GREENFIELD — The University of Colorado student accused of stabbing a Greenfield man in Boulder, Colorado, to death is charged with second-degree murder, despite prosecutors suggesting a first-degree murder charge — which indicates the defendant intentionally killed another person — could be supported by the allegations.
Ian Scheuermann, 22, of Boulder, stabbed Sean Hudson, 26, of Greenfield, at least six times early Dec. 12 near the University of Colorado campus in Boulder during an argument, police said.
Scheuermann now faces two felonies in the case: one count of second-degree murder and one count of menacing. He was arrested immediately following the incident Dec. 12 but has since been released on $100,000 bond, according to Boulder County Jail records.
Colorado law stipulates first-degree murder can be charged only when a killing is planned, said Catherine Olguin, a spokeswoman for the Boulder County district attorney. Second-degree murder is charged in crimes of passion and was more fitting for the crime that occurred that night, when the two men were believed to be arguing about a woman, Olguin said.
Because police believe Scheuermann used a knife to intimidate friends of Hudson’s, prosecutors sought a felony menacing charge as well, Olguin said.
Hudson was stabbed six times, including once in the neck and once in the heart, according to The Associated Press. He was pronounced dead as he was being transported to the hospital.
Scheuermann and a friend of Hudson’s had been dating the same girl, and the pair got into an argument about the woman moments before Hudson died, according a Boulder Police Department report.
Scheuermann told police he pulled a knife to defend himself after getting into a fistfight with the group; he claimed Hudson was the one who got violent, police reports state.
Sean Finn, a chief deputy for the Boulder District Attorney’s Office who is handling the case, said Scheuermann later changed his story, the AP reports. Investigators believed Scheuermann threatened Hudson and his friends earlier that night, saying, “Do you wanna get stabbed?”
Police reports note Scheuermann appeared drunk after the incident. He was found covered in blood, with a knife clipped to his pants, near Hudson’s body when officers arrived, according to police reports.
Hudson graduated from Greenfield-Central High School in 2008 and received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Butler University in 2012, according to University of Colorado Boulder’s website.
He was attending University of Colorado in Boulder, where he had received a master’s degree in psychology and was working as a graduate assistant while completing his doctorate in psychology.
Hudson was working as a teaching assistant in the university’s department of psychology and neuroscience.