Man arrested in Colorado triple-shooting after crash and intensive search
DENVER — A man arrested in connection with a fatal shooting in southern Colorado allegedly killed one man by shooting him in the head and injured two others, according to court documents.
Henry Corral, 44, was taken into custody after an intensive search in which authorities say he was fleeing a car crash and an attempted carjacking.
Officers found the three victims after responding to a report of shots fired at The Sunset Inn in Alamosa around 2 a.m. Sunday. The city of about 10,000 residents is located about 30 miles from the New Mexico border.
According to an arrest affidavit for Corral released Wednesday, Corral’s wife had spent time with Manuel Flores, a childhood friend who had recently been released from prison and was visiting from the Denver area. Flores was injured in the shooting, as was his friend Gabriel Pina, the affidavit said. The man who was killed, Aurelio Pina, was identified as Gabriel Pina’s father.
The affidavit did not say why Corral allegedly shot the three men. According to the document, Corral’s wife said the couple had been discussing separation or divorce.
Corral is represented by James Waldo, an attorney from the public defender’s office, who does not comment on his cases to the media.
Corral, who was taken to hospital after the crash, appeared in court on Wednesday for the first time since his arrest. Judge Jason Kelly ordered him to remain in jail unless he is able to post $5 million bail. The amount was set so high because of the allegations against him and his criminal history.
Prosecutor Anne Kelly described the shooting as an execution and attempted execution. She told the judge that Corral has been charged with first-degree murder twice before, in 2000 and 2016, when he pleaded guilty to lesser charges in both cases. After serving time in prison for the 2016 case, when Corral was released, he tried to kill his girlfriend by choking her, she said.
Corral fled so quickly in a stolen car in a rural area last weekend that he flew over two irrigation ditches and then landed the car in a field, Kelly said. Authorities believe he then set the car on fire in an attempt to get rid of evidence from the shooting, believed to be a gun and a cellphone, she said.