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2 Life Sentences For Convicted Murderer In Cold Case

DENVER (CBS4)- A man convicted in a brutal home-invasion robbery and double murder in 1994 has been sentenced to two life sentences in prison.

Andre Jackson went to trial in August and was found guilty on two counts of first-degree murder after deliberation, two counts of first-degree felony murder, sexual assault and attempted murder.

Jackson, 44, was sentenced to two consecutive life terms plus 72 years in prison on Thursday.

On June 12, 1994, the Denver Police Department responded to 3234 Larimer Street and found three people who had been attacked and tortured, and one had also been repeatedly sexually assaulted.

Two of the victims died, Jacqueline Gallegos and Nelson Swiggett. The lone survivor told police that several intruders had come into his home at about 3 a.m. demanding money and drugs, and then attacked them.

The case was unsolved until Denver's Cold Case partners linked DNA evidence that resulted in a Grand Jury indictment in 2012.

Two other men were implicated in the crime. Samuel Sims, 43, is scheduled to go on trial in February 2015 for first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder and sexual assault.

Sims Samuel
Samuel Sims (credit: Denver DA)

Jackie McConnell, 40, pleaded guilty earlier this year to second-degree murder and will be sentenced after the Sims trial.

McConnell Jackie
Jackie McConnell (credit: Denver DA)
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