Judge to issue ruling on hostage-taker charges

An Aspen District Court judge listened to evidence Tuesday supporting 15 felonies against a Colorado Springs resident accused of holding three men hostage last summer but did not immediately issue a ruling.

District Judge Chris Seldin said he would rule in writing in the near future about whether prosecutors’ evidence presented in Tuesday’s preliminary hearing backs up the charges against Brolin McConnell, which include attempted first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping.

Seldin also denied a request by McConnell’s lawyer to lower his bond from $500,000 cash only to a $200,000 property bond backed up by his parents’ Colorado Springs home.

McConnell allegedly held three men at gunpoint on Lincoln Creek Road on July 27 and repeatedly threatened to kill them.