Ex-Nevada inmate on trial in 2nd hammer killing in Colorado

GOLDEN, Colo. (AP) — A former Nevada prison inmate convicted this summer of killing three members of a Colorado family in 1984 is on trial for killing a woman about a week earlier in suburban Denver. During opening statements in Alex Ewing’s trial Tuesday, a prosecutor told jurors that there were numerous similarities between the killings of the Bennett family and the killing of Patricia Smith. For one, she said all the victims suffered blunt-force trauma consistent with a hammer. However, Ewing’s lawyer said that some critical pieces of evidence had been contaminated and compromised over the years and the DNA found on some items of clothing don’t match his.