A jury has found Joseph Koenig guilty on all charges in the case of the rock-throwing incident that resulted in the death of 20-year-old Alexa Bartell, as reported by 9News. During the trial that commenced with opening statements on April 14, the prosecution presented testimony from 51 witnesses, detailing the events from the nights of Feb. 25, April 1, and April 19 in the year 2023, when several vehicles were struck by objects such as rocks, chunks of concrete, and in one case, a fiberglass garden statue in Jefferson and Boulder counties.
By Colorado law, Koenig's conviction for first-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence, deliberations lasted around seven hours following a trial where co-defendants Nicholas "Mitch" Karol-Chik and Zachary Kwak, both 18 at the time of the crime, testified against Koenig as part of plea deals they had accepted, this information was detailed by Colorado Sun. Karol-Chik pleaded guilty to charges including second-degree murder and an added crime of violence sentence enhancer; Kwak pleaded guilty to counts of first- and second-degree assault and an added count of criminal attempt to commit assault.
Those plea deals set Karol-Chik and Kwak with different sentencing bounds. Kwak agreed to a term that will see him behind bars for no less than 20 years but not exceeding 32 years.. Karol-Chik's admittance to second-degree murder and other charges came about a year after Kwak's plea, as per KDVR.
