Lisl Auman was born in 1976 in the United States. Details about her early life and background are limited. Prior to the events leading to her arrest, Auman had been residing in a boarding house in Pine, Colorado. She had recently ended a relationship and was in the process of retrieving her belongings from the shared residence. There is no extensive public record of her life before the incident.​

On November 12, 1997, Lisl Auman, accompanied by acquaintances including Matthaeus Jaehnig, returned to her former boarding house in Pine, Colorado, to collect personal items following a recent breakup. During this visit, the group allegedly broke into the room of another tenant, Shawn Cheever, and took some of his belongings. Neighbors reported the incident as a burglary, prompting law enforcement to respond. Auman and Jaehnig fled the scene in a vehicle, leading to a high-speed chase into Denver. 

During the pursuit, Jaehnig fired shots at a pursuing officer's vehicle. The chase concluded at the apartment complex where Auman intended to move. Auman was apprehended, handcuffed, and placed in the back of a police car. While she was in custody, Jaehnig engaged in a standoff with police, during which he fatally shot Officer Bruce VanderJagt before taking his own life.

Despite being in police custody at the time of the shooting, Auman was charged with felony murder, based on Colorado's felony-murder rule, which allows for accomplice liability if a death occurs during the commission of certain felonies. In July 1998, she was convicted of first-degree felony murder, second-degree burglary, menacing, and conspiracy to commit first-degree burglary, resulting in a life sentence without parole. Her conviction drew significant attention and criticism, notably from journalist Hunter S. Thompson, who argued that her conviction was unjust since she was already detained when the murder occurred. 

In March 2005, the Colorado Supreme Court overturned her conviction, citing improper jury instructions regarding the burglary charge. To avoid retrial, Auman accepted a plea deal in 2006, pleading guilty to burglary and accessory to first-degree murder, leading to a 20-year sentence in community corrections. She was released to a halfway house in October 2005 and fully released in April 2006 under supervision.