TEMPE, AZ — A man explains, in his own words, what he says happened the night he shot and killed his ballerina wife in 2022.
It’s all captured on body cam videos released by Tempe Police.
The blurry videos, obtained by ABC15 through a public-records request, show multiple officers rushing to the home of Christopher and Colleen Hoopes.
It’s around 3 a.m. on May 20, 2022.
Christopher Hoopes is outside the home waiting for police, bare-chested and wearing shorts. He has a cell phone in his hand.
“Hey, keep coming out to the sidewalk, come out to the sidewalk,” an officer yells at him.
That officer places him in handcuffs.
Multiple sirens fill the night air as more police cars, fire trucks and an ambulance fill the scene. Hoopes asks about his wife.
Another officer tells him, “Take a breath, bud. What’s your name?”
"Christopher Hoopes," he says.
He asks about his wife.
“They’re working on it. They're going to do as much as they can to help her,” an officer tells him.
“Oh my God,” Hoopes says.
An office reads Hoopes the Miranda Warning, reciting the legal protections that suspects must be told before police question them.
"Walk me through what happened today, Christopher,” the officer tells him.
Hoopes says he was asleep for three hours. He woke up, startled and grabbed his gun out of his nightstand.
“It was like a dream. I don't know. Like, I just woke up in a panic,” he tells the officer.
He tells the officer he grabbed the gun, stood up and shot.
"I fired at my wife."
"Then I realized it was her."
The police officer asks Hoopes how many times he shot.
"I think three times,” he says.
Hoopes goes on to say:
"At first, when I shot her, I didn't, I thought it was someone else."
The officer questions him further.
“Were you fully aware of what was going on? Did you knowingly do what you were doing?
Hoopes responds, "I didn't knowingly shoot my wife."
“No, but knowingly you were awake, you were aware of the situation,” the officer says.
"I was startled awake,” Hoopes says.
He then stops the interview.
"Can I call my father? He's a lawyer."
Colleen Hoopes did not survive her injuries. She was only 25, a dancer with Ballet Arizona.
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A grand jury indicted Christopher Hoopes on second-degree murder in 2022. He pleaded not guilty. Since then, the case has moved slowly toward an eventual trial in Maricopa County Superior Court.
As ABC15 reported last year, court records indicate his defense team hired pharmacy experts for a potentially unusual defense.
“At the time of the incident, Mr. Hoopes was legally prescribed medications. The use of these medications and the effects of these medications are directly relevant to Mr. Hoopes’ defense,” according to a filed motion by his attorneys.
Hoopes received permission to hire two expert witnesses: a pharmacologist and a forensic psychiatrist. The pharmacologist is needed to “educate the jury on the medication, uses, and side effects of the legally prescribed medications.” The forensic psychiatrist is needed to assist attorneys and “educate the jury on Mr. Hoopes’ mental state, the effects of various medications and how the relevant medications impact intent.”
James Charnesky, a Tucson defense lawyer who is not involved in the case, told ABC15 last year that Hoopes may be considering a defense called "involuntary intoxication."
This is where a defendant claims their legally prescribed medicine caused unintended, even dangerous, side effects that affected their perception.
Court records don’t name the specific medications Hoopes was prescribed. He told police he took medications for blood pressure and asthma, according to a police report, but it’s unclear which ones.
Those experts who were hired were the topic of a recent court hearing. Hoopes recently changed attorneys. His new attorney, Daniel Raynak, told the judge he needs more time to review the case and the reports that were prepared by experts under the previous legal team.
"I need to contact each and every one of those experts,” Raynak said.
The trial has been postponed until November, though both the prosecution and defense indicated that date is likely to be pushed back potentially into 2026.
Raynak declined to comment on the case to ABC15 and also declined an interview request on behalf of his client.
Email ABC15 Investigator Anne Ryman at anne.ryman@abc15.com, call her at 602-685-6345, or connect on X, formerly known as Twitter, and Facebook.
