cut out, tracked her phone to the field, she testified. The only DNA found on the fatal rock was Bartell's, making the testimony from Kwak and Karol-Chik key to the prosecution. The friends agreed not to talk to anyone about what had happened. But Kwak, the newest one to the group, later told investigators that Koenig had thrown the fatal rock. Karol-Chik, who said Koenig was like a 'brother' to him, pointed the finger at Kwak before changing his story and saying that Koenig had thrown the rock that killed Bartell. Karol-Chik, who was sitting in the passenger seat of the pickup as Koenig drove, testified that Koenig seemed 'excited' as they drove by Bartell's car and at one point made a 'whoop' sound. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'It sounded like him celebrating,' said Karol-Chik, who admitted he had placed the fatal rock next to Koenig so he could grab it and throw it as he drove. Koenig's lawyers tried to cast doubt on the reliability of the other men's accounts. 'You have no reason to believe me but I also have no reason to protect anyone anymore,' Karol-Chik said on cross-examination. Karol-Chik and Kwak contradicted one another on a key point. Karol-Chik said they all threw about 10 rocks each that night. Kwak said he didn't throw any. The defense pointed out that Kwak did not say Koenig had thrown the rock until a detective told him someone had accused Kwak himself of doing it. But in their questioning of the friends, the defense also stressed that none of the three had intended to hurt anyone. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Kwak entered into a plea deal first, pleading guilty in May 2024 to first-degree assault in Bartell's death, acknowledging that he acted in a way that created a grave risk of death. He also pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and attempted second-degree assault for the rocks that were thrown earlier in the night. He faces between 20 and 32 years in prison, prosecutors said. About a week later, Karol-Chik pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and committing a crime of violence. He also pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder for throwing rocks at a total of nine people that night and earlier in 2023. Under his plea agreement, Karol-Chik could be sent to prison for between 35 and 72 years in prison when he is sentenced. Ontario Toronto Maple Leafs Canada Toronto & GTA Toronto Maple Leafs
