Ari Liggett - the son accused of killing his mom - is 'mentally ill' according to his father/Update: Deemed FIT to stand trial. Ari Liggett sentenced to life in prison for killing, dismembering his mother.

1:45 AM, Oct 19, 2012
Written by
Anastasiya Bolton


CENTENNIAL - The father of a 24-year-old man - accused of killing his mother and dismembering her body - says his son is mentally ill.

Ari Liggett is being held without bond in the Arapahoe County Jail, facing charges of first-degree murder.

"We're failing our society in terms of mental health treatment, prevention and resources," Ronald Liggett told 9NEWS.

Ronald told 9NEWS Crime and Justice Reporter Anastasiya Bolton Ari has a lifelong history of mental illness.

"This is a mental-health issue," Liggett said. "Like you're seeing every day in the papers, it won't be positively addresses until the society takes it as seriously as the war on drugs or terrorism."

9NEWS learned Liggett and the victim's boyfriend became suspicious that something wasn't quite right when Beverly Liggett didn't answer their calls.

Police assisted the men in entering the Centennial home Monday, when the three found some suspicious things the victims would've never done - like leaving the home without her medication. Her car was missing as well.

When a team of investigators responded to the home, they found traces of blood in the freezer and bath tub, cutting tools in the dishwasher, among other suspicious items that led them to believe they were on a scene of a homicide.

9NEWS learned Ari was on his way home with his mother's remains in the back of her car, when police tried to stop him. He tried to evade them but crashed the car and then ran. An officer then arrested him.

Ari told police he recently learned his mother did not include him in her will. He found her dead in the living room and believed she committed suicide. He panicked and put her in the freezer.

The report further described Ari telling the police what he did, driving to various locations, getting out of town and then running out of money.

The body was positively identified Thursday as belonging to the missing mother.

Victim feared for her life

According to court documents, Beverly Liggett expressed fear for her life in January 2010. She found a modified rifle in her son's possession.

While interviewing Beverly that day, officers learned she didn't think he was "getting released for a long time." The report does not state where Ari was being released from.

The report states Beverly told the police Ari made comments to her in that past that "he would get rid of the family, meaning her and Ari's younger sister."

"The family is Jewish, and so is Ari," the report said. "Ari had some books on racism that she had found in a bag with other school books. Ari appeared to be slightly obsessed with killing, racism and Hitler. When Ari gets his mind wrapped around an idea, he becomes obsessed with the following through of the idea."

The 2010 report also said Beverly told police, "she and her daughter are living in fear that Ari will come to the house and kill them."

According to the same report, deputies found two containers of crystallized Potassium Ferrocyanide and a gas mask in Ari's possession.

Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson says his deputies did everything they could to help her.

"When we look back at the history at this house people did take heed. Ari was arrested for possession of an illegal firearm and he was on probation," Sheriff Grayson said. "I think the efforts that could be made were made relative to this individual."

Suspect attended CU-Boulder

Ari attended two regular semesters at CU-Boulder from the fall of 2008 to the spring of 2009.

CU police told 9NEWS they had no criminal contact with the suspect during his time at the university.

They could not say if Ari had any psychiatric issues while on campus.

Boulder incident

Ari also has an interesting history that, like this case, involved a form of cyanide.

He was arrested in Boulder on March 26, 2010 on a warrant out of Arapahoe County for possession of a homemade silencer for a firearm. He was booked on misdemeanor reckless endangerment and felony possession of a dangerous weapon charges.

He pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor getting one year probation and got a deferred sentence on the felony in December 2011. The original judge in his case was Ethan Feldman and his judge at sentencing was Judge Wheeler, who signed the warrant for him today and will be the judge at his advisement tomorrow.

His arrest in 2010 led to a bomb scare at the Boulder Homeless Shelter. At the time police thought he had potassium ferrocyanide and sent samples to the FBI.

The chemical believed to have been found in the family home in Centennial this time is potassium cyanide - the very lethal form of the compound. It's the substance commonly used in suicide pills.

Investigators say his mother's dismembered remains were found in the backseat of the car driven by Ari.

9NEWS reached out to the victim's boyfriend and other family members, but hasn't heard back.

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I cry BS!! The system FAILED this poor mother.  

Formal charges filed against Ari Liggett in death, dismemberment of his mother

Posted: 10/23/2012
Last Updated: 8 hours ago

By: Deb Stanley
By: Alan Gathright
ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. - Formal charges have been filed against the Arapahoe County man arrested on suspicion that he killed and dismembered his mother.

Ari Liggett, 24, is charged with murder in the first degree, vehicular eluding and crime of violence, according to the complaint obtained Tuesday by 7NEWS.

The body of Liggett's mother, Beverly Liggett, was found in the back of a SUV that crashed during a pursuit on Oct. 17. The Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office said Ari Liggett was driving the car.

According to police dispatch radio, Ari Liggett called authorities and said he was driving with his mother's dead body.

"The (reporting party), who could possibly be driving the vehicle, is going to be (last name) Liggett, first of Ari. (He) stated that he was going to bury his dead mother yesterday and she was possibly in the vehicle, (her last name is) Liggett, first of Beverly. And also, the party is possibly armed and dangerous," said the dispatcher. "(The) party's known to manufacture his own firearms, weapons and poisonous gas. Consider officer safety."

After the vehicle crashed, officers on scene were told to wait on approaching the vehicle.

"(Arapahoe) County's advising don't touch the car at all, the bomb squad is apparently going to come and look at it," said the dispatcher.

Family members reported two days earlier that Liggett and her son were missing and the family was concerned for their welfare. The mother and son had resided together at 6223 East Peakview Ave.

Investigating deputies found a suspicious liquid inside the home. Preliminary testing determined that the suspicious liquid appeared to be potassium cyanide.

Court records obtained by The Denver Post show that during a search of the Centennial home, investigators found traces of human blood in the freezer and bathtub. They also found a crosscut hand saw and large kitchen knife in the dishwasher.

A cat was also found dead under a bed, according to The Post.

After his arrest on Wednesday, Liggett told authorities that he found his mother dead in the living room and that he believed she had committed suicide by ingesting potassium cyanide that was in a shot glass in the refrigerator, according the Post. Liggett said he panicked and put her body into a freezer, according to court records.

"Even though there was potassium cyanide in this home, this community was never in jeopardy," said Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson. "The only harm that that toxic chemical presented was inside that home and to individuals that were in that home without protective gear on."

Liggett Arrested In 2010
In March 2010, Liggett was arrested after a Boulder Homeless Shelter hazmat incident.

The shelter was evacuated after Liggett told police he was storing hazardous chemicals in a suitcase there. Granular material in a mason jar was found inside a suitcase and the shelter was shut down for seven hours while the investigation was conducted.

Tests on the chemical were inconclusive.

Liggett was arrested on a warrant for allegedly possessing a homemade silencer for a gun.

At the time, Beverly Liggett told Arapahoe County sheriff's deputies that her son had made comments to her in the past that he would "get rid of the family," referring to his mother and sister, according to court records obtained by 7NEWS.

Ari Liggett and his family are Jewish, but the mother said, "Ari is against Jewish people, and appears to be full of hatred for her and her family," a 2010 arrest affidavit said.

Beverly Liggett told deputies "Ari appeared to be slightly obsessed with killing, racism and Hitler," the affidavit said. The mother said she had found racist books in Ari's school book bag.

The mother said she also found that Ari had searched the Internet for ways to make chemicals like potassium cyanide and dangerous acids. The FBI got involved in the investigation after Ari Liggett ordered chemicals from a Connecticut company and asked for them to be mailed to a post office box.

When police searched his home after his arrest last week, they found a liquid that appeared to be potassium cyanide.

According to Robinson, Ari Liggett was not charged for possessing chemicals, but rather having a silencer for a weapon.

"He was not a danger to our community. I believe he might have been considered a danger to family members, and it's obvious based on what we're investigating," said Robinson.

7NEWS asked Robinson about a possible link to the Jessica Ridgeway case.

"We have discussed the situation with various entities and do not believe there is a link at this time," Robinson said.

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""We're failing our society in terms of mental health treatment, prevention and resources," Ronald Liggett told 9NEWS.

Ronald told 9NEWS Crime and Justice Reporter Anastasiya Bolton Ari has a lifelong history of mental illness.

"This is a mental-health issue," Liggett said. "Like you're seeing every day in the papers, it won't be positively addresses until the society takes it as seriously as the war on drugs or terrorism."
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I cry BS!! The system FAILED this poor mother.<----- by Wrap

I agree Wrap but I also agree with the Father. In CA we used to have mental institutions where they actually accepted mentally ill patients whether it was on their request, their family (if under age I guess, I was too young to remember) or placed by court.
I believe it was Regan when governor closed the mental hospitals and the patients ultimately ended up on the streets. I doubt that it was just Regan alone but it still happened and I think the reason was to balance our budget. I cannot speak for other states but I'm sure there's others just like CA. So we have mentally ill people homeless on the streets or in family homes (or other peoples) who are mentally ill, on meds or not on meds and so many have killed just like the above person. What is a family/friends to do? JMOO.

Published On: Mon, Nov 19th, 2012 Hometown News | By Kaye Wonderhouse

Ari Liggett, Colorado Man Butcher His Mother, Had History Of Mental Problems, Confirms Dad

The man who was arrested Wednesday after police found the dismembered remains of his mother in the back seat of his car says he recently learned that he was not in his mother’s will.


Ari Liggett, age 24, is being held without bond on suspicion of the first degree murder of Beverly Liggett, the man’s 56-ear-old mother.

He was arrested near his home after crashing his car in an attempt to elude police.

Liggett originally lied to police officiers during an interview, claiming that he found his mother dead in the living room after she committed suicide.

The search of the family’s home uncovered a saw in the dishwasher and potassium cyanide and traces of blood in the freezer and bathrub, according to court records.

“There’s no words to describe what could really bring somebody to do that,” said neighbor Brett Wilbur. “I don’t understand how that’s possible in the first place. There’s got to be some sort of mental illness, I pray God just has mercy on his soul.”

Arrested in 2010, Ari was found welding a homemade silencer and mixing dangerous chemical’s in his home’s backyard that eventually led to the evacuation of a homeless shelter.

Threatening to kill his mother and his sister, his family took him to an unsecured facility and was placed on the FBI’s watch list while expressing antisemitism remarks, despite his own Jewish heritage, police records reveal.

The disturbed man was thought to be tied to the disappearance of Jessica Ridgeway, but DNA cleared Liggett.

Ari Liggett’s father didn’t deny the problems and admitted that his son “absolutely” had mental health issues.

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I agree Wrap but I also agree with the Father. In CA we used to have mental institutions where they actually accepted mentally ill patients whether it was on their request, their family (if under age I guess, I was too young to remember) or placed by court.
I believe it was Regan when governor closed the mental hospitals and the patients ultimately ended up on the streets. I doubt that it was just Regan alone but it still happened and I think the reason was to balance our budget. I cannot speak for other states but I'm sure there's others just like CA. So we have mentally ill people homeless on the streets or in family homes (or other peoples) who are mentally ill, on meds or not on meds and so many have killed just like the above person. What is a family/friends to do? JMOO.

Just now seeing this. I do agree. There are so many homeless and many have serious mental disorders. OMG, putting mentally disturbed peeps on the street to "balance the budget" is OUTRAGEOUS. Many end up murdering innocent people. I am

Posted: Wednesday, January 9, 2013 3:51 pm
Deborah Grigsby [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Gripping his reading glasses tightly, Ronald Liggett watched his son, shackled at the waist and ankles, shuffle into an Arapahoe County courtroom under the watchful eye of an armed deputy.

Peering through a break in his long, black hair, Ari Misha Liggett, charged with killing and dismembering his own mother, locked eyes only once with his father, and then quietly seated himself next to the public defender.

Although the younger Liggett's attorney argued that prior medical and psychiatric records should remain privileged, Judge John Wheeler later denied the motion, making documents accessible to the state doctors who will determine the 24-year-old defendant's ability to stand trial.

After the hearing, Ron made his own case to “wave the flag for mental health care.”

“Having a child with mental health issues can be simply overwhelming,” said the elder Liggett. “This is something we've death with, every day, for 20 years … ever since Ari was about 3 years old.”
Frustrated with a system Liggett describes as more focused on policy and economics, he said it's easy to get help through school counselors and entry-level providers, but when it comes to serving more severe needs, roadblocks begin to appear. Could NOT agree more!!

Neighbors of the victim, 56-year-old Beverly Liggett, said after an unrelated arrest in 2010 they learned that Ari had been diagnosed with both a bipolar disorder and Asperger syndrome, adding that family members tried to get help, but couldn't find a place that would take him.

“Kids like Ari need a structured, safe environment,” said Ronald Liggett. “Now, we're all going to pay for his care, because that structured and safe environment is the prison system.”

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This is a case that bothers me.

Not "just" because what happened to Beverly Liggett, because I'll always wonder if this could have been prevented.
In December of 2011, I contacted a local news channel via email and this is what I sent:

Hi, how are you? I hope all is well! Here is what I'd like to share:

This may be legitimate, but I find it rather disturbing that if you look on the "wanted" section on Craigslist, you'll find somebody asking for potassium cyanide. I'm not from the U.S. But I would think that something like that would be a controlled substance.

The person that posted this wanted add jokes that it is for jewelry and promises that it is not because he or she plans to kill anybody. Since it gives me an uneasy feeling, I figured I'd sent you an email so even if it is perfectly legal to poses this stuff, at least I made someone aware of this (you read all kind of crazy stories these days of people killing loved ones or themselves, especially during holidays) One would think that a jewelry maker would know that you can almost only obtain this through a pharmacist and/or a chemical company, so why wouldn't one go through the proper channels?

Thank you for reading my email - I hope you'll check it out.

Be Well, Stay Safe - All Ways and Always

Francisca

The reply from the News station:

I have forwarded your email to investigators.

Jace Larson
Investigative Reporter
9NEWS, Denver
(303) 871-1432 direct

This is what I shared with peeps when Ari Liggett was arrested with his mother's remains in the backseat of the car:

Sooo, yesterday I learned that a young man was arrested while driving around with 2 coolers in the backseat that contained the remains of his mother. He claimed she died by self-deliverance (my word - HIS word was suicide, I don't like that word) by taking....potassium Cyanide.

I also learned that his mother (Beverly Liggett) had indicated to be fearing for her life in 2010 already and that in that police report a substance was mentioned that was probably closely related: "While interviewing Beverly that day, officers learned she didn't think he was "getting released for a long time." The report does not state where Ari was being released from." The 2010 report also said Beverly told police, "she and her daughter are living in fear that Ari will come to the house and kill them. According to the same report, deputies found two containers of crystallized Potassium Ferrocyanide and a gas mask in Ari's possession. "

"Boulder incident 2010
Besides all of that: Ari also has an interesting history that, like this case, involved a form of cyanide.

The chemical believed to have been found in the family home in Centennial this time is potassium cyanide - the very lethal form of the compound. It's the substance commonly used in suicide pills."

Of course I have no way of knowing if the Craigslist post was ever traced down somehow. Nor do I expect to hear whether there is a connection to what happened to Beverly, but what if people had looked into that Craigslist post more thoroughly? His record clearly shows that this young man knows his way around Potassium Cyanide... One would think that one who obtains potassium cyanide with less than honorable intentions would wait before implementing them so that people would forget about the post on Craigslist: I reported this post in Dec. 2011 - so technically this very well may be related.

I would think that overall members from the general public don't spend their time asking for potassium cyanide...could she have been spared a horrendous death if that person posting to Craigslist was indeed Ari Liggett and the post was checked thoroughly?

When Ari was arrested I contacted a local Sheriff's office and someone there asked me for that Craigslist post, but I could only send the original communication with the news station. I never downloaded that post because everyone laughed at me when alerting people about it and the news station said the info was sent to investigators, so there was no reason for me to download it.

It does bother me though...you know?

Be Well, Stay Safe - All Ways and Always,
Francisca

It's plausible that he put the ad on CL. That was smart of you to email LE.

Thank you.

It was a sytange situation, because my friends thought it was ridiculous to say something about that creepy post and at the same token I could not relate to them. I'd rather say something and it possibly not having any value for a case, besides the fact that I cared. I think that carries value in itself.

POSTED: 02/19/2013 12:01:00 AM MST
UPDATED: 02/19/2013 12:12:56 AM MSTBy Carlos Illescas
The Denver Post

There is a system in place to help parents manage kids with mental illness. Schools and counselors communicate with parents and doctors work with them to ensure a correct diagnosis and that the child receives proper medications.

But as children grow older, state health laws allow them to keep their parents out of the loop, leaving it up to the person struggling with mental illness to follow through with treatment.

They don't always get — or accept — the help they need.

"It's the way the system is failing a lot of young adult males who have some kind of mental health issues going on," said Ron Liggett, whose 24-year-old son is accused of murdering his own mother.

"Society at this point isn't willing to commit the resources to support them, especially as young men."

Ari Liggett, 24, was arrested by Greenwood Village police in October, accused of poisoning his mother, Beverly Liggett, in their Centennial home, dismembering her body then driving around the state with her remains in the back of his vehicle.

After the arrest, Ari Liggett was assessed at the state mental hospital in Pueblo and his public defender may yet argue that he is not competent to stand trial.

Ari Liggett appeared in Arapahoe County District Court Friday where his lawyer, Jennifer Ahnstedt, said she had not received a report of the evaluation, which is needed before a competency hearing can be held. His next court appearance is Feb. 27.

Whether Liggett is deemed mentally fit will depend on a variety of factors.

"It doesn't happen often, but it happens," said Denver criminal attorney Dan Recht, of a judge finding someone is unfit to stand trial.

If Liggett is found incompetent, the court proceedings would immediately stop. Liggett would be sent to the state mental hospital, said Recht, who is not involved in the Liggett case. When — and if — he "regains competency" by treatment and medication, the trial could resume.

Liggett's father did not want to talk about specifics of his son's case, but did say Ari has a history of mental illness. He did not say if his son was on medication or in treatment when his mother was killed.

According to an arrest affidavit, Ari Liggett told police on Oct. 17 that he'd found his mother dead on the floor of their Centennial home and that she'd committed suicide by ingesting potassium cyanide. He said he panicked and tried to put her body in a freezer.

Liggett told authorities he had planned to put her remains in a tub with vinegar and store them in a storage unit "in hopes that police would be unable to identify the prints or dental records," the affidavit said.

Court records also said Liggett's mother was concerned about her son when he made a gun silencer and she found him mixing dangerous chemicals.

Liggett was convicted of felony possession of a dangerous weapon and was taken to an unsecured facility where he was listed as a patient.

In Colorado, a person at age 14 can seek health services confidentially, said Dr. Carl Clark, chief executive officer of The Mental Health Center of Denver.

The law is intended to shield children who have been abused by their parents, but the unintended consequence is that children don't have to allow guardians to manage their care.

"It's one of the things that happened in this case," said Ron Liggett. "It's once they become 16, 17, 18, when they become adults, things change.

"We tried everything in terms of cures/combinations (of medications) for his illness," he said, "and nothing really worked long-term or with consistency."

Clark said proper diagnosis and treatment is important, but unless the person who suffers the illness is engaged in their own treatment it won't work.

Read more: Mental competency to be weighed in killing of Centennial man's mother - The Denver Post [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

8:15 PM, Feb 27, 2013
written by:
Anastasiya Bolton

ARAPAHOE COUNTY - The Arapahoe County man accused of killing his mother and dismembering her is competent to stand trial, Judge John Wheeler ruled Wednesday morning.

Ari Liggett is charged with first-degree murder, vehicular eluding and crime of violence in the murder of Beverly Liggett.

Police say Liggett killed his mother in her Centennial home in late 2012. According to the arrest affidavit, Liggett murdered his mother, drove around with her remains in the car and was arrested by the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office shortly after the murder.

On Wednesday in court, Judge Wheeler said based on the Feb. 11 competency examination at the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo, "the opinion of the psychologist providing the examination Liggett is competent to proceed to adjudication."

Liggett appeared in court Wednesday morning in an orange jumpsuit, wearing shackles, and with long dark hair covering half his face - even when he spoke to his public defender.

The preliminary hearing for Liggett is scheduled for April 12.

The fact that the judge found Liggett fit to stand trial does not impact the future plea Liggett will enter at arraignment.

Liggett's father told 9NEWS in 2012 his son had a history of mental illness.

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Hi Wrapitup,

thanks again for the updates on this and many other cases. I wondered if you can explain: when we hear of a person being insane at the time of let's say...killing someone: is that just for the actual moment of committing that crime? Like, right when pulling a trigger or something?

It's something that I have greatly struggled to understand, simply because in my not being familiar with those kind of terms, I never understand why one may be deemed not knowing what s/he was doing is bad - but they seem to know well enough that what they do/did isn't right and sometimes have been plotting for a while and/or just "happen to know" that they need to hide evidence and how.

I in no means mean to judge, obviously I wasn't there.

But I've always wondered how that "works" and as understanding of people's lives I try to be, my own not understanding of these terms makes me quite upset sometimes when one is deemed incompetent or insane. (those are probably two completely different terms, but I put them together within my frustration with them)

Never change, francisca

Midwife2theSoul, I am afraid I cannot answer this as I am not a shrink.

His father says he has mental problems. We don't know if he's saying that so his son won't be tried in a court of law.

You are giving me way too much credit.

Thanks for the reply

I didn't mean to ask whether this young man specifically is (in)sane or (in)competent because for that I could have called Miss Cleo :muahaha:

Although...not everyone is excited about her "gifts" these days: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Kidding aside, I thought that since you follow so many cases and have PI background, you were perhaps familiar with how the terminology applies to real cases.

I'll still give you the same credit regardless :celebration:

Thanks. I am actually on the fence w/this case..don't know enough about it to make an uneducated guess as to his mental state or lack thereof.

Thanks for the You Tube.

2:06 PM, Jun 3, 2013
Raquel Villanueva

KUSA - The prosecution brought the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office lead investigator Craig Clark to testify during the trial of a man accused of killing his mother in their Centennial home in October 2012.

Ari Liggett is charged with first-degree murder, vehicular eluding and crime of violence in the murder of Beverly Liggett.

Clark said he also worked on the 2010 case brought against Ari Liggett. That case alleged that Ari had attempted to make his own chemical, purchase chemicals online and possessed a weapon with a silencer. Clark said that during the 2010 case, Ari's mother, Beverly Liggett, 56, had expressed her fear of Ari and said he had threatened to kill her.

Clark says the 2012 investigation revealed Beverly was last seen Oct. 14, 2012. Her fiancé had tried to contact her but could not - something he said was not normal for her.

The next day, a person called her employer and said she was sick and could not come into work. When a person Beverly worked with called the house that day, a male voice answered and said she was sick. When her supervisor called 25 minutes later, a male voice answered the phone - claiming to be her fiancé- and said she had tonsillitis and could not speak.

Her fiancé told police he never took that call and Ari was the only person home at that time. Clark says someone used Beverly's cell phone and a computer following her death to send messages to her fiancé. Her fiancé says he believed it was Ari because of the manner in which he spoke.

An IP address traced back computer use to the Kobal Library - Ari was not allowed to use a computer at home due to a court order and his mother's restrictions - which accessed Bevely's bank account. A $40,000 transfer was made from her savings to checking account. Someone then attempted to transfer $25,000 of that into Ari's bank account. The bank flagged the transaction, and it never went through. The memos on the attempted transactions said "Ari is meant for great things and "Investing with Ari."
In the days following Beverly's disappearance, Clark said Beverly's fiancé and her ex-husband and father of Ari, Ron Liggett, went to her home.

Her car, keys and money were missing, and she was nowhere to be found. They said in the refrigerator they found a clear shot glass with a clear liquid inside. It was covered in tin foil. It was later determined to be potassium cyanide. Potassium cyanide is highly toxic and is often used by entomologists as a killing agent in collection jars as to minimize the damage of highly-fragile specimens.

Clark testified Ari was spotted alone, by a gas station camera, in Sergeant, Colo. - a location three hours away from their home on Oct. 15. He was not allowed to use his mother's car. Ari checked into a hotel on Oct. 16 in Gunnison, and staff told police they only saw him. On the same day, another attempt to access Beverly's account was made in Montrose.

Back at Beverly's house, police had set up post. On the evening of Oct 16., her car pulled up into the driveway and suddenly drove away. A trooper attempted to pull the car over, and the driver took off. The driver crashed the car a short time later. Police arrested the driver, Ari, and police say he made two unprovoked statements including "I believe breaking the law is OK to do as most people are evil."

His mother's body parts were found in the car. Twenty gallons of vinegar , wood puddy , caulk, caulking gun and her cellphone were also inside. Ari told investigators at first he believe he was carrying an elk that was in his freezer but later discovered it was his mom.

He later told investigators his mother committed suicide and had written him out of the will. He said he didn't call police because if they knew she was dead, he could not access her money. He said he planned to take her body to a storage unit in the mountains and dissolve her fingerprints in vinegar.

The coroner says her official cause of death was acute cyanide poisoning. Police also found a cat dead inside the home from poisoning.

Blood evidence was also found inside the home.

On cross examination, the defense pointed out there was no evidence showing how the mom ingested the potassium cyanide, whether forced or she took it herself. GMAB!!

Defense also appeared to try and establish that the death of Beverly was not a premeditated attack.

Liggett's father told 9NEWS in 2012 his son had a history of mental illness.

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Attorneys for Ari Misha Liggett have entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity in the October 2012 death of his mother.
Posted: Wednesday, July 17, 2013 2:15 pm
Deborah Grigsby [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] | 0 comments

A Centennial man accused of killing his mother and then dismembering her body has entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.
However, a court order requiring Ari Misha Liggett to cooperate with state-appointed mental-health experts may compromise his constitutional rights, according to his attorney.
Liggett, 24, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his mother, 56-year-old Beverly Liggett. He appeared July 15 in an Arapahoe County courtroom before Judge William B. Sylvester, who accepted his plea and ordered the former University of Colorado student to undergo further mental-health testing.
Sylvester laid out a 23-point advisement to Liggett and his attorney, Jennifer Ahnstedt, detailing the conditions and consequences of his plea.
Ahnstedt argued that some of the stipulations issued by the court in the document may be unconstitutional.
Specifically, she points to what she claims is a conflict between her client’s right to assert the Fifth Amendment and the court’s demand that Liggett answer questions and cooperate fully with mental-health professionals.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Brian Sugioka objected, insisting that the statutory definition of “non-cooperation” was “not that difficult.”
Ahnstedt asked the court for a separate hearing to wrangle with the issues before Liggett would be obligated to undergo the 60-day evaluation.
“Once the evaluation is complete, the statute comes into play and we’ve lost the opportunity, if desired, to assert the Fifth Amendment,” she said.
The court-ordered mental-health evaluation may help determine whether Liggett serves time in prison or in a state mental facility, if convicted.
Sylvester, who stepped down in April as the judge in the trial of Aurora theater shooting suspect James Holmes, said he shared the concerns raised by the defense, but would not interrupt the evaluation by granting a hearing in the middle of the process.
Sylvester did permit the litigation of such constitutional issues, should they arise, at a later date.
Liggett underwent a competency exam in February at the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo and was deemed competent to stand trial.
He is suspected of poisoning his mother and then cutting her body into seven pieces to hide her death so he could use her credit cards.

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POSTED 2:18 PM, NOVEMBER 14, 2014, BY THOMAS HENDRICK
Ari Liggett (Credit: Arapahoe County Jail)

DENVER — A judge sentenced Ari Liggett to life in prison Friday, four days after he was found guilty of first-degree murder for poisoning and dismembering his mother in 2012.

“The only place for Liggett is prison. His family believes strongly that they would be in grave danger if he were ever free,” said prosecutor Brian Sugioka at the sentencing hearing.

Liggett had pleaded not guilty by reason of mental insanity, with his lawyers arguing he suffered from a mental health disease that had never been properly diagnosed. Public defenders for Liggett presented evidence that he was diagnosed with a developmental disorder at the age of 5, and had been hospitalized five times due to issues with mental health.

However, prosecutors counter by presented evidence that Liggett had been buying chemicals and practicing poisonous mixtures for years before murdering his 56-year-old mother, Beverly, the woman he blamed for many of his mental health issues, in their Centennial home.

Ultimately, jurors found the 26-year-old guilty of first degree murder after deliberation Monday after closing arguments were presented on Friday of last week.

“What was striking to the court was the fact that this particular case is nothing short of a tragedy,” said Judge Michelle Amico. “There are no winners in this case. We got a glimpse into the lives of this family. It was nothing short of climbing a mountain.”

Liggett was arrested in October 2012, after a chase with police that ended with him crashing his mother’s SUV. His mother’s remains where found in storage bins in the back of the vehicle.

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