Man suspected in four 1984 Colorado cold case murders advised of charges in Arapahoe Co. case

DNA technology linked Ewing to both the Arapahoe and Jefferson county cases,

March 4, 2020

DENVER – The man suspected of killing four people and sexually assaulting a young girl in 1984, who was extradited back to Colorado from Nevada in recent days, was advised of the multiple felony charges he faces in his Arapahoe County case Monday.

Alex Christopher Ewing, 59, faces three counts of first-degree murder after deliberation, three counts of felony murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree sexual assault, one count of first-degree assault, two counts of sexual assault on a child, one count of first-degree burglary and five sentence enhancers in the brutal hammer killings of Bruce and Debra Bennett, as well as their 7-year-old daughter, Melissa, and sexual assault of their younger daughter.

He was advised of his charges in court Monday after he was ordered to be extradited back to Colorado from Nevada, where he had been serving prison time, last week following an extradition fight that lasted more than a year. The Nevada Supreme Court denied Ewing's motion to stay in Nevada last week, as did the U.S. Supreme Court.

Ewing is due back in court in the Arapahoe County case for a status conference on April 3.

He will also face murder charges in Jefferson County in the 1984 killing of 50-year-old Lakewood woman Patricia Smith and is scheduled to be advised of those charges in court on March 10.

DNA technology linked Ewing to both the Arapahoe and Jefferson county cases, and authorities in Colorado announced in August 2018 he was the suspect and that they were seeking his extradition.

Prosecutors said that the two separate cases "will proceed independently and concurrently." Ewing is being held without bond at the Arapahoe County jail and will be brought to Jefferson County for his court dates.