At trial, James Leprino describes forcing heirs out of Leprino Foods

This story first ran on BusinessDen.com, a BizWest news partner.

DENVER —

Jurors in a downtown courtroom Wednesday watched intently as James Leprino, one of the city’s richest and most reclusive men, described in his own words how he pushed his nieces out of Denver-based Leprino Foods and left their 25-percent stake in the company worthless.

For three hours, clips from a video deposition of the 84-year-old billionaire were played before eight jurors on a large flat-screen television in the courtroom.

In the clips, Leprino said that in 2014 he came to believe his older brother, Mike Leprino, had cheated him in…