The man accused of killing two people in a dorm room at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs earlier this year pleaded not guilty in court on Friday morning despite his attorneys requesting to delay the hearing until next year. 

Nicholas Jordan, 25, is accused of shooting and killing Celie Rain Montgomery, 26, of Pueblo, and UCCS student Samuel Knopp, 24, of Parker, in the early morning hours of Feb. 16 in a campus dormitory.

Jordan and Knopp were roommates and students at UCCS. Jordan’s arrest affidavit states that he had made a death threat against Knopp and that campus security and housing staff recorded multiple complaints about Jordan before the shooting.

On Friday, Jordan appeared in court for an arraignment hearing where his attorney Nick Rogers requested for an additional continuance of the hearing. At Jordan’s previous hearing in October Judge David Shakes allowed for a continuance of the arraignment, but made it clear he would not allow any additional delays.

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Rogers explained to the court on Friday that he was requesting the second continuance because the defense’s investigation is not complete and wouldn’t be until mid-January. The investigation, according to claims made in court, is regarding the possibility of Jordan pleading not guilty by reason of insanity.

“Without this info we cannot make an informed decision on how to proceed with (Jordan’s) defense,” Rogers said to the court. 

Jordan’s competency has been an issue with the case for months, causing several delays, but he was declared competent to proceed by Judge Shakes at a hearing in August despite conflicting competency reports from separate experts. 

Although Jordan was declared competent by the court Rogers has continued to assert at all court hearings that he believes his client suffers from “severe” mental illness, and that it has continued to impact their ability to represent Jordan in court. 

Prosecutor Andrew Vaughan objected to a continuance of the arraignment hearing, claiming that the defense was using the continuance request as a tactic to further delay proceedings.

“(The victim’s families) are very eager to see some process in the trial date being set,” Vaughan said to the court. “I don’t think there will be an arraignment date where they (Jordan’s defense attorneys) won’t ask for a continuance.”

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Judge Shakes denied the request for a continuance, setting not guilty pleas for Jordan on all charges. However, Shakes did set for a hearing on Jan. 31 to allow Jordan to change to change his plea to not guilty by reason of insanity. 

A defense motion regarding a request for a change of venue will also be discussed at the hearing on Jan. 31, Jordan’s next scheduled court date. Jordan’s trial is scheduled to begin on April 7, but if Jordan’s attorneys opt to enter a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity that trial date will likely be vacated. 

At Friday’s hearing a second motion was denied from the defense to have Shakes disqualified as the judge presiding over the case. Shakes stated that the motion from the defense made no new arguments regarding why he should recuse himself from the proceedings. The previous motion called Shakes’ relationship with UCCS into question, noting he taught classes at the university, but on Friday Shakes stated he is not currently teaching and has no plans to do so in the future.  

Additionally, not guilty pleas were entered in Jordan’s second case, in which he is accused of assaulting a deputy at the El Paso County jail in a dispute over cleaning supplies. The trial in Jordan’s second case is scheduled to begin on April 21, immediately after the homicide trial. 

Jordan remains in custody at the El Paso County jail on a $5 million bond. Jordan did not speak to the court during the entire hearing on Friday.

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