Because the 22-year-old arrested within the lethal rampage at a Colorado Springs LGBTQ membership made an preliminary court docket look Wednesday and was ordered held with out bond, items of the suspect’s previous are slowly rising, suggesting a unstable upbringing and a fractured household life.
Anderson Lee Aldrich’s father mentioned in an interview Tuesday with the CBS affiliate KFMB in San Diego that he believed Aldrich had died by suicide a number of years in the past and that solely this 12 months did he study in any other case.
Aaron Brink instructed the information station that he had mourned the lack of his little one and had gone by a meltdown.
Brink mentioned his ex-wife instructed him in 2016 that Aldrich was useless. Aldrich was born Nicholas Franklin Brink earlier than a petition for a change of title was filed in 2016. (In a court docket submitting Tuesday, Aldrich’s protection workforce referred to the suspect as “Mx. Aldrich,” noting in footnotes that their consumer is nonbinary and makes use of they/them pronouns. There was no additional elaboration, and Aldrich’s protection attorneys couldn’t instantly be reached for remark Wednesday.)
In response to court docket paperwork filed in Bexar County, Texas, the title change was requested as a result of Aldrich, who was turning 16, “needs to guard himself and his future from any connections to delivery father and his prison historical past. Father has had no contact with minor for a number of years.” The submitting was first reported by The Washington Submit.
On the time, Aldrich was dwelling in Texas with grandparents and authorized guardians Pamela and Jonathan Pullen. Neither could possibly be reached for remark Wednesday.
Aldrich’s mom, Laura Voepel, was additionally dwelling in Texas. Efforts to succeed in her have been additionally unsuccessful.
Brink, 48, mentioned that he solely discovered Aldrich was nonetheless alive after receiving a cellphone name six months in the past from his little one. The pair argued.
He instructed KFMB that Aldrich was “pissed off at me,” and “desires to poke on the previous man.”
The previous MMA fighter who later starred in pornographic motion pictures recalled that his ex-wife mentioned Aldrich sought a reputation change as a result of Brink was related to the porn trade and likewise appeared in a 2009 episode of the A&E docuseries “Intervention.”
Within the episode, Brink says he’s hooked on crystal meth and is proven utilizing medicine earlier than members of his household encourage him to hunt remedy. Brink’s personal troubled childhood is profiled within the present, together with his dad and mom’ divorce and his arrest at 21 for smuggling marijuana from Mexico into the USA. He served three years in federal jail.
Brink mentioned he divorced Aldrich’s mom not lengthy after their little one was born. Neither Voepel nor Aldrich are talked about within the “Intervention” episode.
Brink’s prison historical past additionally consists of convictions for battery towards the suspect’s mom each earlier than and after Aldrich was born, The Related Press reported. A 2002 misdemeanor battery conviction in California resulted in a protecting order that originally barred Brink from contacting Voepel and their little one besides by an lawyer, however that was later modified to permit monitored visits with Aldrich, in keeping with the AP.
Brink instructed KFMB that he was the one who taught his little one to battle.
He mentioned he praised Aldrich “for violent habits actually early,” including that he additionally mentioned “it really works. It’s immediate and you will get instant outcomes.”
Brink mentioned Voepel and Aldrich moved to Colorado round 2012.
He added that he was shocked that Aldrich would have been at Membership Q, the place authorities say the shooter killed 5 folks and injured 19 others with a semi-automatic rifle Saturday, as a result of he did not imagine his little one would have gone to an LGBTQ institution within the first place as a result of the household is Mormon.
A spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints instructed NBC Information that Aldrich is listed on the membership rolls, however has not been lively for greater than a decade.
“There is no excuse for going and killing folks,” Brink mentioned. “In the event you’re killing folks, there’s one thing fallacious. It is not the reply.”
A motive within the capturing stays unclear. Aldrich has been charged with 5 counts of first-degree homicide and 5 counts of committing these crimes as a part of a bias assault.
The suspect was subdued by no less than two folks contained in the membership.
Prosecutor Michael Allen mentioned Aldrich, who appeared in court docket by way of video with accidents to the face, was “bodily competent” to face trial. The subsequent listening to was scheduled for Dec. 6.
After court docket, Allen declined to reply questions from reporters associated to a different case involving Aldrich.
Aldrich was arrested final 12 months after Voepel reported that her little one threatened her with a do-it-yourself bomb and different weapons. Ring doorbell video obtained by the AP reveals Aldrich arriving at Voepel’s entrance door with a giant black bag the day of the 2021 bomb menace, telling her the police have been close by and including, “That is the place I stand. At the moment I die.”
Authorities on the time mentioned no explosives have been discovered, however gun management advocates have requested why police did not use Colorado’s “pink flag” legal guidelines to grab the weapons the mom mentioned Aldrich had.
Brink mentioned he feels regret that he let his little one down and solely discovered of Aldrich’s alleged involvement within the capturing when a protection lawyer contacted him.
Brink instructed KFMB that he beloved Aldrich “it doesn’t matter what” and requested folks to “please forgive” his little one.
Donna Mendell, Shelley Osterloh and The Related Press contributed.
