(EL PASO COUNTY, Colo.) — An El Paso County man has been sentenced to 48 years for the 2022 beating death of a woman in Fountain.
62-year-old Dennis Hase was arrested after he called 911 around 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 15, 2022, from an address on Squirrel Creek Road in Fountain, reporting an overdose. However, when officers arrived, they found 43-year-old Lisa Weidlich dead and labeled her death suspicious.
According to arrest documents, Hase told investigators that he and Weidlich had been in an on-again-off-again intimate relationship for about two years, and they had gotten into an argument earlier in the evening before the emergency call.
Hase stated that during the argument, he had hit Weidlich in the face at least six times, and he also put his hands around her throat, pinched her nose, and covered her mouth. Hase said the two went to bed after the assault, and he woke up before 3 a.m. and noticed Weidlich was not moving.
According to Hase, her face was bloated and bruised and her eyes were swollen shut. She also had purple marks and bruising on her abdomen. Hase then carried Weidlich outside to the hood of his truck, where he discovered she had no pulse, and called 911.
Hase was initially arrested on charges of Assault and Domestic Violence, though he was later booked into the El Paso County Jail on a charge of First Degree Murder.
On Tuesday, June 6, the Fourth Judicial District Attorney’s Office announced that Hase had pled guilty to Second Degree Murder in Weidlich’s death. He was sentenced to 48 years in the Department of Corrections.