Penelope Sue "Penny" Cunningham
Obituaries
Vail Daily page A4 - April 6, 2015
Cunningham murder trial set to begin today in Eagle. Woman charged with killing her adoptive mother in a remote spot south of Gypsum, by Randy Wyrick.
Prosecutors say Traci Cunningham drove her adoptive mother to a remote part of Eagle County and shot her to death.
Traci Cunningham said she's not guilty, and her defense attorneys say she suffers from PTSD and bipolar disorder.
A jury will decide her fate beginning today as jury selection begins for her trial. Traci Cunningham has been in the Eagle County jail for a year and a half, following her arrest at a Front Range bagel shop in late 2013. In the final pretrial hearing, she told District Court Judge Russell Granger that even though she was obviously not feeling well after her medications were changed, she was ready for the trial to begin.
"I don't was to be here any longer. I'm sick of these people," Traci Cunningham told Granger.
Granger expressed concern about Traci Cunningham's ability to participate in her own defense.
"It could impact the outcome of that trial, and that could impact the rest of your life. Do you understand that?" Granger asked.
"Yes, your honor," Traci Cunningham said.
Granger pressed ahead questioning Traci Cunningham.
"I've been speaking with your for the last five minutes I can see you're having a difficult time paying attention, and you appear to be in pain. The trial last three weeks. Are you sure you're going to be able to make that?" Granger asked.
Traci Cunningham said she would.
"I understand that you're willing to go through with this. I want you to understand that you could be replacing expediency with permanency."
"It is her desire to go to trial," said Cynthia Jones, one of Cunningham's attorneys
Jones said Traci Cunningham has some military service, claims PTSD and bipolar disorder, and said her client suffered abuse at the hands of her boyfriend.
Jones also expressed frustration, saying she had been asking since February for Traci Cunningham's medication to be adjusted, as they prepared for trial. They were not adjusted until last week, Jones said.
"It's a little frustrating," Jones said.
Traci Cunningham claims she was in a heated argument with her mother, Penelope Cunningham, 60, a former nun and retired elementary school teacher, just before her mother was shot, Jones said.
A notebook found in Traci Cunningham's Aurora home asks God to forgive her for the lives she would take, police said.
While searching the home Traci and Penelope Cunningham shared, Eagle County Sheriff's Detective Aaron Veldheer found a notebook in Traci Cunningham's room. On one page was written: "Lord Jesus, forgive me for the wrongs I have done and the wrongs I will do. Forgive me for the lives I will take, and save me from the depths of Hell...I dream of angels...while I was looking form my friend, I found my enemy."
Traci Cunningham told police that on Thanksgiving Day 2013, she and Penelope Cunningham were on their way from metro Denver to Grand Junction to hike and take photographs. Instead, Traci Cunningham drove to a remote spot 15.2 miles up Gypsum Creek Road, south of Gypsum, where she stopped the car and Penelope Cunningham got out and started walking up the road.
Traci Cunningham said that after arguing with her mother about her lack of housework and animal care, she went looking for beef jerky in the back seat of the their car, but she "encountered" the Springfield XDM 9 mm handgun that killed her mother.
Police say Penelope Cunningham was shot five times: in the head, abdomen and buttocks. Traci Cunningham told investigators she does not remember pulling the tripper. Traci told police she picked up the handgun, walked up the road then "everything goes black."
In an earlier court appearance, District Attorney Bruce Brown said Traci Cunningham drove her mother to a remote area and shot her in the back.
Traci Cunningham said the next thing she saw was her mother on the ground and the handgun in her left hand.
She said she rolled her mother over and checked for a pulse on her neck and found none. She then checked her cell phone and found she had no service.
During questioning, Traci Cunningham told police she ran back to the car and drove home (to Aurora), "pretending it was a bad dream."
Penelope Cunningham's body was found the next day in the road where she died.
According to police testimony, Tracy Cunningham hid the firearm and ammunition , wrapped in a blanket, under Penelope Cunningham's bed. When she was arrested she had several of Penelope Cunningham's credit cards on her, and had used them to buy gas in the days following her mother's death and prior to her arrest.
Vail Daily page A3 - April 9, 2015
Murder trial postponed, changes location. Jury could not be seated for Traci Cunningham's murder trial, by Randy Wyrick.
Another murder trial has been postponed and moved out of Eagle County because of problems seating a jury.
Traci Cunningham's murder trial was supposed to run three weeks beginning Monday. She's charged with murder in the shooting death of her adoptive mother.
However, problems seating a jury of 14--12 jurors and two alternates--forced District Court Judge Russell Granger to move the case to Clear Creek County. It's now scheduled for Aug. 17-Sept 4.
Rossi Moreau's murder trial was also moved to Clear Creek County. A Clear Creek County convicted him of killing one man and wounding four other people during an armed rampage in a West Vail bar and restaurant.
In Cunningham's trial, 136 people reported for jury duty Monday morning in the Eagle County Justice Center.
By 5 p.m. on Tuesday, the pool was down to 36 people.
When they returned Wednesday morning for the final round of selections, at least six people asked to speak with Granger about hardships. One woman was in tears before she finished her explanation.
Less than a half hour later, Granger dismissed everyone and set about rescheduling the trial.
"It (jury service) is critical. It is the foundation of our judicial system," said Cynthia Jones, one of Cunningham's two defense attorneys. "It is one of the most important pillars on which our country was founded."
"This is concerning," Jones said.
Along with the pre-trial publicity, several prospective jurors said taking three weeks off could cost them their jobs or ruin their businesses. Several were self-employed and said it could ruin their businesses.
Others cited childcare problems. While jurors are paid $50 a day for their service, childcare expenses are only reimbursed at $3 a day.
Some metro courts have childcare facilities on site for childcare, Jones said.
Some prospective jurors had already booked vacations during next week's spring break for local schools.
The family of the victim, Penelope Cunningham, came to town for the trial, arriving on the day the trial was postponed.
Police and prosecutors say Traci Cunningham drove her mother, Penelope Cunningham, both of Aurora, to a remote spot 15 miles south of Gypsum on Gypsum Creek Road on Thanksgiving Day 2013.
Police said Traci told them that when her mother got out of the car and started to walk back toward town, Traci started rummaging around in the back seat looking for something to eat. Police say Traci told them she "encountered" a handgun.
She told police she doesn't remember anything between that time and realizing she was standing in the road with the gun in her left hand. Police say she checked Penelope's body for a pulse, but found none.
Traci told police she drove back to Aurora like it was a a dream. Penelope's body was discovered the next day.
Traci was arrested a couple of days later outside a Denver-area coffee shop.
Her defense attorneys, Jones and Dan Shaffer, say she is a victim of both PTSD and bi-polar disorder.
A pre-trial conference is scheduled for 11 a.m. on July 16 in Eagle.
Vail Daily page A4 - December 1, 2013
Woman Found Shot to Death Near Gypsum. Daughter is questioned as person of interest.
The daughter of a woman found shot to death Friday on Gypsum Creek Road is being questioned as a person of interest in the case, police said Saturday.
Traci Cunningham, 28, of Aurora, is being interviewed about the death of her mother, Penelope Sue Cunningham, 60, also of Aurora, the Eagle County Sheriff's Office said.
The body was found on the side of the road, shot five times, Friday morning about 15 miles up Gypsum Creek Road near LEDE Reservoir, police said. A motorist notified authorities that they had found a body. That part of remote Eagle County is popular with people cutting their own Christmas trees on National Forest land.
Cunningham died of gunshot wounds not exposure, said Kara Bettis, Eagle County coroner.
Traci Cunningham was picked up by police shortly after 3 p.m. on Saturday at an Einstein Brother Bagels in Lakewood after Eagle County police put out a statewide bulletin seeking her vehicle, said Jessie Mosher, of the Eagle County Sherriff's Office. Police put out the bulletin after unsuccessfully attempting to contact someone at the victim's home, Mosher said. The mother and daughter lived together, Mosher said.
Mosher said police are trying to determine the two women's connection to the Gypsum area and that the interview would hopefully reveal that.
Vail Daily page A3 - December 3, 2013
Woman Accused of Shooting Her Mother. Prosecutors say Traci Cunningham drove her adoptive mother, a former nun, to remote area and shot her in the back, by Randy Wyrick.
After arguing with her adoptive mother, an Aurora woman went looking for beef jerky in the back seat of their car and instead pulled out the handgun that police say killed her mother.
Traci Cunningham, 28, told police she and her mother, Penelope Cunningham, 60, were on their way to Grand Junction to hike and take photographs.
"She (Penelope Cunningham) was taken to a secluded place and shot in the back," District Attorney Bryce Brown said during Traci Cunningham's fir court appearance Monday.
Penelope Cunningham was a schoolteacher and former nun who adopted Traci Cunningham when Traci was 14 years old, according to an arrest affidavit.
Traci Cunningham hid the firearm and ammunition, and when she was arrested she possessed several of Penelope Cunningham's credit cards, Brown said.
Traci and Penelope Cunningham drove up Gypsum Creek Road south of Gypsum and were arguing about household chores and animal care as they went, according to the police affidavit. About 15 miles up the road, Traci Cunningham stopped the car and Penelope Cunningham got out and started walking up the rad. According to the arrest affidavit, Traci Cunningham told police she got out of the car and went into the back of the car to look for beef jerky. Instead of beef jerky, she told police she "encountered" a Springfield SDM 9-millimeter handgun that Traci Cunningham said Penelope Cunningham brought along.
Traci Cunningham told police that she picked up the handgun, walked up the road and then "everything goes black."
Traci Cunningham said the next thing she saw was the handgun in her left hand and her mother on the ground.
She said she rolled her mother over and checked for a pulse on her neck, and then checked her cell phone and found she had no service.
Traci Cunningham told police she ran back to the car and drove home (to Aurora), "pretending it was a bad dream."
Authorities said Penelope Cunningham was shot sometime between 3:30 p.m. and 8:30 a.m. Friday. She was shot five times in various parts of her body, said Eagle County Coroner Kara Bettis.
A pool of blood was still visible on the road Monday where Penelope Cunningham died. Although Traci Cunningham told police they were going hiking in Grand Junction, they had to drive past several trailheads along Gypsum Creek Road to get to the spot where Penelope Cunningham died and was later found.
Penelope Cunningham's body was discovered in the road at about 8 a.m. on Friday when a local man drove his truck up Gypsum Creek Road to help recover his mother's stranded Saab. The car had broken down the previous afternoon.
Once they got the Saab started and were waiting for it to warm up, the man spotted what he thought was an elk carcass in the road. He told police he had seen elk carcasses in the road before, left by irresponsible hunters.
When the man got 5 feet away, he "saw it was a dead person," he told police.
He drove to a nearby home and called 911.
Eagle County sheriff's deputies arrived and found blood on Penelope Cunningham's face and head. She had frost on her jacket and was cold to the touch, the arrest affidavit said.
Police got a search warrant and sifted through the Aurora home Traci and Penelope Cunningham shared. They said they found rounds of 9-millimeter ammunition and an empty pistol case.
Their Aurora neighbors told police that Traci Cunningham was 14 when Penelope Cunningham, a former nun, adopted her. They told police Traci Cunningham "is capable of being violent," the arrest affidavit said.
Penelope Cunningham's older brother told police that she told him she and Traci Cunningham were traveling in Colorado to meet Traci Cunningham's partner's family for Thanksgiving. He told police that Penelope Cunningham had inherited some land in Arizona and that Traci Cunningham's partner's father was interested in buying it.
Police tracked Traci Cunningham down when Vail Communications "pinged" her cell phone at five-minute intervals, beginning at noon Saturday. Three hours later, they found Traci Cunningham at a Lakewood bagel shop, where she was picked up and taken to the Lakewood Police Department for questioning.
Traci Cunningham was in possession of some of Penelope Cunningham's credit cards when police found her, prosecutors said.
Traci Cunningham sat quietly at the defendant's table, wide-eyed and facing forward with her head slightly bowed during her first court appearance Monday, and huddling occasionally with her court-appointed defense attorney, Carolin Lopez with the public defender's office.
District Court Judge Russell Granger read Traci Cunningham her rights.
"Do you understand these rights?" Granger asked.
"Yes, your honor," Traci Cunningham answered quietly.
Granger set Traci Cunningham's bond at $1 million, citing her lack of ties to the community and the nature of the crime. That's half of what Brown and Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Wiard asked for, but is more that Lopez argued for.
"My primary concern is for public safety. This is an extremely dangerous event," Brown said.
Lopez argued for a lower bond, pointing out that Traci Cunningham has no family who could post that kind of bond and has no one who could help her post it.
A preliminary hearing is at least a month out, Lopez argued Traci Cunningham would have to remain in custody, and that would be prejudicial to her case and her ability to assist in her own defense.
Formal charges have not been filed, but that's not unusual in a case like this, Granger said.
Brown told Granger that prosecutors would charge Traci Cunningham with first-degree murder. If convicted, she is automatically sentenced to life without parole and could face the death penalty.
The two sides are back in Granger's court today.
Richard "Rossi" Moreau was the valley's last murder case. Moreau opened fire in a West Vail bar in 2009, killing Dr. Gary Kitching and wounding three others. The jury convicted him of all eight felonies he faced. District Court Judge Thomas Moorhead sentenced him to life in prison.
Vail Daily page A4 - December 2, 2013
Daughter Arrested in Gypsum Homicide Case. Aurora woman in custody for shooting her mother.
An Aurora woman has been booked on a charge of murder in the shooting death of her mother, whose body was found on a remote road south of Gypsum on Friday.
On Saturday, Traci Cunningham, 28, was taken into custody and booked into the Eagle County Detention Facility on the charge of first-degree murder. Cunningham is being held without bond. Formal charges will be filed by the District Attorney's Office.
Traci Cunningham's mother, Penelope Sue Cunningham, 60, also of Aurora, was found on the side of the road, shot five times, Friday morning about 15 miles up Gypsum Creek Road near LEDE Reservoir, police said. Motorists notified authorities that they had found a body.
Cunningham died of gunshot wounds, not exposure, said Kara Bettis, Eagle County coroner.
Traci Cunningham was picked up by police shortly after 3 p.m. Saturday at an Einstein Brothers Bagels in Lakewood after Eagle County police put out a statewide bulletin seeking her vehicle, said Jessie Mosher of the Eagle County Sherriff's Office. Police put out the bulletin after unsuccessfully attempting to contact someone at the victim's home, Mosher said. The mother and daughter lived together, Mosher said.
Mosher said police are trying to determine the two women's connection to the Gypsum area.
The Eagle County Sherriff's Office has been assisted by the Lakewood Police Department and the Aurora Police Department in the case.
Vail Daily - November 30, 2013
Body Found Near Gypsum.
Police are investigating the death of a woman whose body was found south of Gypsum on Friday morning. The body was found about 15 miles up Gypsum Creek Road, said Jessie Mosher of the Eagle County Sheriff's Office.
The manner of death was not released due to the fact that it is an open investigation, Mosher said. Eagle County Coroner Kara Bettis did not release any additional information about the person found dead, saying the next of kin had not yet been notified.
Mosher said the deceased person was an "older" woman.
An autopsy will be performed today, Mosher said.
Vail Daily page A3 - December 11, 2013
Shooting Suspect Faces Murder Charges. Traci Cunningham allegedly drove her adoptive mother to a remote area south of Gypsum and shot her, by Randy Wyrick.
An Aurora woman faces murder charges after she allegedly drover her adoptive mother to a remote part of Eagle County and shot her to death.
Traci Cunningham, 28, sat quietly and still in court Tuesday as the charges were read by District Court Judge Russell Granger--two first degree murder charges, tampering with evidence and two counts of crime of violence.
"Do you understand what those charges are?" Granger asked.
"I understand," she answered quietly, shifting in her chair.
If convicted, she faces mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole.
District Attorney Bruce Brown said prosecutors have not decided whether to seek the death penalty.
Traci Cunningham's mother, Penelope Cunningham, 60, is a former nun and was an elementary school social studies teacher. Traci Cunningham was years old when Penelope Cunningham adopted her.
In Traci Cunningham's first court appearance last week, Brown told Granger that she drove her mother to a remote area and shot her in the back. Traci Cunningham hid the firearm and ammunition, and when she was arrested, she possessed several of Penelope Cunningham's credit cards, Brown said. Traci Cunningham remains in the Eagle County jail on $1 million bond.
Traci Cunningham told police she and Penelope Cunningham were on their way Grand Junction to hike and take photographs.
On Nov. 28, they drove up Gypsum Creek Road south of Gypsum and were arguing as they went, according to the police affidavit. About 15.2 miles up the road, Traci Cunningham allegedly stopped the car and Penelope Cunningham got out and started walking up the road.
According to the arrest affidavit, Traci Cunningham told police she got out of the car and went into the back of the car to look for beef jerky.
Instead of beef jerky, she told police she "encountered" a Springfield XDM 9-millimeter handgun that Traci Cunningham said Penelope Cunningham brought along.
Traci Cunningham told police that she picked up the handgun, walked up the road and then "everything goes black."
She said the next thing she saw was her mother on the ground and the handgun in her left hand.
She said she rolled her mother over and checked for a pulse on her neck, and then checked her cell phone and found she had no service.
She told police that she ran back to the car and drove home (to Aurora) "pretending it was a bad dream."
The next day, police searched the Aurora home Traci and Penelope Cunningham shared and found rounds of 9-millimeter ammunition and an empty pistol case.
Authorities said Penelope Cunningham was shot sometime between 3:30 p.m. on Nov. 28 and 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 29. She was shot five times in various parts of her body, said Eagle County Coroner Kara Bettis.
Penelope Cunningham's body was discovered in the road at about 8 a.m. on Nov 29 when a local man drove his truck up Gypsum Creek Road to help recover his mother's stranded Saab. The car had broken down the previous afternoon.
Police tracked Traci Cunningham down when Vail Communications "pinged" her cell phone at five-minute intervals, beginning at noon Nov. 30. Three hours later, they found Traci Cunningham at a Lakewood bagel shop, where she was picked up and taken to the Lakewood Police Department for questioning.
She was in possession of some of Penelope Cunningham's credit cards when police found her, prosecutors said.
Richard "Rossi" Moreau was the valley's last murder case. Moreau opened fire in a West Vail bar, killing Dr. Gary Kitching and wounding three others. The jury convicted him of all eight felonies he faced. District Court Judge Thomas Moorhead sentenced him to life in prison.
Vail Daily page A4 - March 18, 2014
Woman to stand trail for shooting adoptive mother. Police say Traci Cunningham left a notebook asking God to forgive her for the lives she would take, by Randy Wyrick.
A notebook found in a murder suspect's Aurora home asks God's forgiveness for lives that might be taken, police say.
Tracy Cunningham, 28, will stand trial for murdering her adoptive mother, Penelope Cunningham, 60, a former nun and elementary school teacher.
While searching the home Traci and Penelope Cunningham share, Eagle County Sheriff's Detective Aaron Veldheer found a notebook in Traci's room. On one page was written: "Lord Jesus forgive me for the wrongs I have done and the wrongs I will do. Forgive me for the lives I will take and save me from the depths of hell...I dream of angels...While I was looking for my friend I found my enemy."
During Monday's preliminary hearing, her attorney, Cynthia Jones, argued passionately that prosecutors had not presented enough compelling evidence to send Traci to trial for first degree murder.
District Court Judge Russell Granger ruled otherwise, saying the evidence met the "low standard" for a preliminary hearing.
Taking the victim to the area itself would not be sufficient evidence, but together with all the other evidence prosecutors presented Monday, and seen in the light most favorable to the prosecution, as the law requires, there was enough to order a trial, Granger ruled.
Traci Cunningham told police that on Thanksgiving Day, she and Penelope Cunningham were on their way from metro Denver to Grand Junction to hike and take photographs. Instead, Traci Cunningham drove to a remote spot 15.2 miles up Gypsum Creek Road, south of Gypsum, where she stopped the car and her adoptive mother got out and started walking up the road.
Traci Cunningham said that after arguing with her mother about her lack of housework and animal care, she went looking for beef jerky in the back seat of their car, but "encountered" the Springfield XDM 9 mm handgun that killed her mother.
Police say she shot Penelope five times--in the head, abdomen and buttocks. Traci Cunningham told investigators she does not remember pulling the trigger.
In an earlier court appearance, District Attorney Bruce Brown said Traci Cunningham drove her mother to a remote area and shot her in the back.
Traci Cunningham told police she picked up the handgun, walked up the road and then "everything goes black." She said the next thing she saw was her mother on the ground and the handgun in her left hand.
She said she rolled her mother over and checked for a pulse on her neck and found none. She then checked her cell phone and found she had no service.
During questioning, Traci Cunningham told police she ran back to the car and drove home (to Aurora), "pretending it was a bad dream."
Penelope Cunningham's body was found the next day in the road where she died.
According to Monday's testimony, Traci Cunningham hid the firearm and ammunition, wrapped in a blanket, under her mother's bed. When she was arrested she had several of her mother's credit cards on her and had used them to buy gas in the days following her mother's death and prior to her arrest.
Sarah McAdams, 43, of Aurora, testified that she and Traci Cunningham had been acquaintances and that Traci Cunningham drove to her house that night, claiming to be suffering from a migraine headache. McAdams, who said Traci Cunningham told her she lived on a ranch in El Paso County, didn't want her to drive with a migraine.
McAdams testified that Traci Cunningham said she had been born in Ireland and that she spoke with an Irish accent. Traci Cunningham also claimed she was a former Army Ranger and served as a combat medic. She claimed to have been wounded in firefights, and had a scar on her abdomen, McAdams said. She claimed that her mother and father were both dead and claimed to have been married for a year.
She had borrowed McAdam's Volkswagen Passat, saying her boyfriend would fix the oil leaks. It was clean when she loaned it to Traci, but the wheel wells were caked with red dirt when she returned it, McAdams said.
Traci Cunningham regularly went into a coffee shop with a Ruger 45 caliber handgun on her hip, McAdams said. McAdams said she also brought over other handguns to show her and her husband. One was a 9 mm Springfield and another was a 9 mm Bersa, McAdams said. She presented McAdams with the Bersa as a gift.
Traci Cunningham is being held in the Eagle County jail on $1 million bond.
Vail Daily page A3 - July 1, 2014
Woman accused of murder pleads not guilty. Police say Traci Cunningham left a notebook asking God to forgive her for the lives she would take, by Randy Wyrick
An Aurora woman accused of driving her mother to a remote part of Eagle County, killing her and leaving the body lying in the middle of a gravel road has pleaded not guilty.
Traci Cunningham, 28, pleaded not guilty to first degree murder charges. If convicted, she'll spend the rest of her life in prison. She faces life in prison without parole if convicted on first degree murder charges.
She is accused of murdering her adoptive mother, Penelope Cunningham, 60, a former nun and elementary school teacher.
She will not present a mental health defense, said Cynthia Jones, Cunningham's attorney.
Prosecutors will not seek the death penalty, said District Attorney Bruce Brown.
The trial is set for April 6. It's scheduled for three weeks.
"We feel the evidence is strong on this case," Brown Said. "The charges being so serious, we'll be very well prepared going into the trial."
Cunningham is being held on $1 million bond.
"Miss Cunningham is presumed innocent and nothing I say will change that," Brown said. "Her guilt or innocence will be determined by a jury weighing the evidence."
Cunningham was upbeat as she sat between her two attorneys, Jones and Dan Shaffer, during the hearing that took place on Monday.
A notebook found in Cunningham's Aurora home asks God to forgive her for the lives she would take, Eagle County Sherriff's Detective Aaron Veldheer said during the preliminary hearing.
On one page was written: "Lord Jesus forgive me for the wrongs I have done and the wrongs I will do. Forgive me for the lives I will take and save me from the depths of hell...I dream of angels...While I was looking for my friend I found my enemy."
Cunningham told police that on Thanksgiving Day 2013, she and her adoptive mother were on their way from metro Denver to Grand Junction to hike and take photographs. Instead, Cunningham drove to a remote spot 15.2 miles up Gypsum Creek Road, south of Gypsum.
Cunningham said they had been arguing about her lack of housework and animal care.
When Cunningham stopped the car, her mother got out and started back up the road.
Cunningham went looking for beef jerky in the back seat of their car, but said she "encountered" the Springfield SDM 9 mm handgun that killed her mother, police said.
In one of Cunningham's original appearances, District Attorney Brown said Cunningham drove her mother to a remote area and shot her in the back.
Police say she shot her mother five times: in the head, abdomen and buttocks. Cunningham told investigators she does not remember pulling the trigger.
Cunningham told police she picked up the handgun, walked up the road and then "everything goes black."
Cunningham said the next thing she saw was her mother on the ground and the handgun in her left hand.
She said she rolled her mother over and checked for a pulse on her neck and found none. She then checked her cell phone and found she had no service in that remote area of Eagle County.
After she was taken into custody, Cunningham told police she ran back to the car and drove home (to Aurora), "pretending it was a bad dream."
Cunningham's mother's body was found the next day in the road where she died.
Police say Cunningham hid the firearm and ammunition wrapped in a blanket, under her mother's bed.
When she was arrested she had several of her mother's credit cards on her and had used them to buy gas in the days following her mother's death and prior to her arrest.
Vail Daily page A4 - February 22, 2015
Accused killer closer to trail. Aurora woman allegedly shot, killed her mother 15 miles south of Gypsum, by Randy Wyrick.
Penny Cunningham believed she was on her way to meet her adopted daughter Traci Cunningham's fiance and his family., Penny Cunningham's brother testified Thursday. Instead, Traci Cunningham is accused of driving her mother--a former nun and school teacher who adopted Traci Cunningham at age 14--to a remote area south of Gypsum and shooting her to death. Traci Cunningham is charged with first degree murder.
In a hearing Thursday, Peter Cunningham said he spoke with his sister as Penny Cunningham and Traci Cunningham were headed west on Interstate 70 from Denver.
"She told me, 'It looks like I'm going to be a mother-in-law," Peter Cunningham said.
This was the last conversation he had with his sister. She was found dead about 15 miles up Gypsum Creek Road south of Gypsum, shot five times. District Attorney Bruce Brown has said Penny Cunningham was shot in the back.
The fiance, referred to as Bear, might not exist, said Brown. He thought Traci Cunningham was sending text messages to her mother's phone as though they were from Bear.
When she was arrested, Traci Cunningham, 28, told police that she and her mother were on their way to Grand Junction to hike and take photographs. Traci Cunningham and Penny Cunningham drove up Gypsum Creek Road south of Gypsum and were arguing as they went. About 15.2 miles up the road, Traci Cunningham stopped the car and Penny Cunningham got out and started walking up the road. Traci Cunningham told police she went into the back of the car to look for beef jerky. Instead of beef jerky, she told police she "encountered" a Springfield XDM 9 mm handgun that Traci Cunningham said Penny Cunningham brought along.
Traci Cunningham told police that she picked up the handgun, walked up the road and then "everything goes black." The next thing se saw was her mother on the ground and the handgun in her left hand. She said she rolled her mother over and checked her neck for a pulse, then checked her cell phone and found she had no service.
Traci Cunningham told police she ran back to the car and drove home to Aurora, "pretending it was a bad dream." She was arrested two day later outside an Aurora deli, not far from her and Penny Cunningham's home. When police searched the home they found the firearm allegedly used in the shooting, as well as several of Penny Cunningham's credit cards.
Barbara Jean Lundy was Penny Cunningham and Traci Cunningham's neighbor for 10 years, and said they were good friends. She testified in Thursday's hearing that she was trying to help Traci Cunningham find government benefits to help her get on her feet. Lundy said Penny Cunningham and Traci Cunningham had been having conflicts, and Penny Cunningham considered Traci Cunningham to be homeless and was allowing Traci Cunningham to live there. Penny Cunningham was frustrated after realizing Traci Cunningham was not looking for a job, she said.
