Oliver Newell, 29, from Colorado Springs, was convicted of the kidnapping and rape of 4 males, three military men and a 14 year old boy. The counts Newell was convicted of included kidnapping, which carries a 48 year maximum sentence, and sexual assault, which results in an indeterminate sentence with a life maximum.
Newell picked up 2 Air Force Academy cadets at a downtown Colorado Springs bar in July 2006, and either drugged or made them drunk. One cadet awoke naked while Newell was performing oral sex; the other man told jurors Newell tried to sodomize him.
The other two victims were made to believe that they were meeting a woman from Live Links, a chat line. One victim, a then 14 year old boy, was taken to Newell’s house September 2006 befor being raped at gunpoint, and a then 26 year old Fort Carson soldier went to Newell’s home Christmas Eve where he got drunk and passed out. He woke of too Newell performing oral sex.
Newell, public defender, Dennis McGuire, said that he will appeal the verdicts. “This is a travesty. It’s difficult for the jury to look solely at each charge without feeling overwhelmed by all of them. He certainly would have had a better shot if it had been three separate trials. Newell will be sentenced February 29th.
(Update 3-1-08)
Newell was sentenced to 178 years to life in prison for the attacks.
“I don’t know where all this started, or how it came about,” said 4th Judicial District Judge J. Patrick Kelly. “But hearing the evidence and observing the victims it was, quite frankly, despicable. ... The effects on these victims won’t go away anytime soon.”
One of the victims attempted suicide and is in a wheelchair.
“This man came to the United States looking for opportunity and instead he preyed on these men and this boy,” said Colorado Springs police detective Adam Romine. “Many lives were ruined because of this man’s actions ... Two men who proudly serve their country were so disgusted and shamed by this, they didn’t want to be here today.” Romine said it would be a travesty if Kelly gave Newell, who came to Colorado Springs from Jamaica, anything less than the maximum.
Deputy District Attorney Melissa Burchell spoke for the victims, none of whom were present Friday. One victim made a brief statement via telephone. “On the outside, the defendant appears calm,” Burchell said. “But on the inside he’s obviously a monster.” She urged Kelly to “keep him out of the community” so he couldn’t victimize anyone else.
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