District Attorney Michael Allen said prosecutors were unable to serve subpoenas on witnesses, namely Anderson Aldrich’s mother and grandparents

Lance Benzel
Lance has been a journalist for more than two decades, much of it at The Gazette in Colorado Springs, where he started in 2008. He wrote about the withdrawal of Fort Carson troops from Iraq, a 2015 mass shooting that killed three people at a Planned Parenthood clinic and complaints about an El Paso County judge before his ouster by voters.
He previously reported for the Billings Gazette in Montana, the High Point Enterprise in North Carolina and New City News Service of Chicago. He has covered legal affairs and public safety, outdoor recreation, city government, the environment and the military.
Lance lives in Colorado Springs with his wife and son. He is an avid cyclist.
Topic expertise: Legal affairs, public safety, general assignment and beat reporting
Location: Colorado Springs
Education: Lawrence University, English literature
Honors & Awards: 1st place, best news story and best feature, Colorado Press Association; 1st place, news reporting (single story) and general legal reporting, Society of Professional Journalists; 1st place, Spot News Reporting, Colorado Associated Press Editors and Reporters
Contact:
X (Formerly Twitter): @lancebenzel
Club Q was opened 21 years ago to ensure Colorado Springs’ LBGTQ community would have a long-term home
“Club Q was that safe place for people to come and feel and understand that they are normal, that the way they feel is normal and there are people just like them,” owner Matthew Haynes said
5 killed, 17 wounded in shooting at LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs
A gunman entered Club Q just before midnight and began shooting. Club patrons were able to stop the gunman, police say. The suspect is in custody.
8 homes burned in Colorado Springs as firefighters battle three fires in one day
Separate wildfires fanned by strong winds destroyed eight homes, forced hundreds of people to flee and led to flight cancellations and a shelter-in-place order at the Colorado Springs Airport on Thursday. No injuries were reported, though officials said a search of the burned homes was ongoing. Firefighters were called to the Skylark Mobile Home Park, […]