Boulder man formally charged with first-degree murder in stabbing case

Mitchell Byars, Daily Camera, Boulder, Colo.

Feb. 18—The Boulder man accused of stabbing his roommate to death has formally been charged with first-degree murder.

Robert Hicks, 30, was charged in Boulder District Court Thursday with first-degree murder after deliberation in the death of Curtis Stringe, 34, of Boulder.

Hicks was also charged with third-degree assault after police said it appeared he assaulted Stringe earlier in the day.

Hicks appeared by webcam from the Boulder County Jail, where he is being held without bond because he was charged with a Class 1 felony. Hicks is now set for a proof evident, presumption great hearing on May 5, where a judge will determine if there is enough evidence to continue the case and to continue to hold Hicks without bond.

He is also set for a status conference before that hearing on March 15, which Hicks' attorney Brooks Robinson requested because he had only recently inherited the case from the public defender's office and still had yet to meet with Hicks to discuss the preliminary hearing and early motions.

First-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

According to an affidavit, Hicks called police to the 900 block of East Moorehead Circle at 8:55 p.m. Sunday and said Stringe was not breathing and was bleeding from the stomach.

When officers arrived on scene, they found Stringe unconscious and face down in a bedroom with stab wounds to his stomach and leg. He was transported to Boulder Community Health's Foothills Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after midnight Monday.

Doctors said Stringe had nine stab wounds in his abdomen and one on his thigh, according to the affidavit. A kitchen knife was found in the bedroom, though police do not yet know for certain if it was the weapon used.

Police earlier in the day had responded to the same address after Hicks and Stringe were seen fighting at about 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Police said Stringe had a fresh black eye that was swollen shut and dry blood around his nose, mouth, and head, while Hicks had superficial wounds on his knuckles. Both men declined to speak to police at the time.

According to the affidavit, a witness told police the men were roommates and may have been fighting over rent money.

When police took him into custody, officers noted Hicks was covered in blood. He declined to talk to police after he was arrested. But according to the affidavit, body camera footage of the initial response recorded Hicks saying "I should have known not to (expletive) call 911," and "he fell onto something sharp." Hicks said he was "nonviolent" and said that he and Stringe had a good night together, but then later stated that they had gone to the bar together and Stringe had "punched the (expletive) out of me."

Hicks then made a claim that maybe Stringe did something to himself, according to the affidavit.

A witness told police Hicks had called her that night multiple times and said Stringe had punched him and that he was "not going to let anyone beat me," according to the affidavit.

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