Man sentenced to 35 years for 2021 deadly stabbing done in ‘cold blood’

DENVER (KDVR) — A 34-year-old man was sentenced to serve 35 years in the Department of Corrections for stabbing a man to death in Thornton in 2021.

Louis Sandoval was sentenced last week on a single count of second-degree murder with a sentence enhancement of violent crime causing death in the stabbing death of Thomas Downing on June 7, 2021. Sandoval pleaded guilty to the crime on Jan. 25 through a plea deal.

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Adams County Judge Jeffrey Smith sentenced Sandoval and said this was one of the more aggravated murder cases he had presided over, according to the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

“The brutality and senselessness of this crime is beyond words,” said District Attorney Brian Mason in a release. “This defendant built a connection with the victim that evening and then, for reasons we may never know, murdered the victim in cold blood. I’m thankful to the Thornton Police Department and my team at the DA’s Office for their diligent work on this case.”

According to investigators, the pair met at the Village Pub in Thornton on June 6, 2021, and connected through their shared Marine Corps backgrounds. In the early morning hours of June 7, 2021, the pair left the bar and walked toward Downing’s nearby apartment.

According to investigators, at some point during the night, Sandoval stabbed and slashed Downing, leading to his death.

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At about 3:40 a.m. on June 7, 2021, Thornton emergency crews were called to Downing’s apartment on West 91st Avenue because of a building fire. During the response, crews found Downing’s body.

Thornton police credited help from the Regional Anti-Violence Enforcement Network in connecting Sandoval to Downing’s murder using DNA, surveillance footage and cellular data.

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