BOULDER, Colo. — Robert Olds waited more than three years for this case to go to trial. And when it finally did, he made sure to be in court every single day.
“Front row, listening to it all. It's brutal,” he said. “It's brutal to watch 10 people, innocent people, going about their normal daily lives and work. To be brutally executed the way they were – without regard for human life.”
Olds’ niece, 25-year old Rikki Olds, was one of 10 people killed by a shooter at the Table Mesa King Soopers in Boulder on March 22, 2021. In the years since, he has been an advocate for his own family, and the other families waiting for the case to progress through the court system.
“This is my last stand for her and those other nine victims as well,” he said. “I don’t want to speak for their family members, but I’ll stand up and fight for them, too.”
The trial against the shooter ended Friday with closing arguments from the prosecution and defense. The jury is now deliberating charges against the gunman. The defense doesn't dispute he was the shooter, but argued he is not guilty by reason of insanity and did not know right from wrong when he pulled the trigger. Prosecutors argued he was sane on the day of the shooting, and that he planned the shooting in advance.
Olds describes the trial as a “roller coaster,” as he and other families watched video of the moments their loved ones were killed. Emotions vary, like the deep frustration he felt as he listened to the defendant’s legal team present an "insanity" narrative, and as his family members testified for the defense.
“Do you really have your client’s best interest at heart? Or do you want to prolong our agony?” he said.
Although Colorado no longer uses the death penalty, Olds said he’d prefer it in this case and ponders a judgement against the shooter beyond even this lifetime.
“That next step, when he faces God, is going to be the ultimate punishment," he said.
Olds believes the prosecution presented “common sense evidence” that the shooter was sane when he pulled the trigger, and he hopes the jury heard it that way, too. And yet, there is anxiety as families wait for a decision.
“If they listened to evidence in the case, they’ll come to conclusion that he was sane at the time of these murders. That he planned them. That he knew right from wrong. All of that was proven in court by the evidence,” he said.
“I’m trying to take a deep breath before this week,” said Erika Mahoney, who lost her dad, Kevin Mahoney, in the shooting.
She has attended several days of the trial, while also raising two young children. It's strange to juggle both, she said, transitioning between difficult days in court and then coming home to her family’s daily life.
“I was pregnant when my dad was killed,” she said. “Just making space for grief and joy at the same time, balancing life and death at the same time, has been a long journey.”
Mahoney said she’s worked hard on her healing and is trying to take care of herself through this part of the process. Like Olds, she described the trial as a “roller coaster of emotions.”
“I’ve tried to listen to my body. They showed some footage of my dad I found really disturbing, I didn’t go to court for the next two days. I went to yoga, and I went for walks and I went to therapy and I just took time to process it. That was a really dark moment in this trial,” she said. “Then there have been these moments of beauty. Stories of people going back into the store to help each other out. Stories of survival. That shows the good side of humanity.”
Now, the families wait for a verdict. Those emotions are varied, too.
Fear. Anxiety. Anger. Acceptance.
“There is a level of acceptance of this whole thing,” Mahoney said. “Accepting it happened, accepting my dad is gone. This trial. Accepting that a group of strangers is making the decision.
“At some point last week, I came to the realization that I have to accept that the decision is not in my hands. It’s not my responsibility to make the decision, and there’s some letting go with that.”
Mahoney said she feels her dad’s presence in the outdoors – where he loved to hike, ski, camp and make memories. She is looking forward to how life might look after the trial is over, and this chapter of the story closes.
“I’m looking forward to the changing of the seasons. Fall is so beautiful. [It's] my first fall back in Boulder. I’m excited about having this behind us. Reconnecting with my dad on that level,” she said.
Olds is looking ahead, too. He has started planning a foundation in Rikki’s honor to memorialize his niece, and the adversity she overcame in her short life.
“To be able to help and support – children whose parents are addicted to drugs, neglected them, abandoned them,” he said. “That’s going to be my focus moving forward after this, my way to honor her. To give back to and hopefully help some children who were in the same situations that Rikki experienced in her life.”