Inset: Timothy O’Brien (Colorado Springs Police Department). Background: The area in Colorado Springs, Colo., where Timothy O’Brien allegedly killed a woman at a motel (Google Maps).
A Colorado man beat a woman who was staying with him at a motel with a hammer because she wouldn’t be quiet and then smothered her with a pillow to “finish” her, cops say.
Timothy O’Brien, 60, stuffed Lauren Jensen-Green’s body between a motel bed and a nightstand so he could “get away” unnoticed after killing the 65-year-old last month at a motel in Colorado Springs, according to court documents obtained by The Gazette newspaper.
“I didn’t want her discovered until it was time for checkout on the second day,” O’Brien allegedly told police. “I figured it gave me time to get away.”
A roommate O’Brien told about the slaying alerted police, and officers from the Colorado Springs Police Department were dispatched to the motel where Jensen-Green’s body was found May 20 in the 1700 block of South Nevada Avenue, according to a CSPD press release.
“Upon arrival officers located a deceased female inside a motel room,” the CSPD release says. “Based on the circumstances surrounding the death, the homicide unit responded and assumed the investigation.”
On May 25, O’Brien was arrested on unrelated charges and questioned about what happened with Jensen-Green. He allegedly said the two of them were at the motel and using methamphetamine together when Jensen-Green started “ranting and raving” while he was trying to relax.
“I was actually just trying to lay there and enjoy my high,” O’Brien told police, according to the court documents obtained by The Gazette. He allegedly “snapped” and began beating Jensen-Green with a hammer and then smothered her with a pillow to “finish it.”
The next morning, O’Brien said he told housekeeping not to enter the room because Jensen-Green was sleeping, per the court documents. He allegedly tried to tell his roommate that Jensen-Green came at him with a knife and that’s why he killed her.
O’Brien was charged with first-degree murder and is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on July 13. He is facing kidnapping and aggravated robbery charges in another criminal case.
