"It just went off, you know," Those damned guns just have a mind of their own.
http://www.denverpost.com/news/news0813d.htm
Teen insists death was accident; police vexed
By Trent Seibert
Denver Post Staff Writer
Aug. 13, 2000 - ADAMS COUNTY - Fourteen-year-old Patrick Owen Rosene started his day by rolling out of bed about noon and rolling a joint.
He capped it off by shooting and killing a friend with a .38-caliber Saturday Night Special.
It was an accident, he told authorities.
Adams County sheriff's detectives and the district attorney have no choice but to believe him. The only living witness to the shooting is Rosene, they said.
"It just went off, you know," Rosene told detectives while being questioned after he shot 13-year-old William "Billy" Flood.
What officials haven't said is this: Although Rosene says it was an accident that occurred while he was smoking pot, the 14year-old was clearheaded enough to try to cover up the crime, according to interviews and a detailed confession obtained by The Post that chronicled the killing and the day that led up to it.
And officials now have disclosed they believe a teenager whom Rosene said gave him the gun may be covering his own tracks.
Authorities charged Rosene as a juvenile with reckless manslaughter and with weapons violations the day after the July 25 shooting. Just days later, he pleaded guilty. Rosene's friend, a juvenile whose name is being withheld by The Post, remains free.
"I'm in pain every day," said Leisa Flood, Billy's mom, as she looked at photos of her son last week.
She's not the only one in pain.
In the past two weeks, four teenagers have been shot to death by other teens in the Denver metro area.
In Aurora on Monday, a 15-year-old shot and killed another 15-year-old as they played with a group of friends unsupervised at the home of one of the teen's parents.
And on July 29, the bodies of a 17-year-old and an 18-year-old were found at Boulder County's Gross Reservoir. The pair had been shot. Boulder sheriff's detectives arrested two 18year-olds for the crimes.
There are similarities in all four teen deaths. The victims and the killers all knew each other and handguns were the weapons used to kill.
There is a key difference, too. Billy's killer may not be sentenced to any time behind bars. And Rosene's friend, who may have supplied the gun, might never be charged at all. - -
Because Rosene was charged as a juvenile, and with reckless manslaughter instead of a more serious charge, the most time he will serve is two years in juvenile detention after he is sentenced Sept. 5.
It also means he could serve no time if the judge decides to sentence him to probation.
Rosene is in the county's juvenile detention center awaiting his sentence. Attempts to reach Rosene's parents, Fred and Nena Disbrow, were unsuccessful. Rosene could not be reached for comment and his attorney, public defender Mark Burton, did not return phone calls.
"I hope that someday, when he answers for this, God gives him what the law couldn't," Leisa Flood said last week as she leafed through the leather-covered Bible where she keeps news clippings of her son's shooting. "I hope he fears for that every day." Her son being killed is bad enough. What's worse, she said, is Rosene's version of what happened, in which he places much of the blame on Billy.
According to Rosene, he woke up at about noon on July 25. Soon after, he left his family's mobile home to visit a friend who lives nearby.
As the two smoked marijuana, the friend showed off a .38-caliber handgun he had obtained, according to Rosene. Rosene never asked where his friend got the gun, he said.
The two then walked to nearby Hodgkins Middle School to see if any kids hanging out there were selling pot. Rosene did not say if he bought any.
Eventually they returned to the friend's home, where Rosene asked to borrow the gun and a single bullet.
Rosene shoved both in his pocket and left. He walked alone to the mobile home where Billy lived with his mother, he told detectives.
About 9 p.m., Rosene knocked on the door. Billy let him in and they played video games.
Leisa Flood was not home. She had gone to a local gas station to buy a pack of cigarettes.
Rosene, still smoking marijuana, pulled out the gun. He and Billy took turns playing with it.
"I said, "Hey, take the bullet out of the gun,'- " Rosene told detectives, recalling the conversation with Billy. "And he said, "All right.' And I was smoking pot at the time. And then I said, "Well, let me see it.'- " Rosene aimed the gun at Billy's head. He thought Billy had removed the bullet, he said.
"It just went off, you know," Rosene told detectives as he started to cry. "And it, it just, it was all bright and my ears were ringing."
What really infuriates Leisa Flood, though, is Rosene's attempted coverup.
According to Rosene's confession, after he had shot Billy, he fled the mobile home.
But minutes later he returned to grab two marijuana pipes, because he was afraid police would discover his fingerprints on them and tie him to the shooting.
He also reached around his unconscious, bleeding friend's body to dig into the seat cushions of the couch to find the gun.
Rosene said he then took the gun back to his friend's mobile home, where he first picked it up.
Rosene said the two discarded the shell in the gun to hide it from police, Rosene said.
Rosene then left the friend and hid the gun in a field behind the mobile home park.
After the coverup, Rosene paused.
To smoke some more pot.
And then, after the last toke, he went for help. He didn't call for police or an ambulance. He sought out his mom, a cocktail waitress.
By then, it was too late. Billy's mom already had discovered her son's limp body on the couch of their mobile home. Billy lingered in Centura St. Anthony Central Hospital for two days before he died.
Rosene's coverup failed. Sheriff's deputies uncovered Rosene's involvement minutes after they arrived at the trailer park in response to Flood's 911 call.
Detectives may question Rosene's version of the story, but there's not much they can do, they said. In addition, their efforts to find out where the revolver came from have been unsuccessful, since Rosene's friend has maintained he knows nothing about the gun and the gun's serial number has been scratched off.
Detectives certainly question the friend's denials that he knew of the gun, according to Sgt. Craig Coleman, but unless a witness comes forward who can tie the friend to the gun, he will continue to walk free. "It's not looking real promising," Coleman said.
Trent Seibert can be reached at 303-659-8420 or at tseibert@denverpost.com.
Copyright 2000 The Denver Post.
http://www.denverpost.com/news/news0813d.htm
Teen insists death was accident; police vexed
By Trent Seibert
Denver Post Staff Writer
Aug. 13, 2000 - ADAMS COUNTY - Fourteen-year-old Patrick Owen Rosene started his day by rolling out of bed about noon and rolling a joint.
He capped it off by shooting and killing a friend with a .38-caliber Saturday Night Special.
It was an accident, he told authorities.
Adams County sheriff's detectives and the district attorney have no choice but to believe him. The only living witness to the shooting is Rosene, they said.
"It just went off, you know," Rosene told detectives while being questioned after he shot 13-year-old William "Billy" Flood.
What officials haven't said is this: Although Rosene says it was an accident that occurred while he was smoking pot, the 14year-old was clearheaded enough to try to cover up the crime, according to interviews and a detailed confession obtained by The Post that chronicled the killing and the day that led up to it.
And officials now have disclosed they believe a teenager whom Rosene said gave him the gun may be covering his own tracks.
Authorities charged Rosene as a juvenile with reckless manslaughter and with weapons violations the day after the July 25 shooting. Just days later, he pleaded guilty. Rosene's friend, a juvenile whose name is being withheld by The Post, remains free.
"I'm in pain every day," said Leisa Flood, Billy's mom, as she looked at photos of her son last week.
She's not the only one in pain.
In the past two weeks, four teenagers have been shot to death by other teens in the Denver metro area.
In Aurora on Monday, a 15-year-old shot and killed another 15-year-old as they played with a group of friends unsupervised at the home of one of the teen's parents.
And on July 29, the bodies of a 17-year-old and an 18-year-old were found at Boulder County's Gross Reservoir. The pair had been shot. Boulder sheriff's detectives arrested two 18year-olds for the crimes.
There are similarities in all four teen deaths. The victims and the killers all knew each other and handguns were the weapons used to kill.
There is a key difference, too. Billy's killer may not be sentenced to any time behind bars. And Rosene's friend, who may have supplied the gun, might never be charged at all. - -
Because Rosene was charged as a juvenile, and with reckless manslaughter instead of a more serious charge, the most time he will serve is two years in juvenile detention after he is sentenced Sept. 5.
It also means he could serve no time if the judge decides to sentence him to probation.
Rosene is in the county's juvenile detention center awaiting his sentence. Attempts to reach Rosene's parents, Fred and Nena Disbrow, were unsuccessful. Rosene could not be reached for comment and his attorney, public defender Mark Burton, did not return phone calls.
"I hope that someday, when he answers for this, God gives him what the law couldn't," Leisa Flood said last week as she leafed through the leather-covered Bible where she keeps news clippings of her son's shooting. "I hope he fears for that every day." Her son being killed is bad enough. What's worse, she said, is Rosene's version of what happened, in which he places much of the blame on Billy.
According to Rosene, he woke up at about noon on July 25. Soon after, he left his family's mobile home to visit a friend who lives nearby.
As the two smoked marijuana, the friend showed off a .38-caliber handgun he had obtained, according to Rosene. Rosene never asked where his friend got the gun, he said.
The two then walked to nearby Hodgkins Middle School to see if any kids hanging out there were selling pot. Rosene did not say if he bought any.
Eventually they returned to the friend's home, where Rosene asked to borrow the gun and a single bullet.
Rosene shoved both in his pocket and left. He walked alone to the mobile home where Billy lived with his mother, he told detectives.
About 9 p.m., Rosene knocked on the door. Billy let him in and they played video games.
Leisa Flood was not home. She had gone to a local gas station to buy a pack of cigarettes.
Rosene, still smoking marijuana, pulled out the gun. He and Billy took turns playing with it.
"I said, "Hey, take the bullet out of the gun,'- " Rosene told detectives, recalling the conversation with Billy. "And he said, "All right.' And I was smoking pot at the time. And then I said, "Well, let me see it.'- " Rosene aimed the gun at Billy's head. He thought Billy had removed the bullet, he said.
"It just went off, you know," Rosene told detectives as he started to cry. "And it, it just, it was all bright and my ears were ringing."
What really infuriates Leisa Flood, though, is Rosene's attempted coverup.
According to Rosene's confession, after he had shot Billy, he fled the mobile home.
But minutes later he returned to grab two marijuana pipes, because he was afraid police would discover his fingerprints on them and tie him to the shooting.
He also reached around his unconscious, bleeding friend's body to dig into the seat cushions of the couch to find the gun.
Rosene said he then took the gun back to his friend's mobile home, where he first picked it up.
Rosene said the two discarded the shell in the gun to hide it from police, Rosene said.
Rosene then left the friend and hid the gun in a field behind the mobile home park.
After the coverup, Rosene paused.
To smoke some more pot.
And then, after the last toke, he went for help. He didn't call for police or an ambulance. He sought out his mom, a cocktail waitress.
By then, it was too late. Billy's mom already had discovered her son's limp body on the couch of their mobile home. Billy lingered in Centura St. Anthony Central Hospital for two days before he died.
Rosene's coverup failed. Sheriff's deputies uncovered Rosene's involvement minutes after they arrived at the trailer park in response to Flood's 911 call.
Detectives may question Rosene's version of the story, but there's not much they can do, they said. In addition, their efforts to find out where the revolver came from have been unsuccessful, since Rosene's friend has maintained he knows nothing about the gun and the gun's serial number has been scratched off.
Detectives certainly question the friend's denials that he knew of the gun, according to Sgt. Craig Coleman, but unless a witness comes forward who can tie the friend to the gun, he will continue to walk free. "It's not looking real promising," Coleman said.
Trent Seibert can be reached at 303-659-8420 or at tseibert@denverpost.com.
Copyright 2000 The Denver Post.
Any other stupid questions? 