Man takes murder plea deal in first Colorado case impacted by work of embattled DNA analyst

By COLLEEN SLEVIN
Associated Press

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado man has pleaded guilty to lesser charges in the killings of three people in 2017 in the first prosecution believed to be impacted by the work of a state DNA analyst accused of tampering with test results. Thirty-one-year-old Garrett Coughlin pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree murder and was sentenced to 42 years in prison under a plea deal with prosecutors. The deal allowed him to avoid a possible life sentence if he was convicted for a second time at trial for felony murder. Coughlin’s original conviction and sentence were overturned after it was discovered that at least one juror had lied during jury selection.