Man charged in death of Phoenix flight attendant found incompetent for trial

DENVER — The man accused of fatally stabbing two people and injuring two others last January in a series of attacks along 16th Street in downtown Denver was found incompetent to proceed to trial.

Elijah Caudill was arrested in three stabbings – one of them deadly – that happened on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. Shortly after he was taken into custody, police discovered a fourth victim who later died from his injuries.

Three of the stabbings happened between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. on  Jan. 11, 2025. One of the victims, a flight attendant who was in Denver for a layover, was killed. She has been identified as Celinda Levno, 71. 

The man killed the following day was identified as Nicholas Burkett.

The two other victims — a 62-year-old man and a 49-year-old man — sustained injuries that were not life-threatening. One of them was slashed in the face. The other had wounds to his arm and torso.

Last May, Caudill’s attorney asked that he undergo a mental health evaluation. As a result of the evaluation, on Friday morning, a judge found he was incompetent to proceed to trial. He was ordered to undergo treatment in an effort to restore his competency.

According to records reviewed by 9NEWS Investigates, Caudill left the Denver jail precisely two months before the stabbings, under the assistance of a state program called Bridges of Colorado, which is designed to assist mentally ill inmates.

According to Bridges’ own website, Bridges “places Court Liaisons across Colorado’s 22 judicial districts to serve defendants (referred to as participants) in the criminal justice system who have significant mental health needs. Bridges facilitates collaboration between the criminal justice and mental health systems by partnering with providers, courts, and often families to provide wraparound care for participants.”

Caudill’s public criminal record dates to 2019 with a relatively unremarkable arrest for allegedly stealing baseball cards at a Walmart in Adams County. The charges were eventually dropped. 

Two years later, in 2021, a judge sentenced Caudill to 24 months of probation after Caudill pleaded guilty to assault. Prosecutors alleged Caudill confronted a property manager with a knife in Westminster.