Man pleads guilty to kidnapping hikers near Nederland
By PIERRETTE J. SHIELDS, LONGMONT TIMES-CALL
BOULDER -- A 44-year-old Denver man pleaded guilty Friday morning to the felony kidnapping of two hikers near Nederland in 2010.
Joseph Carter appeared in Boulder District Court and pleaded guilty to second-degree kidnapping, an extraordinary risk felony, as part of a plea deal with prosecutors. Under the deal, he will be sentenced between 10 and 24 years in prison at a April 13 sentencing hearing.
The case was delayed in September 2010 when Carter was committed to the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo after he was found incompetent to stand trial. In December, doctors cleared him to face the charges, and he appeared in court last month for a preliminary hearing on two felony menacing counts and two counts of felony kidnapping.
According to Boulder County Sheriff's Office reports and prosecutors, Carter confronted a couple out for a hike and a picnic near a Nederland campground on June 26, 2010. He told the couple they were not allowed in the area because a militia controlled it and that his commander would be angry that he allowed them into the area. Last month, Boulder County Sheriff's Detective Brian Zierlien testified during Carter's preliminary hearing that when Carter stepped into their view he was holding a gun, wearing a camouflage shirt and part of his face was obscured.
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