A 70-year-old man accused of stalking Fox31 meteorologist Kylie Bearse will be charged with a felony weeks after prosecutors initially brought only a misdemeanor charge in his case, a prosecutor with the Denver District Attorney’s Office said in court Wednesday.
Marcus Marte will now be charged with felony stalking, Senior Deputy District Attorney Meredith D’Angelo said. The prosecution’s new approach comes a month after Bearse spoke to The Denver Post about her frustration with the district attorney’s original choice to charge Marte only with violating a protection order after he showed up unwelcome at her home in September.
“I’m very grateful,” Bearse said Wednesday. “I’ve had some positive talks with the DA’s office over the last few weeks. I’m grateful they took the time to listen and examine the case a little bit more.”
Patricia Cabrera Hill, Marte’s attorney, said in court that she was surprised by the felony charge. She declined to comment outside of court.
“This is the first I’m hearing about the case being up-filed,” she said. “It was investigated as a felony, down-filed as a violation of a protection order, and now I am hearing that it is being up-filed for the first time now.”
Stalked by an obsessed fan, Fox31 meteorologist Kylie Bearse is frustrated by the justice system
Bearse received a permanent protection order in January 2024 after Marte messaged her repeatedly, claimed she was his wife, showed up to events she hosted, found her personal cellphone number and messaged her family and friends. The man’s obsessive behavior started in 2023 and continued into early 2024, and went beyond normal attention to the TV personality.
The order required him to stay away from Bearse and prohibited him from contacting her.
Marte did not contact Bearse for about 18 months after she received the protection order. Then, on Sept. 11, he pulled up to Bearse’s driveway as she backed into her garage. He rolled down his window and Bearse recognized him. She quickly closed her garage door, rushed inside, grabbed her dog, called 911 and fled her home out a back door.
Denver police officers arrived to find Marte still sitting in his truck outside of her home. He was arrested.
Bearse had hoped Marte would be charged with felony stalking from the get-go, and was disappointed when Denver prosecutors instead brought only the misdemeanor charge. At the time, prosecutors told Bearse they felt too much time had passed between the earlier incidents and the September visit to justify a felony stalking charge, she said.
They also acknowledged that they could bring the felony charge under state law and said the charging decision was a judgment call, Bearse said. She spoke to The Post about her experience in the hopes that it would draw attention to how stalking cases are handled in the justice system.
Matt Jablow, spokesman for the Denver District Attorney’s Office, said prosecutors opted for the felony charge after doing additional investigation into the case.
“After further investigation by our office, we determined that the felony stalking charge was warranted,” he said in a statement.
On Wednesday, Bearse said she has slowly started to regain her sense of safety since Marte’s unexpected visit in September. It helps tremendously that Denver County Court Judge Isabel Pallarés extended Marte’s GPS monitoring on Wednesday, Bearse said.
“Every week I get a little bit better,” she said. “There was a lot of anxiety waiting to hear what they are going to do, and what type of charges he will be facing. It’s been a little anxiety-inducing, but I think each week it’s gotten a little bit better.”
Marte is due in court Nov. 19 on the new charge.
Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day.