Article: Up to five may be sought for questioning in Williams case

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Rocky Mountain News


Up to five may be sought for questioning in Williams case
Broomfield airport chief was told to be on lookout for men

Darrent Williams had been at Shelter nightclub.
By Charlie Brennan, Rocky Mountain News

January 12, 2007

Denver police may be looking for up to five people in the New Year's Day killing of Denver Broncos player Darrent Williams.
Kenny Maenpa, airport manager at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Broomfield, told the Rocky Mountain News that he was visited Jan. 4 by a Denver detective who showed him five photographs and gave him names of men wanted for questioning in the Williams case.

"They wanted us to keep an eye out on these individuals, that if there was any contact with them, to let them know," Maenpa said. "There was obviously a concern, that if they did come in, to immediately contact the police department. They identified that this was related to the (Williams) case."

A CBS 4 News report said that Denver detectives also contacted Centennial Airport in Arapahoe County and told managers there to be on the lookout for the five men if any of them tried to charter a plane.

Sources told News 4 that all five are still thought to be in the metro area.

CBS 4 News' Brian Maass also reported Thursday that witnesses are saying the trouble at the Shelter nightclub New Years Eve may have started with a confrontation between Broncos rookie receiver Brandon Marshall and a group of men.

Police believe that the drive-by shooting that sprayed the Hummer limousine and killed Williams was sparked by incidents at the nightclub.

News 4's Maass reported that witnesses say Marshall, 22, was involved in several altercations at the club with the shooting suspects.

The first occurred as Marshall was entering the club and some men waiting in line insulted him for receiving VIP treatment and being allowed in without waiting.

The witnesses also said that Marshall was involved in a shoving match outside the club at the end of the night.

Meanwhile, a Denver gang expert said Thursday that solving Williams' slaying could trigger arrests in at least one other recent unsolved killing.

The Rev. Leon Kelly, executive director of Denver's Open Door Youth Gang Alternatives, believes that police are looking into similarities between the Jan. 1 shooting of the Broncos cornerback and the Dec. 6 killing of Kalonniann Louisa Clark-James, who was slain five days before she was to testify against Crips gang member Brian Kenneth Hicks.

Hicks was in the Denver County Jail on $1,050,000 bail when both Clark-James and Williams were killed, but witnesses have linked Hicks' 1998 Chevrolet Tahoe to the Williams slaying on New Year's morning.

Police have indicated that they want to question Willie D. Clark, 23, a Hicks associate who was arrested last week on an alleged parole violation, in connection with the Broncos player's death. CBS 4 News has reported that Clark was in Hicks' Tahoe the night Williams was killed.

Both Clark and Hicks are members of the Tre Tre Crips street gang, Kelly said.

"If we could solve two cases with one stone, that's my objective," Kelly said, referring to the deaths of Williams and Clark-James.

Unlike the death of Williams, a popular member of Denver's most high-profile professional sports franchise, the death of Clark-James did not spark nationwide concern.

"But this goes well beyond Darrent Williams," Kelly said. "People are looking at how this case is going to be solved. It may set a precedent as to how they deal with other cases similar to this."

Kelly believes police are comparing ballistics tests in the Williams and Clark-James shootings, as well as other forensic evidence and eyewitness accounts that might link the two cases and possible other unsolved crimes.

Kelly said that a $100,000 Crime Stoppers reward announced Wednesday for information leading to filing of charges in the Williams shooting, funded by members of the Broncos - on top of an existing $2,000 reward - was yielding results.

"That money has really spawned some reaction," Kelly said. "It's caused a buzz to go out.
 
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