A Colorado man, Ricky Lee Roybal-Smith, has pleaded guilty to killing his cellmate in the Denver Jail last year, along with two other individuals in Aurora earlier. Smith, 38, was sentenced to a total of 80 years in prison for the three murders. He was handed an additional 48-year sentence for the jail killing, along with eight years for driving under the influence, resulting in a combined sentence of 56 years that will run concurrently to the initial 80-year term.
Denver District Attorney John Walsh condemned Roybal-Smith’s actions, stating that he will spend the rest of his life behind bars for his “horrific and senseless crimes.” Roybal-Smith is also under investigation for the murder of 42-year-old Margaret Eberhart in Englewood in 2022. Eberhart was found unconscious and unresponsive outside the Englewood Civic Center and later died in the hospital. Charges in Eberhart’s case are pending, with Roybal-Smith scheduled to appear in Arapahoe County Court on April 28.
