vicious nature of his horrible attack!
Posted on 06/08/2002 11:32:31 AM PDT by trussell
FReepers are awesome. She wasn't expected to live, when this first began. God heard your prayers and well wishes and has brought her through.
Blessings, Tracy
Truly a miracle that this woman has survived the Horror!
By Katharhynn Heidelberg
Journal Staff Writer
Cortez, CO, July 11 - Dante Sena will stand trial for an alleged shotgun and knife attack on Melissa Elliott on June 6.
Sena, 41, is accused of deliberately driving into Elliott's vehicle as it was parked on Fifth Street, and then shooting her three times. He is also alleged to have inflicted injury to Elliott's throat with a knife.
At a preliminary hearing Wednesday, county court Judge Christopher Leroi found sufficient probable cause on charges of first-degree attempted premeditated murder by deliberation; first-degree assault with a deadly weapon (gun) and first-degree assault with a deadly weapon (knife).
An additional charge being sought by District Attorney Joe Olt, that of vehicular assault, was dismissed following repeated testimony that the victim had sustained no serious injuries as a direct result of the car crash. This must be shown in order to meet the legal requirements of the charge, public defender Pamela Brown argued.
A visibly shaken Elliott, walking on her own, attended the hearing, with the support of family members and friends. "Don't let him get me," she said on her way into the courtroom. "I'm scared."
Elliott was critically injured in the attack and was hospitalized for about a month.
Brown asked that Elliott be barred from the hearing, and also that Cortez Police Detective Lt. Jim Shethar be sequestered as a witness. The latter request was granted, but Olt said Elliott had the right to be present under the victims' rights law, and Leroi agreed.
Cortez Police Lt. Gay Hall, then a patrol sergeant, testified that he responded to the incident on June 6. A bystander immediately pointed out a man with a gun who refused on numerous requests to drop it. The man was later identified as a private citizen who was concerned for his family's safety.
Another man called out: "I don't have a gun... she needs help," and Hall saw him standing in the vicinity of a crashed Tahoe and Pontiac. The man, later identified as Sena, then helped a woman to a nearby swath of grass. It was apparent she had been shot, Hall said.
When another officer asked who had shot the woman, Sena replied, "I did," Hall said. Only when he had completed arrest control did Hall recognize the suspect as Sena.
"It startled me. I'd known him for a long time," Hall said, later explaining to the defense that they were acquainted through community sports events.
"I asked, 'What were you thinking?' He said, 'She was cheating on me'," Hall testified. He added that he had been unable to recognize the woman as Elliott, whom he also knew, because of the amount of blood.
Sena also admitted to having broken the weapon, a 12-gauge shotgun, according to Hall. The butt of it was found on the hood of Elliott's car, and the stock, on the ground.
Hall characterized Sena's demeanor as "very distraught."
"He told me, 'Just shoot me and end it now'.... He wanted to make sure Melissa was OK - that was his main concern." Sena complied with all requests and was calm, Hall added.
In a later interview with Detective Randy Matthews, Sena reportedly said he'd seen Elliott talking to Chuck Cotter, a colleague of hers, and that he then drove to his home on Road F, got his shotgun, and apparently searched for one more round to put in it.
When he returned, Elliott and Cotter were still talking. At that point, he allegedly crashed his vehicle into hers and fired at her before demanding to know why she'd "lied" to him.
In an interview, Elliott told Matthews that she'd been at Sena's home, then left, telling him she was going to her home to read a book. On her way through town, she decided to get ice cream, but changed her mind, and drove by Cotter's place on Fifth Street. They had been talking about their children, Matthews said.
After the attack, Elliott told Matthews, Sena said: "Why are you not dying? I'm going to kill you" - the latter more than five times. Cross-examination suggested that Sena actually said, "Why are you not there for me?" and that Matthews had specifically asked Elliott if Sena had threatened to kill her.
Hall testified that he saw a large wound on Elliott's neck, 1 1/2 to 2 inches long on the left side, which he believed had been caused by a knife. After Hall had placed Sena in his patrol car, a call came over the radio regarding a knife, and Sena responded by saying the knife was on the floorboard of Elliott's Pontiac.
Sena's defense pointed to an interview transcript in which he'd claimed to be giving Elliott a tracheotomy, rather than trying to harm her. A physician's report issued by Southwest Memorial Hospital indicated the cut was to Elliott's trachea.
The defense also cited witness reports that indicated extreme distress and remorse on Sena's part. Brown asked that the charge of first-degree attempted murder be dismissed because the prosecution had failed to prove the necessary component of premeditation. There was no proof, she said, that Sena had driven home specifically to get his gun, and interviews indicated that he "didn't know" what he was going to do.
"He admitted to shooting Ms. Elliott and to using a knife on her throat," Olt countered. "All of this points to a murder which fortunately didn't happen."
Leroi cited legal precedent that allows juries to infer presumption from the attempt itself and from use of a deadly weapon. "In this case, a reasonable person could find that Mr. Sena's (actions) ... show a deliberation," Leroi said, and bound Sena over for arraignment in district court at 9 a.m. Aug. 8.
Now I have absolutely heard everything. This defense lawyer definitely gets an "A" for creativity!
My rather obvious disgust/sarcasm aside, thank-you for sharing this update with us. God listened to our pleas and spared this woman's life.
By Katharhynn Heidelberg
Journal Staff Writer
Cortez, CO, Sept. 23 - A Cortez man accused of shooting a woman three times is ready to place his fate in the hands of a jury.
Dante Sena, 41, charged with attempted first-degree murder, pleaded not guilty in district court Thursday. His defense attorneys, Pamela Brown and John Baxter of the public defender's office, entered the not-guilty plea in part because there had been little communication with the District Attorney's office by way of a possible plea agreement.
Sena was arrested at the scene of a June 6 shooting that left Melissa Elliott, 35, near death. The incident began when Sena allegedly rammed his vehicle into Elliott's head-on as it was parked on Fifth Street between Market and Chestnut.
According to police reports, Sena exited his vehicle and fired three shots with a 12-gauge shotgun, striking Elliott in the face, neck and arm.
A woman living in a nearby apartment, one of many witnesses, said she saw a man, later identified as Sena, smash the butt of his gun against the windshield "with a passion I can't even describe." She opined that he then seemed overcome, "like he couldn't believe it."
Sena then allegedly removed Elliott from the vehicle and cut at her throat area with a knife. He indicated to police investigators that he had allegedly cut Elliott's throat because she complained she couldn't breathe and he was trying to perform a tracheotomy. Brown introduced at a subsequent court appearance a physician's report, which she said substantiated this explanation.
Police reports and testimony indicated that Sena and Elliott knew each other very well. Sena told detectives on June 7 that he had seen Elliott talking with a second man on Fifth Street, whereupon he drove to his residence on County Road F, retrieved his shotgun, loaded it and drove back into town.
District Attorney Joe Olt originally charged Sena with both first-degree premeditated murder and attempted premeditated murder. However, Elliott, who spent several weeks at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction, surviving, and the premeditated murder charge was dropped.
Elliott, who faces a long recovery and several more surgeries, was present for Sena's preliminary hearing in July despite an attempt by Brown to have her barred from the courtroom. On Wednesday, she was present again and visibly upset before court as she repeatedly asked, "What if he gets off?"
If convicted on the attempted murder charge, Sena could be sentenced to as many as 24 years in prison and fined up to $1 million. Should aggravated circumstances be proven, he could spend as many as 48 years behind bars.
Sena's trial has been set for March 4, 2003, with a readiness hearing slated for Feb. 17, 2003, at 11:30 a.m.
I believe this clown should be crucified next to the Durango-Silverton tracks where the tourists could view his rotting corpse daily and spit at it. At night, the magpies could make a feast of his spleen.
As sadistic as this might sound-I am still laughing from reading this part of your post.
I totally agree, this would be the best that he deserves!!
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