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Husband expected to take plea deal in Tempe dancer’s murder case

Husband expected to take plea deal in Tempe dancer’s murder case

TEMPE, AZ (AZ Family) —The case of a dancer allegedly murdered at the hands of her husband came to court Tuesday with an unexpected twist: She now appears to plan to reach a deal with prosecutors.

Colleen Hoopes he was murdered in 2022. The question is: was it murder or a deadly mistake?

The 25-year-old once wowed audiences with elegance and grace as videos show her dancing on stage.

“You could tell how happy he was when he danced. That’s where he showed his greatest joy,” said his sister, Michaela Buckley.

The Tempe dancer lived her dream as a dancer with ballet arizona until everything changed May 2022.

Two shots were fired and Colleen was hit in the chest. The person who pulled the trigger? Her husband.

“Christopher Hoopes, June 28, 1985,” her husband said in court this week.

After the shooting, Christopher told police his wife startled him in the middle of the night and he thought there was an intruder, so he went to get his gun.

He pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder.

A trial was supposed to begin this month, but it was delayed because there was more work to do with the experts, so when it came time for updates, the judge let the defense know that she was not happy with the situation. .

“Here we are on the day of the hearing, and I have no information, and I have to wait for the day of the hearing to hear. “Then why don’t you tell me what’s been going on?” the judge said irritably.

Both the defense and the State took turns speaking; this included claims that some of the data was incorrect by its experts.

So who are your experts?

Court documents say the defense team is working with several. They include a cellphone expert, a ballistics scientist, a forensic psychiatrist and a pharmacologist, who will likely look at what medications Christopher was taking at the time and whether they affected his judgment.

“There is a lot of data from a lot of different sources that basically needs to be verified and combined,” prosecutors said.

So he said there was no way they could be ready for a trial until late summer or early fall, but that’s when the defense attorney said this:

“It is our plan to resolve the case, your honor,” the defense attorney said, meaning it is likely only a matter of time until a plea deal is reached.

Another solution conference is planned for the end of February, at which all experts should have everything resolved.

The judge set a trial date for May 2025, but the case is likely to be resolved before then.

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