Convicted murderer from Minnesota dies in Colorado crash while being chased by law enforcement

A convicted murderer from Minnesota was chased by law enforcement at high speeds from Wyoming into Colorado until he crashed his car and died, authorities said Monday.

Craig R. Licari, 66, who was sentenced in 2000 for killing his wife, Nancy, was heading south on Hwy. 85 out of the Cheyenne area, with the Wyoming Highway Patrol in pursuit Thursday, when he drove over "stop sticks" put out by the Colorado State Patrol and local police near Fort Collins.

Licari's car swerved, hit a Colorado State Patrol squad and crashed, said Patrol Sgt. Troy Kessler. Licari did not survive the midafternoon crash, Kessler said. The trooper in the patrol squad suffered minor injuries, Kessler added.

The pursuit began west of Cheyenne on Interstate 80, according to Wyoming Highway Patrol Sgt. Jeremy Beck, when a trooper on routine patrol noticed "something out of place" about Licari's car, which was registered to him at an address in North St. Paul.

Beck did not elaborate on what raised the suspicions of the trooper, who pursued Licari once he learned about at least one warrant out of Minnesota for his arrest. Speeds topped well over 100 mph during the chase, Beck said.

One warrant was issued on Feb. 23 in Washington County on charges of theft by swindle, according to Ramsey County Corrections, which was in charge of Licari's post-prison supervision. The charges alleged he cheated a bank out of more than $5,000 by making mobile deposits of two checks and then cashing the same checks in person at the bank.

Another was issued in Ramsey County on March 11 for violating terms of his supervised release.

Licari was convicted in Isanti County District Court of second-degree murder in connection with his estranged wife's death in April 1999. Law enforcement discovered her body in a rented storage unit. Court records show he was living in St. Paul at the time of the killing.

He received a 27 ¹⁄₂ -year sentence and was moved from prison to work release in January 2017 and then to supervised release seven months later.