Man who was ‘intent on killing’ Michael Bloomberg convicted of kidnapping housekeeper
Joseph Beecher, 51, faces seven years to life in prison after he was convicted over 2022 incident at Bloomberg’s Colorado ranch
US federal jurors found a Colorado man guilty of kidnapping a woman on a ranch owned by Michael Bloomberg during what prosecutors described as his attempt to kill the media mogul.
Joseph Beecher, 51, faces seven years to life in prison after he was convicted Wednesday in Cheyenne on kidnapping, carjacking and firearm charges. The trial lasted two days and the jury deliberated for an hour and a half.
The kidnapped woman, a housekeeper at the western Colorado ranch, was rescued unharmed on the morning after the kidnapping. Authorities found her and Beecher in a motel room in Cheyenne, about 320km northeast of the Bloomberg property.
The kidnapping happened in February 2022, after Beecher was dismissed as a hotel handyman in Craig, Colorado. He worked there in exchange for housing and was told to leave, according to court documents.
Beecher went looking for Bloomberg and his family, and rammed his pickup truck through the gate of the former New York City mayor’s ranch about 113km from Craig, according to court documents.