Denver police are investigating a Colorado college professor for the deaths of his wife and 2-month-old daughter.
Denver police said Regis University professor Nicholas Myklebust, 44, called 911 just before 7 a.m. Monday and reported that he’d “found his wife on the ground bleeding and their infant daughter not breathing.”
Police arrived on scene and found the wife, apparently suffering from blunt force injuries, and rushed her to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The baby was found dead with no apparent injuries.
The medical examiner is conducting autopsies to determine the cause and manner of both deaths.
Myklebust was arrested on suspicion the first degree murder of his wife, who has not been publicly identified, after detectives found he had bruising and blood on his knuckles and scratches on his neck.
A probable cause statement said that Myklebust claimed his injuries were skin discoloration and psoriasis and suggested his wife fell from a stepladder, KMGH reported.
Paramedics said the mother’s injuries weren’t consistent with a fall “but they were not sure what caused them,” according to the court documents.
Myklebust was given a $5 million bond at a hearing on Tuesday and must surrender his passport if he makes bond. Prosecutors said that the medical examiner found blunt force injuries with multiple points of impact on her arm and torso as well as the facial injuries.
They also claimed that the scene in the couple’s bedroom had been altered. They said investigators found gloves and evidence of blood near the dryer.
Formal charges are expected by the end of the week, prosecutors said, and Myklebust was ordered back to court on Friday to hear those charges.
According to the Denver Post, Myklebust told detectives that his relationship with is wife was “great” but that “the baby had been more fussy than usual and the couple had been depressed since experiencing a personal loss in 2021.”
That loss appeared to be the death of a 9-day-old infant, who died from a cranial fracture, prosecutors said in court on Tuesday. Myklebust’s defense attorney noted that there were no criminal charges related to that infant’s death.
Myklebust is an associate professor at Regis University, a private, Jesuit Roman Catholic school in Denver, where he teaches English, KUSA reported..
The school said it was “deeply saddened” to learn of Myklebust’s charges, saying “Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by this situation.”
Myklebust has been at Regis since 2014, after working at the University of Texas-Austin, where he earned his masters and doctorate degrees, from 2004 until 2014.
Police said the Denver District Attorney’s Office will determine formal charges once the Medical Examiner’s Office completes its reports.
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[Featured image: Nicholas Myklebust, left/Denver Police Department and right/Regis University]
