ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. — Closing arguments wrapped up Thursday in the trial of a man who is accused of killing his soon-to-be ex-wife at her Denver-area home about one year ago, and the case is now in the hands of the jury.
David Samuel Lechner, then-45 years old, was taken into custody on March 30, 2023 in Arapahoe County after he allegedly shot and killed Tracy Lee Lechner, 42, that morning outside a home along the 5200 block of S. Geneva Way — southwest of Cherry Creek Reservoir in the Hills West at Cherry Creek neighborhood — and then tried to flee from the scene in a car. Tracy Lechner died at the scene.
The two were going through a divorce and had two young children. Their divorce was going to be finalized the following day.
David Lechner was charged with first-degree murder after deliberation, attempted second-degree kidnapping, use of a stun gun and felony menacing with a real or simulated weapon. A judge set a $100 million bond in June 2023. David Lechner pleaded not guilty in December 2023 and the trial was set for April.
Politics
Colorado voters to decide: Should first-degree murder be a non-bailable offense?
Opening statements began on Monday and after a few days of witness testimony, both sides rested and closing arguments started Thursday just before 11 a.m.
The prosecution began with saying Tracy Lechner was a mother, sister, daughter and lawyer.
“She was murdered by that man right there on March 30, 2023," the prosecutor said, pointing at David Lechner in the courtroom.
Though the court microphone did not pick up her voice throughout her entire closing argument, she described how the defendant purchased supplies — including a tarp, duct tape and zip ties — drove to Tracy Lechner's house, and was the only person seen at the crime scene by witnesses.
She explained that David Lechner paid in cash for the materials at a Home Depot in Aurora.
The prosecutor played three videos in court, in which the people in the courtroom could hear screaming. Video also captured the sound of three gunshots.
When law enforcement pulled David Lechner over after he fled the scene, they asked if he had any weapons on him — a scene that the prosecutor replayed in court. She explained that you can hear him respond that a gun was in the car, "maybe a stun gun" and "maybe a knife."
She told the jury that the defense will argue that the defendant acted in self-defense.
“Let me be crystal clear: This was not self-defense. Not even a little bit," she said, adding that he was the initial aggressor.
He drove to her house with supplies, attacked her and she fought back, the prosecutor said, noting the stab wounds that David Lechner sustained.
“Tracy Lechner is dead. Now is that time for you to call this case what it is: murder in the first degree," she concluded. "Not self-defense. Murder in the first degree. I ask that you find him guilty.”
The defense then addressed the jury for their closing arguments. A defense attorney said on March 30, 2023, David Lechner was broken and consumed by the end of a very long divorce proceeding.
"He did not go there to kill her," she said. "He did not intend to kill her that day.”
She said this case is simply about what was going on in David Lechner's head that day and whether or not he went to the home with a plan to kill Tracy Lechner. The defense attorney said the case does not support a first-degree murder charge.
She said the defendant did not go to Tracy Lechner's home that day with a loaded gun. Witnesses — who testified watching him later load the gun in the open garage just before the shooting — and physical evidence also support this, she said, adding that none of the witnesses saw the beginning of the struggle inside the home that morning.
During that struggle, Tracy Lechner stabbed David Lechner multiple times with a knife, the defense attorney said. They were not small cuts, as he was treated at a hospital's trauma unit. She added that there is no evidence supporting the fact that the defendant had brought the knife with him. Instead, she said it belonged to Tracy Lechner.
The three gunshots that ultimately ended Tracy Lechner's life happened fast, something every witness talked about, the defense attorney said. One of the gunshot wounds indicates a steep angle upward, meaning David Lechner was either on the ground or in a lower position, she said.
She said he acted in a "hasty manner," which does not support the charge of first-degree murder after deliberation. Instead, she said second-degree murder — which includes heat of passion crimes, or crimes that were highly provoked by the act of a victim — is something to consider.
“What happened was a tragedy. It’s a tragedy that Tracy Lechner died that day," she said. "When you look at the evidence in this case, the evidence does not support first-degree murder.”
After the defense attorney's closing argument, the prosecution was offered the chance for a counter-argument. One of the prosecutors accepted the opportunity and spoke loudly in the courtroom.
“Tracy Lechner’s murder did not just happen," he said. "This defendant did not just happen upon her driveway… He did not just happen to put three bullets in her body… This was a deliberate murder.”
He implored the jury to look at "what's real and reasonable" and asked why David Lechner went to Tracy Lechner's house with a pistol and bullets. "A kidnapping?" he asked, followed by questioning the defendant's end game, which was not a "spa day downtown" for Tracy Lechner.
"How does this end if the end game isn’t her death?" he said. "He wanted to wipe her off the board."
The prosecutor said the defendant brought a tarp to the home, indicating he knew there might be a scene to clean up or body to hide — it wasn't for construction purposes. He had equipped himself for a murder with the tarp, duct tape and zip ties.
Regarding the knife, the prosecutor said it belonged to David Lechner. Tracy Lechner, who had a stab wound and lacerations, was attacked by him, got the knife away from him and fought back, he said.
In the open garage, witnesses recalled seeing him stand over her in a position of dominance and he still decided to execute her, the prosecutor said.
"That is a judgment he makes," he said.
All David Lechner cared about was getting custody of his two children and winning the divorce case, the prosecutor said. While talking about the case, the defendant never told authorities that she attacked him first, that her death was an accident or that he didn't mean to kill her.
“This is not anything other than a person who has planned and reflected and judged that he is going to do murder to another human being," the prosecutor said.
Closing arguments finished at 12:11 p.m. Thursday.
With closing arguments finalized, the case went to the jury, which was excused and began deliberations at 12:17 p.m. Thursday.
