Overview

• On July 4, 2025, Judge Victoria Klingensmith sentenced 57-year-old Paul Stephenson to life plus 92 years after his first-degree murder conviction in the Aug. 4, 2024, DUI crash.
• Prosecutors opted for murder charges over vehicular homicide, citing Stephenson’s long history of DUI convictions and his lack of remorse in Anderson’s death.
• Stephenson had a blood alcohol level 2.5 times the legal limit when he drove 45 mph across a median and into a Castle Rock gas station, killing Lt. Col. Matt Anderson and injuring his children.
• Stephenson’s defense team argued that his mental state and earlier efforts to plead guilty to lesser charges were not fully addressed and that he had requested new counsel.
• Widow Allison Anderson said her family will carry lasting trauma from the crash and that the sentence provides some closure after a protracted trial.