Lisl Auman

Lisl Auman

From Necronomipod by Cool Down Media

March 15, 2026 · 1h 29m · Episode 461

About this episode

The episode covers the controversial case of Lisl Auman, who was convicted of murder while handcuffed in a police car, and the subsequent legal battles surrounding her conviction.

Grab a beer and join us tonight as we cover the case of Lisl Auman — the only person in Colorado history convicted of murder while she was handcuffed in the back of a police car. In 1997, a 21-year-old woman brought some guys along to retrieve her stuff from an ex-boyfriend's place in the mountains. What followed was a high-speed chase, a standoff at a Denver apartment complex, and the shooting death of Officer Bruce VanderJagt — a murder committed by her associate Matthaeus Jaehnig, who then turned the gun on himself. Lisl never fired a shot. She was already under arrest when it happened. She got life without parole anyway. We'll break down the felony murder rule that made it possible, the two cops who suspiciously revised their reports two days after the fact using nearly identical language, and how a dying Hunter S. Thompson threw the full weight of his gonzo legacy behind getting her out — rallying everyone from Warren Zevon to Johnny Depp to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers along the way. It took eight years, but the Colorado Supreme Court finally agreed something had gone very wrong. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: Cool Down Media

Topics covered

  • murder case
  • felony murder rule
  • law enforcement
  • criminal justice
  • Colorado history
  • celebrity advocacy

Keywords

  • Lisl Auman
  • felony murder
  • Colorado
  • criminal defense
  • Hunter S. Thompson
  • law enforcement
  • murder conviction

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

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