Man sentenced for murder of 19-year-old who allegedly hired him on Craigslist to kill her
A Colorado man who told police he shot a teenager in the head after she hired him to kill her via a Craigslist ad pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Monday as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.
The agreement allowed Joseph Lopez, who had been charged with first-degree murder, to avoid a possible life sentence for 19-year-old Natalie Bollinger’s death. Bollinger’s body was found in a wooded area north of Denver in late December, one day after she was reported missing.
Adams County District Judge Roberto Ramirez sentenced Lopez, who is 23, to serve a maximum of 48 years in prison.
According to court records, Lopez told police that he responded to a Craigslist ad titled “I want to put a hit on myself” and said Bollinger asked him to shoot her. Lopez told investigators he came upon the ad while looking at the “women seeking men” category, according to documents obtained by
Lopez told police he tried to change Bollinger’s mind when they met but eventually he parked the car they were driving in and he shot her.
Lopez said Bollinger “knelt down on the ground and that he knelt down along her left side and slightly in front of her.”
He said they said a prayer together before pulled the trigger. Lopez then left the scene with the teen’s purse and the gun, which he claimed she provided.
The affidavit stated Bollinger had a history of heroin and methamphetamine use. At the time of her death, the teen had a “potentially lethal level of heroin in the blood.”
Prosecutors said Lopez should have called 911 or found help for Bollinger after he saw the ad. Bollinger and Lopez texted each other dozens of times before he picked her up and they drove around for “an extended period” before he killed her, they said.
“He didn’t respond as a human being,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Ally Baber said. “He responded as a predator.”
During his interview with investigators, Lopez mentioned that he kept a journal in high school in which he wrote stories about kidnapping people, torturing them and executing them, according to the .
An autopsy report found that Bollinger died of a single gunshot wound to the head.
Some of Bollinger’s family members objected to the plea deal during Lopez’s sentencing hearing. Bollinger’s father, Ted, told -TV that the prosecutors’ agreement with Lopez felt like “spit in my family’s face.”
“There’s no justice in this,” Ted Bollinger said.
At the sentencing, Ted Bollinger described his daughter as an artist who loved nature.
"You took advantage of my daughter," he said. "She was vulnerable and drugged... You premeditated. Brutally shot and killed my baby. I asked for an eye for an eye. You have been protected. The Bollinger family had no say in this. This is a deal with the devil."