A judge denied a request by prosecutors to combine the two defendants in a Longmont murder case, but the accused conspirator will now stand trial before the accused shooter.
Devan Schreiner, 27, and Andrew James Ritchie, 35, are both charged with first-degree murder in the death of Jason Schaefer, 33, Schreiner’s ex-boyfriend and the father of her child.
Prosecutors asked to try the cases jointly, but Boulder District Judge Thomas Mulvahill ruled earlier in the year that the two defendants needed to be tried separately.
Mulvahill has since rotated out of the criminal division and Boulder District Judge Patrick Butler is now overseeing the case, and Butler recently issued a ruling prohibiting some evidence Schreiner’s team wished to introduce.
After that ruling, a change in defense strategy and a delay in Schreiner’s trial, the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office filed a motion once again asking to rejoin the two cases.