Second guilty plea in Colorado rock-throwing case sets up trial for third

The second of the three suspects arrested and accused in last year's rock-throwing death of Alexa Bartell appeared in Jefferson County Court on Wednesday. Nicholas "Mitch" James Karol-Chik pleaded guilty to three new charges, including second-degree murder, in an agreement reached with the prosecution. 

Karol-Chik, 19, pleaded guilty to his role in a series of rock-throwing attacks between Feb. 25, 2023, and April 19, 2023. In that agreement, the prosecution dismissed the original charges and added three new charges including second-degree murder, criminal attempt to commit murder in the first degree, and crime of violence. 

According to the plea agreement, prosecutors said Karol-Chik would serve a minimum of 35 years and up to 72 years in the Department of Corrections. The judge said the deal did not allow for sentencing in the youth offender program.

As with the first suspect to reach a plea deal, Bartell's family was in the courtroom. Prosecutors told the court that Bartell's family did agree to the plea deal.   

Last week, Zachary Kwak pleaded guilty to three new charges, first-degree assault, second-degree assault and criminal attempt to commit assault, in an agreement reached with the prosecution. As a result of that agreement, the prosecution dismissed the original 13 charges, including murder and attempted murder.    

The deals with Karol-Chik and Kwak are dependent on their full cooperation, including testimony against Koenig. Investigators have now revealed that they believe Koenig was the one who threw the fatal rock at Bartell's car. 

20-year-old Bartell was struck and killed late at night on April 19, 2023, when she was struck by a rock that was thrown into her windshield. Several others were injured in similar incidents with what authorities described as "large landscaping rocks," concrete, and in one case, a statue.     

Investigators believe there were a total of 10 vehicles involved in at least three different incidents regarding the suspects.

At the time of Bartell's killing they believe Koenig was driving a pickup, Karol-Chik was in the passenger seat and Kwak in the back seat. The District Attorney's Office says it has not extended an offer of a plea deal to Koenig. He remains charged with first-degree murder.  

By having the two others take pleas subject to their cooperation says defense attorney and former prosecutor Raj Chohan the prosecution strengthens its case.

"If you don't have at least one of those defendants turning on the other, you've got an identity problem," he observed. "If they're not talking, or not willing to testify you're going to have a situation where the jury is going try to figure out who the main perpetrator was without any of the witnesses testifying as to what they did." 

That could mean the jury sorting out whether one of three is guilty of murder while trying to establish who it was who undertook the fatal act. 

"You might be able to get a conspiracy charge to stick. But if you want to place a first-degree murder charge or even a second-degree murder charge on someone, you're going to need some strong evidence. That's going to come from the people who were there; in this case the people who were there were also defendants."

Koenig's trial is scheduled for July 19, 22-26, July 30 through Aug. 1. 

The 1st Judicial District Attorney presented the following in court for the plea agreement with Karol-Chik:

On Feb. 25, 2023, Karol-Chik and Co-Defendant Koenig threw a rock and concrete from the truck Koenig was driving, targeting oncoming drivers. Karol-Chik threw one of the objects, and Koenig threw one of the objects. 

On Apr. 1, 2023, while Karol-Chik was driving, Koenig threw a statue head at an oncoming driver.

On Apr. 19, 2023, Karol-Chik, Koenig, and Kwak threw landscaping rocks from Karol-Chik's moving Chevrolet Silverado, targeting drivers of oncoming moving vehicles. They caused damage to all seven vehicles they struck, caused injury to three drivers, and killed Alexa Bartell.  Specifically, Karol-Chik, who was in the front passenger's seat, provided Koenig, who was driving, the large landscaping rock that Koenig threw at Alexa Bartell, causing her death. 

Regarding all of these incidents, Defendant Karol-Chik knowingly engaged in conduct which created a grave risk of death, under circumstances evidencing an attitude of universal malice manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life.