John Jefferson
Background: Morrison (Colo.) Police Sgt. Richard Norton (Town of Morrison). Inset: Richard Norton (Boulder County (Colo.) Sheriff’s Office/KUSA).
A police sergeant in Colorado is facing domestic violence and child abuse charges, including accusations of torture and making repeated death threats against his ex-wife — allegedly going so far as to talk about his murder obsession with their two children, who have been allegedly sleeping with baseball bats at night for protection, according to cops.
“He wanted to murder someone so he could see what it felt like,” alleges Richard Norton’s arrest affidavit, which was filed by the Longmont Police Department and obtained by Law&Crime on Tuesday, with it citing Norton’s ex-wife and their kids as witnesses, along with their stepfather.
“[Norton] told the children how he would break into [their] home to kill [their mom] and her husband,” the affidavit says.
First obtained by the Canyon Courier newspaper in Evergreen, Norton’s affidavit outlines how the 34-year-old cop allegedly terrorized his ex-wife and kids for years, with one of his most despicable acts coming on the weekend of Sept. 27, when he allegedly allowed the children to be handcuffed by his current girlfriend and tossed into a room alone “as a form of punishment,” the affidavit says.
“When Richard heard … he laughed and seemed almost happy about it,” the affidavit alleges, noting how authorities have documented photo evidence of injuries and marks on the children’s wrists “consistent with being handcuffed.”
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The alleged abuse was reported to the Longmont Police Department by Norton’s ex-wife on Oct. 2 and an investigation led to the accusations from the affidavit being uncovered.
Norton, a 34-year-old sergeant with the Morrison Police Department — which patrols just outside of Denver — apparently has quite a controversial past. In 2019, he was named in a federal lawsuit for his alleged mistreatment of a disabled 15-year-old girl during an arrest he made for Broomfield PD, his former employer, in 2017, the Denver Post reported. Norton was then accused of sending inappropriate messages to female coworkers by his former department, with him resigning in 2022 while the internal investigation was going on, according to the Courier.
During their marriage, Norton allegedly spent years tormenting his ex-wife, doing twisted things like pinning her down in bed to cause panic attacks and laughing in her face about it, the affidavit says. The Courier reported on Monday how Norton allegedly pointed a loaded handgun at the woman’s head on one occasion.
Once they got divorced, Norton allegedly turned his attention to his ex-wife’s new husband and began threatening him, too.
“He has seen Richard drive up and park outside his house before during the day and night,” the affidavit says, noting how Norton has allegedly made death threats toward his ex-wife’s husband multiple times in the past. “Richard’s voice sounds serious when he says these things,” the man told police.
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Norton, according to the affidavit, has bragged continuously about “being an MMA fighter and how when he gets mad he punches and keeps punching until he can’t punch anymore.” Witnesses told investigators that Norton was also known to boast about breaking into suspects’ homes to make arrests, allegedly claiming he was able to “delete all footage” of his wrongdoings.
His ex-wife told police she came forward because she ultimately feared for her safety and the safety of her children. “She rated her fear a 10 for her children and an 8 for herself,” the affidavit says.
During one alleged incident, Norton pointed his police Taser at one of his kids and made them stand in a “squat position” as he showed them how to use it, the affidavit says.
“He was scared when Richard pointed the Taser at him because he didn’t trust that he wouldn’t Tase him,” the affidavit claims. “Richard was talking about the Taser and telling him where the dots were pointing is where the prongs will go. … Richard’s finger was on the trigger.”
Norton’s ex-wife says she endured both physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her husband after meeting him in college. When proposing to her near a cliff, he had an ominous message for her if she were to turn him down, the Courier reported.
“He’d have pushed her off,” the affidavit alleges, citing his ex-wife. “If he couldn’t have her, no one could.”
Norton is due to be arraigned in Colorado’s 20th Judicial District in Boulder County on Nov. 21, according to court records. His charges include four counts of child abuse — two counts for leaving his vest and firearm out and accessible to his children, and two counts for telling them he was going to kill their mom and stepfather — in addition to unlawful storage of a firearm and domestic violence, which in Colorado is an enhancement rather than a stand-alone charge, meaning it’s coupled with other crimes and not considered a misdemeanor or felony on its own.
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