COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The defendant accused of killing two people at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs (UCCS) in February has pleaded not guilty to the murders, as well as to assaulting an officer while in custody.
Nicholas Jordan entered the not guilty pleas on Friday morning.
Before the entry of plea, Judge David Shakes addressed two motions — one to change the venue of the hearings, and another to remove Shakes as the judge on this case. He ruled that as of now, he will remain on this case. He also set a hearing for January regarding the motion on a venue change.
Jordan's defense attorney requested to enter the plea at a later date, but Judge Shakes denied this. Jordan then entered the two not guilty pleas.
His defense argued that the plea was preemptive, so the judge said he would allow a change of plea from not guilty to not guilty for reason of insanity by Jan. 31, if the defense obtains the information they need to plead insanity.
The trial for the murder allegations will begin on April 7 and is set to last for two weeks. A separate trial will begin on April 21 regarding the alleged assault of an officer while in custody.
This case began in February. According to a six-page arrest affidavit, a person called the UCCS Police Department to report a shooting in his dormitory pod around 6 a.m. on Feb. 16. Police responded to the scene and in one of the bedrooms, found multiple spent handgun cartridge cases and a deceased man and woman. They were later identified as Samuel Knopp, 24, of Parker, and Celie Rain Montgomery, 26, of Pueblo.
The shooter was nowhere to be found, but authorities quickly began looking into Jordan as a possible suspect.
Police knew from a traffic stop in January — prior to the shooting — that Jordan drove a black 2009 Ford Escape SUV. They also knew the car's license plate number.
The warrant for Jordan's arrest was issued the same day as the shooting. He was arrested a few days later near the 4900 block of Cliff Point Circle East in Colorado Springs.
On Feb. 20, a judge increased his bond from $1 million to $5 million. The following month, his defense attorneys requested a mental competency evaluation. Shortly afterward, he returned to court on new charges related to allegedly punching a deputy while he was in jail.
In mid-April, he was found mentally incompetent to stand trial. Judge Shakes granted the prosecution's request for a second competency evaluation with a doctor of the attorney's choice. By August, the judge ruled he was competent to stand trial, which led to a two-part competency hearing.
Judge Shakes ruled the case could proceed in early September. Jordan's first arraignment was scheduled for Oct. 25, but was continued until Friday, where he pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.