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| Lisl Auman | |
|---|---|
| Born | Lisl Auman 1976 (age 47–48) |
| Known for | Conviction under felony murder rule for murder of Denver police officer |
Lisl Auman (1976) is an American woman who was convicted of first-degree murder and second-degree burglary in connection with the murder of Denver police officer Bruce VanderJagt on November 12, 1997. Earlier that day, Auman and several acquaintances had traveled to her former boarding house in Pine to retrieve items from an apartment belonging to her and another belonging to her former boyfriend. Auman left the boarding house as a passenger in a car driven by Matthaeus Jaehnig; soon after her departure, other boarding house residents reported the event as a suspected burglary. After multiple police chases, Auman and Jaehnig were discovered by several Denver police officers a condominium's parking lot. Auman was immediately arrested, handcuffed, and placed in an officer's car. Jaehnig escaped arrest, hiding in a dead end stairwell; he was soon discovered by officer VanderJagt and fired at him with a rifle, fatally striking him 10 times in the head and torso. As a result of these events, Auman was convicted of first-degree murder (among other charges) in July of 1998 and sentenced to life in prison.
Auman's conviction attracted controversy in part because she had been arrested and detained prior to Jaehnig's fatal shooting of VanderJagt. The conviction was obtained with the use of the felony murder rule, which holds that a person accused of a violent felony may be charged with murder if the act of commiting the felony resulted in someone's death – even if the accused person did not personally intend or cause the death. Lisl's case attracted attention from several celebrities and public figures, most notably by Hunter S. Thompson who co-authored a Vanity Fair article that attracted significant public interest in the case.
On March 28, 2005, the Colorado Supreme Court reversed Auman's initial conviction for second degree burglary, finding that the jurors in the initial case had been given improper instructions. This also caused the reversal of Auman's conviction for murder. Auman was re-tried in 2016 and convicted of burglary and accessory to first-degree murder, resulting in a 20 year sentence of community corrections.
- ^ Seal, Mark. "Prisoner of Denver". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on 10 February 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
- ^ Pankratz, Howard. "Auman apologizes to all". The Denver Post. Archived from the original on 6 June 2023. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
- ^ Rocky Mountain News. "Crime timeline". Rocky Mountain News. Archived from the original on 25 June 2007. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
- ^ Abraham, Chad (28 March 2005). "Auman conviction tossed". The Aspen Times. Archived from the original on 18 August 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
- Wex Definitions Team (December 2022). "felony murder rule". Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute. Archived from the original on 8 June 2024. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
- Supreme Court of Colorado (28 March 2005). "Auman v. People". Justia. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
- Pankratz, Howard (8 May 2016). "Auman takes plea deal". The Denver Post. Archived from the original on 27 November 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2024.