A Colorado mother accused of murdering her two young children and fleeing to the UK filed a claim in court two days after their deaths, saying they needed “time to heal” from the loss and had their cases scheduled in advance. He claimed he could not attend the custody hearing.
Kimberly Singler, 35, was scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 18, the day the murder occurred, but she and her family were the victims of a break-in, including her daughter Ellie, 9, and son. Aiden claimed he was left behind. , 7, death; According to the Denver Gazette.
“Due to lacerations to my neck and wrists, I am unable to attend in person/virtually/otherwise,” she wrote, also reportedly claiming that she suffered lacerations to her wrists and neck from the alleged deadly break-in. ing.
She and ex-husband Kevin Wentz were embroiled in a legal battle, and he filed an emergency motion with law enforcement to help enforce parenting time.
The Larimer County court clerk told Singler in a voicemail that if she was unable to meet with Wentz by then, she would have to appear in court with her children on Dec. 20, the newspaper said. .
Singler, who was representing her, went to the public library on Dec. 20 and used a computer to file a motion with the court asking the court to continue the detention hearing, the newspaper said.
She asked that the meeting be postponed for at least 10 days, the newspaper said.
“Due to lacerations to my neck and wrists, I am unable to attend in person/virtually/otherwise,” she wrote, also reportedly claiming that she suffered lacerations to her wrists and neck from the alleged deadly break-in. ing.
She wrote that she was writing from the library because her home was on lockdown and she did not have access to a cell phone or laptop, the Gazette reported.
“I am weak, in severe pain, and will require further treatment,” Singler wrote, adding that she also needed “time to heal” and that she had lost two children. He added that he needed to grieve.
She wrote that Ellie and Aden were “murdered” and that she and another girl were “neglected.”
Singler wrote that police were unable to call 911 until the morning of Dec. 19, when they received a call about a robbery in the 5300 block of Palomino Ranch Point.
On Dec. 26, investigators established probable cause and obtained a warrant for Mr. Singler’s arrest. A court set her bail at $10 million, and the Colorado Violent Offender Fugitive Task Force began a search operation for her.
Four days later, Singler was taken into custody in the UK and made his first appearance at Westminster Magistrates Court on January 1, the newspaper said.
Wentz said in a complaint filed in Larimer County Court the next day that he learned Singler had told police he was the “intruder” who broke into the home.
Police said Wentz “had nothing to do with the murders of the children,” according to the complaint cited in the Gazette.
Singler also filed charges of child abuse, but those allegations were unfounded in court.
The former couple separated in 2018 and officially divorced in 2020.
Singler was due to return to Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday as extradition proceedings continue.
She faces four counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, three counts of child abuse and one count of first-degree assault, police said.
But legal experts said Singler would likely not be extradited for several months because of the complexity of the process.
“This is just red tape,” Ian Farrell, an associate professor of law at the University of Denver, told the Gazette in an email. “I imagine there are I’s to be dotted and T’s to be crossed. Before we hand someone over, we need to make sure everything is in order.”
