Colorado man who tracked and threatened to kill ex-wife sentenced to probation
A Denver man who was convicted of stalking his ex-wife while on probation for assaulting her was given another probation sentence Friday by a Douglas County judge.
Taylor Warford was ordered by Douglas County District Judge Victoria Klingensmith to spend five years in community corrections. A jury two months ago found Warford, 33, guilty of placing a GPS tracking device on his ex-wife's car and threatening her in 2023.
Prosecutors from the 23rd Judicial District Attorney's Office asked for the maximum eight-year prison sentence, according to a press release from the office.
The DA's office and the Douglas County Sheriff's Office pursued felony stalking charges after Warford's family contacted police, according to the DA's office. Those family members reported that Warford bought five sets of handcuffs and a butane torch, and told them several times he planned to kill his ex-wife and child, the office stated in the press release.
Warford's marriage to 27-year-old Amy Goggans first entered the criminal system in January 2023. Per online court records, Warford was arrested that month for a domestic violence assault. Goggans filed for divorce two days later. A protection order was granted. Warford was eventually given a one-year probation for the assault.
Their divorce was completed by September of that year. Warford violated the protection order and consequently his probation, six months later. He was eventually credited for spending 175 days behind bars and handed another probation sentence.
He was on that probation when the latest allegations came about.
Senior Deputy DA Nate Marsh said Goggans and her family "deserved better."
"We asked for the maximum prison sentence," District Attorney George Brauchler echoed, "because the victim he continues to stalk, and this community deserve protection. Instead, the Court put him back into the community, where he could be released into non-residential status in mere months. Weak laws in Colorado are the norm, but here in Douglas County, our citizens expect their safety to be prioritized. With all the respect due to the Court's sentence, that did not happen here. I fear a dangerous man is still on the streets."
Reached by phone Saturday morning by CBS News Colorado, Goggans declined to comment.
The case mirrors recent concerns elsewhere in the state about failures to keep violent criminals incarcerated. Earlier in the week, Weld County was forced to release a 21-year-old man whose assaults cases were so serious as to merit an attempted murder charge. The sheriff in that county called him "a very dangerous man."
Public outcry peaked in Aurora following the attempted kidnapping of an 11-year-old boy. The defendant in that case, like Weld's, was also guided into the mental health system after he was found incompetent to stand trial on criminal charges.