‘This is why we build prisons’: Colorado man handed 40-year sentence for stabbing spree
08/29/2026 1:00 pm PDT
CASTLE ROCK, Colo. (TCN) -- A 33-year-old man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison in connection with a stabbing spree in January 2025.
According to a press release from the 23rd Judicial District Attorney’s Office, Luke Barkhaus pleaded guilty to felony child abuse and two counts of first-degree assault.
Detectives with the Parker Police Department located and arrested Barkhaus in Aurora, Colorado, two days after the spree, the DA’s office said.
According to an arrest affidavit obtained by Law & Crime, Barkhaus stabbed a restaurant worker, went to a Dollar Tree store an hour later and stabbed an employee, and finally stabbed a 7-year-old at a Walmart. The child was reportedly there with his family to purchase toys and was stabbed in the side of the head while picking out a piece of candy at checkout.
All of the victims recovered from the injuries they sustained during the attacks, per Law & Crime.
KMGH reported that at a court hearing, Barkhaus was asked why he committed the random attacks. He allegedly said he did it “for the rush,” and that he would have continued stabbing people had he not been arrested.
According to the DA’s office, Barkhaus has an extensive history of mental illness and substance abuse. District Attorney George Brachler said, “This malevolent menace said that he stabbed those innocent victims because he wanted to see what it was like to do it. And then he blamed his evil actions on years of ‘huffing.’ There is no fixing someone like this. There is only protecting our community from him. This is why we build prisons.”
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