An autopsy report released Friday shows a similarity in the size of bullets that killed Kalonniann Louisa Clark-James and Darrent Williams, both shot to death in Denver in cases that remain unsolved.

The two deaths are also connected by links to a jailed Denver gang member, Brian Kenneth Hicks.

Clark-James was shot twice, once in the head and once in the arm. The shot in her right arm crossed through her body, exited the left side and was not recovered.

The "deformed, jacketed, apparently medium-caliber bullet" was recovered from the woman's head wound and given to police investigators, according to her autopsy.

The autopsy for Williams, the 24-year-old Denver Broncos cornerback killed early Jan. 1, was released Jan. 30. It showed he was killed by a single "medium-to-large-caliber" bullet that hit him in his neck as he rode in his rented stretch Hummer away from a New Year's Eve party at Denver's Club Safari.

Although Williams' autopsy said that medical investigators recovered that projectile's deformed copper casing from his neck, the bullet's core exited his body. Police have not disclosed whether they found it.

One law enforcement source who demanded anonymity said the bullets used in the Williams shooting - as many as 14 were fired from a passing 1998 Chevrolet Tahoe - were .40 caliber, which is considered to be a medium-sized projectile.

Clark-James was killed the night of Dec. 7, when gunmen broke into her Cherry Creek-area house, demanding money and drugs, according to her husband, Nicholas James.

Clark-James, 28, was just a few days away from testifying in Denver in the attempted murder trial of Hicks, a known member of the Crips street gang. He is accused of shooting at her June 12, 2005, at West Ninth Avenue and Acoma Steet shortly after she left Club Safari. That's the same nightspot Williams had been before he was slain.

Police have determined the Chevy Tahoe used in the Williams shooting is registered to Hicks. Hicks has been incarcerated on unrelated drug charges since Nov. 9.

Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson declined to comment Friday on any links between the Williams and Clark-James cases, but described both as open and active investigations.

brennanc@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2742