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CU Student Could Face More Serious Charges In Deadly Stabbing

By Lauren DiSpirito

BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4)- A University of Colorado student could face more serious charges in the stabbing death of a fellow student.

Police arrested Ian Scheuermann, 22, around 2:08 a.m. Saturday for the stabbing death of Sean Hudson, 26, at the northeast corner of Broadway and Walnut Street in downtown Boulder.

According to court documents about one minute earlier, Christopher Loersch, identified as a friend of Hudson's, approached officers on routine patrol saying his friend had been stabbed. Officers say Loersch was yelling for help and pointed to Scheuermann as the suspect. Officers ordered Scheuermann to the ground and handcuffed him as three other officers tended to Hudson. He was taken by ambulance to Boulder Community Hospital, but died a short time later, according to police.

Sean Hudson
Sean Hudson (credit: Facebook)

Scheuermann, who faces a second-degree murder charge, made his first appearance in court at the Boulder County Jail on Monday. Prosecutor Sean Finn asked Judge Karolyn Moore to set bond at $500,000, saying Scheuermann stabbed Hudson six times, including once in the neck.

Shortly before stabbing Hudson to death, Finn told Judge Moore that Scheuermann threatened to stab another man who approached him on the street, asking for a cigarette, saying Scheuermann is a man who "threatened to stab one, and stabbed another to death."

Finn also said prosecutors are considering filing a more serious charge, one of first, rather than second-degree murder, in the case.

Attorney Steve Jacobson, who is representing Scheuermann, asked the judge to set a lower bond, of $100,000, citing his client's lack of criminal history and ties to the Boulder community. Jacobson says Scheuermann was born and raised in Boulder.

"He has as strong a connection to this community as anyone could have," Jacobson told the judge.

Ultimately, Judge Moore set bond at $100,000 and ordered Scheuermann return to court on Thursday at 1:30 p.m., for a formal filing of the charges against him. Moore also ordered electronic home monitoring for Scheuermann.

The court documents filed in the case show Scheuermann offered his own account of the stabbing to police after being taken into custody. He appeared intoxicated, officers stated in the report, and had blood on his hands, face and clothing. He told police he was involved in an altercation over a girl he dated for two weeks, before she broke up with him. Scheuermann told police the girl's ex-boyfriend, identified only as Jeremy and as a friend of Hudson's, does not get along with him.

Ian Scheuermann
Ian Scheuermann (credit: Boulder County)

Sheuermann told police he crossed paths with Jeremy at Sundown Saloon on Pearl Street sometime Saturday morning. After leaving the bar with his friend, Simon Vollmer, he was approached from behind by Jeremy, Loersch, and Hudson. Scheuermann said the three men confronted him and that Hudson was "the only one being physically aggressive." Some of the men, including Vollmer and Jeremy tried to calm Hudson, according to Scheuermann's account, before Hudson pushed him to the ground and hit him in the face "multiple times." That's when Scheuermann says he removed a knife from his pocket and began cutting Hudson, about four times.

"He said the male kept coming back at him, and each time he would cut the male and push him back," the document reads.

Scheuermann told police he felt as though he were defending himself.

Reached by phone Monday, Vollmer said Scheuermann's account of what happened is "completely correct," adding, "we did not instigate."

Attempts to reach Loersch and Hudson's other friends and family have so far been unsuccessful. Family members of Sheuermann also declined to comment for this story.

Finn said in court Scheuermann has changed his story, adding that he plans to present new evidence not included in the probable cause arrest affidavit.

Family of Hudson are seeking online donations to cover funeral costs and bring his body to Greenfield, Ind., where he was raised. By noon Tuesday donations surpassed their fundraising goal of $20,000 by more than $1,400.

"Sean graduated with honors from Greenfield High school," a post on the page states, "was on a full scholarship to Butler University where he graduated with honors. He obtained his Masters degree in Psychology from University of Colorado-Boulder in 2015. Currently he was working on his PhD and would have graduated in 2017 from University of Colorado-Boulder."

Friends and colleagues left comments sharing their memories of Hudson.

"Sean was an amazing person and friend," reads a comment posted by Kellen Mrkva, "He was exceptionally kind and genuine, and always made everyone around him feel loved."

Brooke Carter writes: "Sean had a way of making you feel immediately welcomed and accepted. His caring and supportive energy was contagious, and it still is."

CU Boulder Professor Josh Correll, Hudson's mentor in the social psychology PhD. program, said Hudson was, "a scientist with a blindingly bright future, a remarkable teacher, and a wonderfully generous spirit who made those around him feel at home."

Carroll went on to say,

"It was wonderful to talk with him about ideas because he obviously enjoyed it so much. He gravitated to big questions, and he loved the process of exploring them. He made those of us around him love that process, too. Formally, I was his mentor, and I know I was supposed to be teaching him. But I learned a lot from him about how I want to approach research.

"My heart breaks when I think of what his life could have been, of all the good he could have done, all the students he would have mentored, all the people who could have known and loved him – people who will never know their own loss."

Lauren DiSpirito is CBS4's Northern Newsroom reporter. Follow her on Twitter @CBS4Lauren. Share your story ideas with her here.

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