After insanity plea, man who killed 10 at Boulder grocery store goes on trial

BOULDER, Colo. (CN) — Insanity is the only plausible reason a 21-year-old Colorado man opened fire at a Boulder grocery store, killing 10, defense attorney Sam Dunn argued in opening statements Thursday at the Boulder County Justice Center.

A jury will soon decide whether they agree — or whether to find shooter Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa guilty for the 2021 slayings.

On March 22, 2021, prosecutors say the Arvada man donned a tactical vest and Ruger AR-556, then indiscriminately killed 10 shoppers and workers at a King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, Colorado's Table Mesa neighborhood.

In addition to 10 counts of first-degree murder, the shooter also faces 47 counts of attempted murder in the first degree, one count of assault in the first degree and six counts of possession of a large-capacity magazine during the commission of a felony. As sentence enhancements, he also faces 47 counts of a crime of violence with a semiautomatic assault weapon.

Opening the state's case on Thursday, District Attorney Michael Dougherty painted a picture of the busy shopping plaza and vibrant store where the killer attacked.

“The victims are completely random," Dougherty said, "but the murders were absolutely planned, deliberate and intentional."

Ranging between 20 and 65 years old, the victims included three King Soopers employees, several shoppers and a police officer.

Dougherty devoted the majority of his opening statement to honoring their lives.

The first victim was Neven Stanisic, 23. He came from a loving immigrant family and had just fixed the espresso machine at the store’s Starbucks when the shooter raised his gun.

The youngest victim, 21-year-old Denny Stong, worked at the store alongside his mother, who was in her car on her lunch break at the time of his death. Stong wasn’t scheduled to work that day but stopped at the store to grab his own lunch.

Friends and coworkers loved the store’s head clerk, 25-year-old Rikki Olds.

Teri Leiker, 51, always bagged groceries with a smile.

Tralona Bartkowiak, 49, owned a popular clothing shop on Pearl Street.

Jody Waters, 65, loved her family and being outdoors.

Suzanne Fountain, 59, decided to grab her weekly groceries at the store after getting her hair done at a salon in the plaza.

Lynn Murray, 62, worked delivering groceries for those who couldn’t or didn't want to shop for themselves during the pandemic. At the time of her death, she was filling an order.

Kevin Mahoney, 61, was a loving grandfather. He was laughing at a joke when the killer pulled up to the store.

Boulder police officer Eric Talley, 51, died responding to the scene. He left behind seven children.

Dougherty told the jury the killer prepared for the attack by studying other mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Christchurch, New Zealand.

In the weeks leading up to the attack, he searched online for “the most deadly type of bullet." He then obtained steel-piercing green tips, along with an optical scope to ensure accuracy, Dougherty said.

“When the victims woke up on Jan. 1, they said 'I think I’m going to go to the gym,' 'I think I’m going to read more,'” Dougherty said. “The defendant woke up on Jan. 1 and said, 'I’m going to start planning a mass shooting.'”

The shooter's public defenders do not deny that their client committed the killings.

Instead, they've argued he's not guilty by reason of insanity. Last November, the shooter entered that plea. The case therefore hinges on whether the jury thinks his mental illness prevented him from forming intent and understanding right from wrong.

“Imagine that between your ears, where you have no shelter or reprieve and you can’t identify the source of it, you just hear yelling," Dunn explained of his client's schizophrenic symptoms. "You just hear screaming broadcast."

Starting in his late teens, the killer began exhibiting symptoms of mental illness, Dunn argued, including becoming withdrawn, paranoid and delusional. He also suffered visual and auditory hallucinations such as yelling and “constant voices," Dunn said.

The shooter’s family immigrated to the U.S. from Syria, and they perceived signs of demonic possession rather than mental illness, Dunn said — leaving him without diagnosis or treatment until his arrest. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he became increasingly isolated, worsening his illness.

Nine months after his arrest, the shooter was deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial.

He then underwent nearly two years of court-ordered medication and treatment. Colorado law forbids informing the jury of his competency restoration, so that it doesn’t influence their analysis of his mental state at the time of the crime.

Dunn urged the jury to use common sense and law — not emotion — in evaluating whether the shooter was capable of telling right from wrong at the time of the murders.

“No verdict in this case is going to bring back the lives that were lost," Dunn said. "No verdict in this case is going to stop the voices in Ahmad Alissa’s head."

Nonetheless, Dunn argued, "returning a not-guilty verdict by reason of insanity, which acknowledges that he did this, will avoid a further injustice."

In court, the killer wore a grey-striped collared shirt and khaki pants. While listening to the proceedings, he appeared alert, tugging occasionally at his trimmed beard.

The trial is scheduled to run for three weeks.

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