Staff reports
A 23-year-old man drew a 40-year sentence in the state department of corrections after he pleaded guilty to a second-degree murder charge.
Guillermo Pinuelas entered his plea in early June.
The incident happened in Northglenn in April 2021. A press release said Pinuelas went to the home of 24-year-old Kaid Dunlap to collect a debt. Dunlap didn’t have the money, and Pinuelas returned the next night. Dunlap didn’t have the money then, so Pinuelas shot Dunlap 13 times on the balcony of the apartment. The statement said Dunlap’s brother held him in his arms as Dunlap died.
Bullets penetrated the doors and walls of the apartment. The victim’s brother, sister-in-law and their child were home at the time.
The statement said police arrested Pinuelas in his apartment the next day after he disposed of the murder weapon and after trying to bleach his car and wash his clothes.
In the statement, 17th Judicial District Attorney Brian Mason called the crime “horrific and senseless.”
“Thirteen shots into an occupied apartment, a cold-blooded murder, a young life lost, a family forever altered. For what? To settle a perceived score? It's truly outrageous,” Mason said in the statement. This kind of violence will be met with thorough investigation and swift prosecution, as it was here.”
