Overview

• Joseph Koenig was found guilty of first-degree murder, attempted murder, assault, and attempted assault for his role in a deadly 2023 rock-throwing spree in Jefferson County, Colorado.
• Koenig threw a 9.3-pound rock that killed 20-year-old Alexa Bartell while she was driving on Indiana Street near the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge.
• Prosecutors highlighted the intentional nature of the attacks, citing repeated rock-throwing incidents, cheering by the defendants, and their return to the crash site for a photo as evidence of culpability.
• Co-defendants Nicholas “Mitch” Karol-Chik and Zachary Kwak, who pleaded guilty to lesser charges, testified against Koenig as part of plea agreements and await sentencing in early May.
• Koenig’s sentencing is scheduled for June 3, 2025, where he faces a mandatory life sentence for the first-degree murder conviction.