RIO BLANCO COUNTY, Colo — A federal jury on Wednesday convicted a man of multiple counts related to the kidnapping of a woman from Michael Bloomberg’s Colorado ranch more than two years ago.
Joseph Beecher, 51, was convicted of kidnapping, carjacking, using/carrying a firearm during a crime of violence, and transportation of stolen firearms, according to a news release Thursday from the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Beecher lived and worked at a Craig apartment complex, and in the early morning hours of Feb. 2, 2022, he was told his services were no longer needed. After being told that, he broke into his employer’s home and stole two firearms, including a Bushmaster AR-style rifle, the DOJ said.
He drove to a ranch owned by Bloomberg with the intent to kill him but found only an employee on the property. Beecher took the woman hostage at gunpoint and forced her to drive him to various locations in an effort to find and kill another media mogul in Colorado.
Unable to find his second target, Beecher eventually forced the woman at gunpoint to drive him to the Stage Coach Motel in Cheyenne.
The next morning, SWAT officers and Cheyenne Police arrested Beecher at the motel. The woman was physically unharmed.
Beecher is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 18. He faces a minimum of seven years and a maximum of life in prison.
Beecher has no known connection with the Bloomberg family, the Rio Blanco County Sheriff's Office said.
