A desperate pursuit, a hostage situation, and a 22-year prison sentence for the kidnapper are the results of a devious plan to kill a billionaire.#MeekerCO #Colorado #News #Crime
MEEKER, CO.Joseph Beecher, a Colorado man who had plotted the murder of billionaire Michael Bloomberg, was found guilty in a terrifying case that surfaced in early 2022 of kidnapping the former mayor’s housekeeper. Following months of court cases, Beecher was finally given a 22-year sentence in federal prison. His crime startled the country with its bizarre chain of events, which involved kidnapping, firearm charges, and carjacking.
The Crime Unfolds
On December 6, 2024, Joseph Beecher, 51, of Craig, Colorado, was found guilty of several offenses and given a sentence of 22 years in federal prison. Beecher’s hefty prison sentence will be followed by five years of supervised release. His conviction resulted from a string of offenses that began with his discharge from his job and progressed into a violent attempt to assassinate well-known people.
It was on February 2, 2022, that Beecher was fired. He stormed into his employer’s house in retribution and took guns, including a Bushmaster AR-style rifle. Beecher intended to murder Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, at his estate in Colorado. But things swiftly took a troubling turn when he got at the ranch and discovered that Bloomberg’s housekeeper was the only person there.
Kidnapping and Desperate Search for Another Target
Beecher took the housekeeper captive at gunpoint rather than looking for Bloomberg. He made her take him to a number of places as he looked for another prominent victim. Beecher had intended to assassinate another media tycoon, but he became desperate after failing to find this one.
In order to recover and reorganize, Beecher booked into the Stage Coach Motel in Cheyenne, Wyoming, while pursuing another victim. The cops would eventually step in at this point. Fortunately, the housekeeper was still physically uninjured after having been held captive for more than twenty-four hours.
SWAT Team Rescue and Legal Consequences
Early on February 3, 2022, Cheyenne police SWAT officers broke into the motel, freed the captive, and took Beecher into custody. Law enforcement’s quick and well-coordinated actions led to the successful rescue, which ended the hostage situation without causing the victim any more injury.
On several accusations, including kidnapping, carjacking, using a firearm in a violent crime, and smuggling stolen firearms, Beecher was later found guilty at trial. In addition to putting the life of an innocent woman in jeopardy, his actions shocked the world when it was discovered that he had planned to commit a far more well-known crime.
Beecher will spend a considerable amount of time behind bars as a result of the 22-year sentence, which serves as a reminder of the dire repercussions of such brutal acts. Despite being disturbed, the victim was thankfully unharmed, and the prompt action of law authorities guaranteed a safe resolution to this terrifying incident.
Associated Subjects: Crime, Colorado, and Wyoming
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