Industry News
Back in 2016, Thomas Proesel was charged with throwing a snowboarder 25-feet off a chairlift at Aspen Highlands, CO. Proesel pleaded insanity so that he wasn’t charged as guilty, and was later diagnosed with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. Proesel suffers from severe symptoms of paranoia and delusions that people are trying to hurt him, and he was committed after being found not guilty of the assault by reason of insanity.
Almost 4-years later, doctors at the psychiatric hospital where he has been held want him to be released reports the Aspen Times. His limited supervised release is scheduled to occur around the end of the month, though Aspen prosecutor Don Nottingham said he will be objecting to it:
“I do plan on filing a written objection … based on the seriousness and dangerousness of the offense,” he said.
Jill Marshall, the CEO at the psychiatric hospital in Pueblo, CO filed the latest notice about Proesel on Sept. 24 giving the DA’s Office 35 days to file an objection before Proesel would be released. Proesel himself petitioned the court for release in April 2018, though the petition was later withdrawn, according to court records.
Proesel was charged with throwing a 28-year-old snowboarder off the Lodge Peak chairlift at around 9:30 am on January 17, 2016. The snowboarder apparently had made a harmless comment regarding skiers being able to get face-shots of fresh powder easier than snowboarders. The snowboarder fell 20-25 feet off near the top of the chairlift into a patch of fresh snow. Thankfully it was a powder day!
