According to the Aspen Times, a Pitkin County, Colorado grand jury has indicted two building inspectors and a contractor in connection with the carbon-monoxide poisoning deaths in 2008  of Larchmont native Caroline (Feuerbach) Lofgren,  42, her husband Parker Lofgren, 39, and their two children, Owen, 10 and Sophie, 8. (See: Holiday Turns Tragic for Family With Larchmont Roots.)

On July 22, Marlin Brown and Erik Peltonen of Basalt, Colorado were indicted on 4 class-five felony charges of criminally negligent homicide and four counts of reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor. Brian Pawl was indicted only on misdemeanors. Mr. Brown owns the company that installed the boiler and pipes at the home where the Lofgren’s died.  Mr. Peltonen was the building inspector and Mr. Pawl was a field inspector.

The family, which resided in Denver, was staying over the Thanksgiving holiday in  a house near Aspen when they were overcome by carbon-monoxide fumes. An investigation determined that the fumes were coming from the home’s hot-water system.

Caroline Feuerbach grew up in Larchmont; several relatives still live here. Her family, along with those of her husband, issued a statement in response:

“The Lofgren, Rittenour and Feuerbach families would like to sincerely thank the Pitkin County grand jury and Chief Deputy District Attorney Arnold Mordkin for their extensive time and tireless efforts over the past year investigating the tragic deaths of the entire Lofgren family from carbon monoxide poisoning after celebrating Thanksgiving in 2008.

“While the filing of criminal charges in the deaths of Parker, Caroline, Owen, and Sophie will not relieve our families’ sorrow it will hopefully assist in exposing those responsible for their deaths and in holding them fully accountable. As importantly, we hope that these criminal proceedings, as well as the imminent civil proceedings and the ongoing efforts by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, will send a clear message to contractors and building inspectors and even manufacturers of heating equipment to ensure that such senseless carbon monoxide deaths are prevented in the future.

“Our families will continue with our efforts to raise public awareness about the risks of carbon monoxide poisoning, to pass laws requiring carbon monoxide detectors and to ensure the compliance with and enforcement of carbon monoxide laws and building codes to prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again.”

For more, see: Victims’ families, sheriff weigh in on Aspen indictments.

Photo courtesy of Aspen Times.

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