COLD BLOOD: ROYBAL-SMITH SENTENCED IN 4TH SLAYING

Cold-blooded Ricky Lee Roybal-Smith - convicted of murdering three men in June 2025 - was sentenced to an additional 30 years in prison in the cold case killing of a woman in Englewood.

Margaret “Meg” Eberhart died in hospital on June 24, 2022, two days after an attack near Englewood Civic Center. She was a passenger in a rideshare and stopped to use a portable lavatory at about 3 a.m. on June 22. The rideshare driver heard her scream and called for help.

A police officer "encountered Roybal-Smith walking away from the area where Eberhart was found," however, "Roybal-Smith told the officer he had not done anything wrong and continued walking," prosecutors said.

"Based on the limited evidence at the time, officers did not have probable cause to arrest Roybal-Smith for murder," prosecutors said.

Surveillance video later showed him following - but not attacking - the woman. Last year, Roybal-Smith, 39, was tied to the Eberhart killing through DNA evidence. 

Earlier this year, Roybal-Smith pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the strangling of his cellmate at the Denver Jail, hours after Roybal-Smith killed two homeless men on East Colfax Avenue in Aurora last June. 

He is already serving concurrent terms of 56 years in the jail murder and 80 years in the East Colfax killings and imprisoned at the Centennial Correctional Facility in Canon City. 

Eberhart’s murder presented a challenge for investigators.

"The medical examiner identified multiple injuries, including hemorrhaging and abrasions and contusions, but ultimately determined that the cause and manner of death were undetermined." prosecutors said. "The medical examiner also clarified that an undetermined finding did not rule out criminality or Roybal-Smith being responsible for Eberhart’s death. No charges were filed after the initial investigation."

Royal-Smith was on parole at the time Eberhart slaying and - in another twist in a complicated set of circumstances - convicted in crimes committed "the day before Eberhart’s death," prosecutors said. He was paroled again in 2025 - and killed again.

[Photo: Colorado Department of Corrections]