Colorado murder suspect had threatened to kill roommate who complained about state of their dorm, affidavit says

The killings of a Colorado college student and a woman in a campus dorm one week ago were preceded by conflicts between roommates, according to a court document unsealed Friday.

Among the arguments the roommates had was one over taking out the trash, according to a police detective’s affidavit filed in court to support the arrest of Nicholas Trevon Jordan, 25, a University of Colorado Colorado Springs student.

Jordan, 25, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the Feb. 16 deaths of roommate Samuel Knopp, 24, and Celie Rain Montgomery, 26, in a dorm at the Crestone House residences.

The affidavit, which was unsealed Friday, cited an interview with another roommate of Jordan and Knopp’s, who said Knopp collected a bag of garbage and placed it near the defendant’s door in January, precipitating a death threat, according to the affidavit.

“Mr. Jordan threatened Mr. Knopp and told him that he would ‘kill him’ and there would be consequences if Mr. Jordan was asked to take out the trash again,” the affidavit stated.

The incident was included in at least one of three complaints Knopp lodged with campus police and housing officials on Jan. 9, the document stated.

The roommate, who reported the gunfire on Feb. 16 and hid in his locked room until police arrived, said he and Knopp had made complaints about Jordan’s cleanliness in the dorm and alleged that he smoked marijuana in his room and created “unsafe living conditions,” the affidavit said.

Campus police and housing officials confirmed receiving complaints, the affidavit said.

The day before the shooting, Jordan filed a request to withdraw from his classes and from campus housing, the affidavit stated.

On Feb. 16, security video captured a man of uncertain identity entering the dorm complex before 6 a.m., an entry that matches the use of Jordan’s complex key card, the affidavit stated. About 14 minutes later, someone was seen leaving through the same door and running, it stated.

Jordan, who’s from Detroit, was arrested in the Colorado Springs area Monday, police said. He was being held on $5 million bond, according to the court.

His public defender did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Knopp studied music and was scheduled to perform a senior recital on March 21. A video of his junior recital shows Knopp onstage at the university’s Ent Center for the Arts’ Chapman Foundation Recital Hall playing a range of styles, including jazz and classic rock, on what appeared to be a hollow-body electric guitar.

Montgomery was enrolled for a semester in 2020 at Pueblo Community College to study culinary arts, the institution said. Her connection to Knopp, if any, was unclear.

Jordan’s case is scheduled for a status hearing in court March 15; a preliminary hearing was scheduled for March 27, according to El Paso County District Court records.