Students found dead inside sandwich shop at shopping center in Jefferson County

By Kevin Vaughan,
M.E. Sprengelmeyer and Jeff Kass
Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writers

JEFFERSON COUNTY -- Detectives hunted Monday for a killer who gunned down two Columbine High sweethearts at a sandwich shop, leaving behind money in the store's cash register.

The teen-agers' bodies were discovered shortly before 1 a.m. by an employee of the Subway at 6768 W. Coal Mine Ave. who stopped after noticing all the shop's lights were on as she drove past.

A video surveillance camera in the shop failed to capture the slayings.

The shootings rocked a community still reeling from the April 20 killings at Columbine.

"Enough is enough," said Jefferson County Sheriff John Stone.

Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Davis identified the victims as Nicholas Kunselman, 15, and Stephanie Hart, 16.

Hart, Kunselman's longtime girlfriend, had gone to the shop Sunday night to pick him up after he closed up for the day, family friends and relatives said.

"He was just a really cool guy," said John McLain, a Columbine student who rode skateboards with Kunselman. "He didn't deserve to get capped."

Word of the slayings spread quickly among the friends and families of the two teens, both sophomores at Columbine.

"I was just sad," said 18-year-old Courtney Scott, a cousin of Hart's, who went to the sandwich shop Monday morning. "I couldn't believe it."

Investigators wanted to talk with a young man in a red jacket and flared pants who was seen in the area around the time the bodies were discovered.

Davis said investigators were trying to figure out what prompted the killings, which occurred sometime after Kunselman closed up shop at 10 p.m. Sunday and 12:45 a.m. Monday, when the Subway worker discovered the bodies.

Because the killer left money in the cash register, it was unclear whether the slayings occurred during a robbery attempt, said a source familiar with the investigation.

Investigators had hoped to review tape from a surveillance camera in the store, but it wasn't working, said Kurt Lampkin, a family friend who spoke with Nicholas' father, Lyle Kunselman, Monday.

"Lyle told me that the surveillance camera was not on," said Lampkin, who met the Kunselmans through Frisbee golf tournaments.

Kunselman was working the late shift Sunday night, and it wasn't unusual for him to close up the store by himself.

"Obviously, our boss trusts him enough," said J.J. Hodack, 22, who worked at the Subway with Kunselman. "He does a good job."

Kunselman had started work at the shop about a month ago, Hodack said.

Nathan Grill, a 15-year-old former Subway worker who stopped by the store to visit Kunselman, hung around for about 90 minutes -- from roughly 8:30 p.m. until just before 10 p.m.

"Everything was fine at 10 o'clock," Grill said. "He was helping his last customer."

Then Grill left. He said, Hart hadn't yet arrived at the sandwich shop.

At 12:45 a.m., another Subway worker who was driving past the shop, stopped after noticing all the lights were on inside the shop.

The worker, whom authorities would not identify, called 911.

The teen-agers were found dead, behind the counter.

For those affected by April's Columbine tragedy, Monday's news reopened the wounds.

"It's been an extremely, extremely, extremely hard day," said Larry Nimmo, whose stepdaughter, Rachel Scott, was killed outside the school 10 months ago.

As he drove to work Monday morning, Nimmo saw the television news trucks lined up outside the shopping center that is home to Subway, and his mind flashed back to April 20.

But it was more than the memories of that day that haunted him and his family.

His stepdaughter had worked at that same sandwich shop for months -- right up until the time she died -- and she knew Kunselman. Like him, Rachel had, at times, been given the responsibility of closing up the store.

"I bet this kid was just a good, hard worker," Nimmo said.

Others saw the shock in the faces of the area's youngsters.

"They are horrified. They are terrified," said the Rev. Gino Geraci, pastor of Calvary Chapel not far from the Subway. "Part of the angst that comes is 'Why again? Why us?"'

The killings drew a quick response from officials across the metro area.

"I join all of Colorado in expressing my sorrow at these latest killings to be inflicted upon Colorado and the Columbine community," Gov. Bill Owens said. "My heart goes out to the families of the victims, and I hope the killer or killers will soon be brought to justice."

Jefferson County District Attorney Dave Thomas said he felt particular empathy for the sheriff's investigators -- many of whom also participated in the probe of the April tragedy.

"It's very difficult," he said. "They're all out here working very hard. ... It's like it's never going to end sometimes."

Investigators Monday used a miniature, radio-controlled helicopter to snap aerial photographs of the crime scene.

Throughout the morning, a stream of friends and students stopped outside the store, leaving flowers and balloons, and scrawling messages on the sidewalk with chalk.

The messages are familiar: "Peace," "God loves us," and "Stop the hate."

Additional reporting by staff writers Carla Crowder, John C. Ensslin and Tillie Fong. Anyone with any information on the Subway shootings was asked to call the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department's tip line at (303) 271-5605.