Ex-College Official To Stand Trial Over Slaying
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) - Prosecutors say a hunt for drug dealers who sold an ex-college official a bag of dirt for $600 instead of heroin lead to a slaying in a church parking lot.
The Gazette of Colorado Springs reports that 63-year-old Michael Berkowitz is the former director of enrollment at the University of Phoenix, and owner of a jewelry store in Aspen. A judge Friday ordered that he stand trial on several charges, including murder and kidnapping in the June 30 death of 27-year-old Matthew Moore.
Prosecutors say that Berkowitz and another man who served as Berkowitz bodyguard kidnapped Moore and gunned him down at Calvary Baptist Church. Berkowitz told investigators that 23-year-old Rodrigo Rubio was the triggerman.
Police say Berkowitz ordered Rubio to kill Moore.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
