Remains in Colorado car identified as man missing since 1987

Published May 14, 2013

Associated Press

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. –  Authorities in western Colorado say a human skeleton found in a partially buried car belongs to a man who was reported missing 26 years ago.

The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reports the Mesa County Coroner's Office identified the man on Monday as 65-year-old Ronald Vasey. He went missing in 1987.

The sheriff's department says someone hiking near John Brown Canyon Road, near Gateway, called 911 at about 6 p.m. Thursday to report a crashed vehicle below a cliff. The old station wagon was roughly 100 feet off the roadway, and it was partially obscured by rocks and sediment that presumably washed down over the years.

Deputies found personal items in the car, including clothing and credit cards.

The coroner's office says it appears Vasey committed suicide.

View the original article here

Chevrolet Colorado replacement hits the road

Published May 08, 2013

FoxNews.com

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  2013 Chevrolet Colorado (Thailand)Chevrolet

Next Slide Previous Slide

Chevy’s got a little secret.

But it’s almost out.

A prototype of the upcoming replacement for the Colorado small pickup was recently spotted on a test drive sporting an updated look from the existing foreign-markets truck that it’s based on.

Set to go on sale in the United States late next year, the new truck appears to have adopted a squarer, upright grille that’s closer to the new Silverado’s than the soft, crossover-style face of the Colorado currently sold overseas.

Read: New F-150 and GM midsize pickups set to face off in 2014

The headlights are arranged horizontally, however, not vertically as on the Silverado, and are exposed on the prototype, perhaps suggesting a final design similar to what’s found on the Chevy Sonic.

A GMC Canyon replacement will be built off of the same platform, although use of the Canyon and Colorado names has not been confirmed. GM ended production of the last generation trucks in 2012, and the updated models will be built at its factory in Wentzville, Mo.

General Motors North America President Mark Reuss recently said that the Colorado replacement would be aimed at lifestyle buyers, while the GMC version will be more of a work truck.

No word yet on what kind of engines will find their way behind that bold grill, but fuel economy will be a key selling point of the compact trucks and four and six-cylinder engines are likely.

The Colorado is offered only with diesel engines abroad, and with Chevy’s recent introduction of a diesel model of its Cruze subcompact in the U.S., the possibility of an oil-burning Colorado or Canyon is not out of the question.

View the original article here

Colorado avalanche survivor buried for 4 hours with only 1 arm free

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  April 20, 2013: Snow falls near the spot where five members of a backcountry snowboarder group were found dead after they were trapped by an avalanche on Loveland Pass, Colo.AP

GEORGETOWN, Colo. –  The sole survivor of an avalanche that killed five other men on the Continental Divide west of Denver was able to clear snow from his face with his unburied lower left arm so he could breathe, but he remained stuck for four hours until rescuers arrived, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center said Wednesday.

In its final report on the weekend accident, the center said the state's deadliest slide since 1962 was large enough to bury or destroy a car. Of the men who died in the 800-foot-wide, 600-foot-long avalanche Saturday morning, one was buried under 10 to 12 feet of snow.

The avalanche was tragic but avoidable, the center said.

The center's final report offered new details on the avalanche that occurred as snowboarders and skiers converged near Loveland Pass for the Rocky Mountain High Backcountry Gathering. The event was promoted by a Colorado snowboarding magazine as a day for backcountry riding but also avalanche gear and safety demonstrations.

The four snowboarders and a skier who died were all from Colorado. The Clear Creek County sheriff's office identified them as Christopher Peters, 32, of Lakewood; Joseph Timlin, 32, of Gypsum; Ryan Novack, 33, of Boulder; Ian Lamphere, 36, of Crested Butte; and Rick Gaukel, 33, of Estes Park.

Friends identified the survivor as Jerome Boulay of Crested Butte, who has declined requests for interviews.

All had proper avalanche equipment. At least two had avalanche airbags, and some had Avalung breathing devices but apparently were unable to use them, the report said.

"This was a really tragic accident. There's no denying that," said Ethan Greene, the center's director. "Nobody's immune from getting caught in avalanches. It doesn't matter how long you've been doing this, how athletic you are. ... Everybody can get killed. It's an equal-opportunity hazard."

The center has said the avalanche was a deep persistent slab avalanche, which occurs when a thick layer of hard snow breaks loose from a weak, deep layer of snowpack underneath. Colorado Avalanche Information Center forecasters had alerted people about the potential for such avalanches Saturday, warning of likely trigger points.

"If you find the wrong spot, the resulting avalanche will be very large, destructive, and dangerous," the forecast said.

On Saturday, Boulay and the other five men had left the parking lot of Loveland Ski Area, which wasn't affiliated with the backcountry gathering, for a one-hour tour.

They read the center's avalanche bulletin together, were aware of the deep persistent slab problem, and aimed to avoid threatening north-facing slopes as they planned to climb a few hundred vertical feet onto northwest-facing slopes, the report said.

But to get to that safer spot, they had to cross a dangerous area, Greene said. They decided to reduce the risk by leaving 50 feet between each person as they trekked. That turned out not to be enough for the large avalanche they triggered.

The group was heading for a stand of trees when they felt a large collapse and heard a "whumpf," the report said. In the seconds it took for the crack in the snow to move uphill and release the deep slab, the group ran toward the trees. Everyone but Boulay was completely buried as the group was swept into the Sheep Creek gully.

Boulay was buried except for his lower left arm, which he used to clear snow from his face. He tried to free his other arm and screamed for help.

There was no one around to hear him, the report said.

"It covered everybody. There was nobody left to call 911, nobody left to look for the buried, to help the one person who wasn't buried but couldn't get out," Greene said.

It took a while for anyone to realize the group was trapped.

Two Colorado Avalanche Information Center highway avalanche forecasters spotted the slide around 12:15 p.m. from Interstate 70. When they got to the scene about 30 minutes later, their avalanche beacons detected no signals. Even with binoculars, they couldn't see tracks heading into the slide area, the report said.

After forecasters drove back to the ski area to ask others at the backcountry gathering whether anyone might be trapped, several people rushed to the scene.

The center urges even expert backcountry enthusiasts to know the conditions, have rescue equipment and get educated on avalanches.

"We owe it to these guys to learn from a really horrible accident they were involved in," Greene said. "The only thing worse than all these guys getting killed is not to have us learn anything from it."

View the original article here

Colorado court shouldn't punish messenger

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    Free press fight: Will Shield Law protect Fox News reporter?

  • 

    First Amendment issues involved in Fox News reporter's case

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    FoxNews.com reporter in First Amendment fight

Judges often issue gag orders to prevent parties from sharing information about a case with the public.

Outside of the courtroom, however, journalists search for reliable information. It is their duty to properly educate the public and the Constitution guarantees a free press.

Sometimes the two worlds -- courtroom and media -- collide when a journalist obtains exclusive information (that is potentially under a gag order) from a person in exchange for confidentiality. A journalist’s success (and personal safety) is greatly dependent on trustworthiness, on the guarantee that the journalist will keep the source’s identity under lock and key.

If we do not protect our messengers, journalists lose the most important element of their career: trustworthiness.

FoxNews.com reporter Jana Winter and her sources are at the center of just such a collision in a high profile case. Jana’s career is on the line because defense lawyers want a judge to force her to reveal where she got her exclusive information.

On July 20, 2012, a shooter launched an attack on moviegoers inside of a theatre in Aurora, Colorado. The alleged assailant, James Holmes, killed 12 and wounded an additional 58 people.

Aside from the location of the shooting, there was a second crime scene: Holmes' apartment. When authorities apprehended Holmes (within moments after his shooting), he said that his apartment was booby-trapped with explosives. Holmes was otherwise uncooperative.

There was also a third potential crime scene: The University of Colorado-Denver School of Medicine. Holmes had recently dropped out from the school and investigators believed he received shipments of explosives at its Aurora campus over a period of four months. Additionally, there was an immediate concern that Holmes also booby-trapped an area of the school.

People involved in the case made public statements. Just one day after the shooting, Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates stated that the crime was carried out with“calculation and deliberation." He also said that Holmes’ apartment was “designed to kill.”

Even New York Police Department Commissioner Ray Kelly also spoke publicly, stating that Holmes called himself "The Joker." A confidential law enforcement source confirmed Kelly’s statement with ABC News.

The amount of law enforcement officers involved in the investigation was enormous, and the FBI told ABC News that approximately 100 agents were assisting in the investigation. Certainly, an additional few hundred state and local officers were also involved.

Even though Holmes appeared in court within hours of his midnight shooting, it was not until July 23, 2012, that the first gag order was issued.

On July 24, CNN published information from an unnamed source regarding specific contents found inside of Holmes’ apartment: dozens of homemade grenades, gallons of gasoline, improvised explosive devices (IED's) and trip wires. The setup was similar to what is seen in Afghanistan and Iraq.

On or about July 24, Ms. Winter "learned that police had searched for and recovered" a notebook that Holmes sent to a psychiatrist. She investigated the "tip" and published an exclusive story on July 25.

Even though countless media reports were laden with confidential sources, Holmes’ defense team chose to solely target Ms. Winter and her sources as the sole violators of the gag order.

This defense tactic is not only an attack on Ms. Winter. It is an attack on our First Amendment and an attack on the public’s right to information when public safety is at issue.

Almost 40 years ago, in 1976, the Supreme Court ruled that it is improper for the court to bar the press from publishing information about a criminal case. It is absurd that Holmes’ defense is wasting public money on such a frivolous matter.

With hundreds of investigators working on the case and hundreds of journalists publishing constant updates, Ms. Winter and her editors made the correct decision to share information that was in the public’s best interest. Holmes left his mark in numerous areas, many of which might have been a threat to public safety. Others could have been involved in carrying out his plans. This was not a small crime.

Ms. Winter must continue to fight against revealing who gave her confidential information, even if it means that she will be sentenced to jail for contempt of court. Ms. Winter was simply the messenger between her confidential sources and the public. If we do not protect our messengers, journalists lose the most important element of their career: trustworthiness.

Tamara Holder is an attorney and Fox News legal analyst. 

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View the original article here

Colorado considers gun ban for people suspected of being dangerous

Published April 04, 2013

Associated Press

DENVER –  Legislation that would block people who are suspected of being dangerous from possessing a firearm is expected to be introduced in Colorado, setting up the next fight over gun control laws.

The bill would allow psychologists, nurses, family therapists and counselors to ask that a person's name be entered into the national background check system, prohibiting possession of a firearm for a year.

A draft of Democratic Rep. Beth McCann's proposal says the gun ban would apply to people "who pose a threat of harm."

The NRA says it's "most unconstitutional" legislation of the session.

Limits on ammunition magazines and required background checks on all gun sales already have been signed into law this year in Colorado.

McCann says she's working on the bill and will file it soon.

View the original article here

Obama goes to Colorado to rally support for gun control, amid Republican opposition

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  Wednesday, April 4, 2013: President Obama waves after his arrival at Buckley Air Force Base, Colo.AP

President Obama on Wednesday visited Colorado -- the site of a recent mass shooting and home to new firearms regulations -- to rally public support for federal gun control legislation ahead of full Senate votes expected next week and amid Republican opposition.

“I’m going to need your help,” the president said against the backdrop of uniformed police officers. “This is not easy.”

To be sure, Obama and other gun control advocates already mostly have lost hope for bans on semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity magazines, instead focusing their energy on getting Congress to pass tougher background checks and protections for school children.

But Obama’s strategy was quickly knocked down by Colorado Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn who said the president is touting a state model destined to fail in Washington.

“Colorado Democrats rammed these bills through the state legislature in a highly partisan and contentious manner without gaining the support of a single Republican lawmaker,” Lamborn said. "If President Obama and Democrats want to push their extreme, gun control agenda in Washington, they will face intense opposition.”

The president and others gun control advocates know the National Rifle Association and other gun rights groups helped end an assault weapons ban in 2004 and are opposed to much of their reform agenda, including background checks.

“They are very well organized and they are very well financed,” Obama said. “The only way it will be different this time is if the American people demand it be different.”

In an understated, roughly 25-minute speech, Obama vowed hunters would not lose their gun rights and that the background checks would bolster, not replace, existing ones.

He also tried to garner public support for proposed checks on private gun sales.

“If you’re selling a gun, wouldn’t you want to know who you’re selling it to?” he asked the crowd.

Key senators have been unable to reach a bipartisan compromise that would require federal background checks for gun transactions between private individuals. Federal background checks currently apply only to sales handled by licensed gun dealers.

The proposed weapons and ammunitions bans are not expected to be in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s legislation. However, Obama wants Congress to at least vote on them in other legislation.

Colorado expanded background checks and placed restrictions on magazines despite being a state with a deep-rooted hunting tradition, where gun ownership is a cherished right.

Before his speech in Denver, Obama met with law enforcement officials and community leaders at the Denver Police Academy, not far from the Aurora suburb where a gunman last summer killed 12 people in a movie theater. The president's trip is occurring in the same week that prosecutors announced they would seek the death penalty for James Holmes, accused of carrying out the Aurora rampage.

Among those participating in the Denver discussion with Obama was Sandy Phillips, the mother of 24-year-old Jessica Redfield Ghawi, who died in the Aurora shooting. She conceded that gun control is a difficult issue, and said she has spoken to numerous lawmakers in Washington who "want to do the right thing without it costing their jobs."

She said she is counting on Obama to press the issue.

"We need to have universal background checks for every sale, that's a minimum," she said in an interview ahead of Obama's appearance. "I hope he keeps pushing for the assault weapons ban and I hope he keeps pushing for magazine restrictions."

With Congress due to return to Washington after a two-week Easter break, Obama has been scheduling high-profile events on gun legislation to push lawmakers and sustain a drive for some kind of action aimed at curbing gun violence more than three months after the massacre at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school.

Last week, he called for legislation while flanked by 21 mothers who lost children to gun violence. "I haven't forgotten those kids," he declared then.

On Monday, just before the planned start of the Senate's debate on gun legislation, Obama is scheduled to go to Hartford, Conn., where state lawmakers have announced a bipartisan agreement on gun legislation in response to the shootings at Newtown's Sandy Hook Elementary School, which took the lives of 20 first-graders and six adult staff.

In selecting Colorado, Obama showcased a state with a long centrist tradition that prizes its Western frontier heritage. But an influx of young coastal transplants and growing Hispanic voter clout have helped Democrats win a string of victories in the state. Even before the Sandy Hook massacre energized gun control proponents, Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper said he was open to new gun control measures in the state.

Colorado Republicans fought the new legislation, contending that Democrats overreached and will be punished by the voters in November. Several county sheriffs have vowed not to enforce the new gun restrictions. Democrats contend that the measures are generally popular, especially among the suburban women who decide Colorado elections.

Obama's trip comes a day after a study commissioned by the National Rifle Association, which has opposed Obama's gun control measures, recommended that schools have trained, armed staffers to increase security for students. The American Federation of Teachers denounced the proposal

From Colorado, Obama travels to San Francisco to attend fundraisers Wednesday and Thursday for Democratic Party organizations.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

View the original article here

Gun evidence links parolee killed in Texas shootout to Colorado prisons chief's murder

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. –  Gun evidence links a Colorado parolee fatally shot in Texas with the death of Colorado's corrections' chief, investigators said Monday.

The El Paso County sheriff's office said that "unique and often microscopic markings" found on shell casings in Texas and Colorado leads investigators to conclude that the gun Evan Ebel used to shoot at authorities in Texas was the same gun used to kill Tom Clements at his home on Tuesday.

It had been known that the casings found at both scenes were of the same caliber and brand but Monday's announcement was the first time Colorado investigators made a direct link between Ebel and Clements' death.

What remained unknown though was why Clements was killed when he answered his front door Tuesday night and whether Ebel acted alone.

"There are no answers at this time surrounding motive and gaining these answers could be a lengthy process for investigators," sheriff's spokesman Lt. Jeff Kramer said in statement.

The announcement came just hours after hundreds of people, including corrections officials and guards from as far away as Morocco, gathered for a memorial service to honor Clements.

The crowd at New Life Church included 39 current and former corrections' chiefs as well as guards from 14 states. A delegation of corrections officials from Morocco also attended along with dignitaries including Gov. John Hickenlooper and U.S. Attorney John Walsh.

Hickenlooper and his widow both spoke about Clements' strong belief in redemption. His family said he decided as a teenage to work in corrections after visiting his uncle in prison, and he worked to reduce the use of solitary confinement in Colorado prisons.

Standing with her two daughters, Lisa Clements said her husband of 28 years would want justice as well as forgiveness.

"We want everyone who hears Tom's story to know that he lived his life believing in redemption, in the ability of the human heart to be changed. He would want justice certainly but moreover he'd want forgiveness. Our family prays for the family of the man who took Tom's life and we will pray for forgiveness in our own hearts and our own peace," said Lisa Clements, a psychologist who oversees Colorado's state mental health institutes.

Hickenlooper, who hired Clements about two years ago, told mourners that Clements was both pragmatic and principled.

"He had common sense and he had courage," Hickenlooper said.

Authorities say the car Ebel had in Texas is also similar to one seen not far from Clements' home the night he was killed.

A federal law enforcement official said Ebel had been a member of the 211s, a white supremacist prison gang in Colorado. El Paso County sheriff's spokesman Lt. Jeff Kramer said Monday that investigators are trying to determine whether there was any gang involvement in the killing, but he stressed that's only one aspect of a broad investigation.

Denver police say Ebel is also a suspect in the March 17 slaying of pizza delivery man Nathan Leon.

Hickenlooper is a longtime friend of the suspect's father, attorney Jack Ebel, who testified two years ago before state lawmakers that solitary confinement was destroying his son's psyche.

Hickenlooper confirmed he mentioned the case to Clements as an example of why the prison system needed reform before the job was offered, but the governor said he did not mention Evan Ebel by name.

There was no indication that Hickenlooper's relationship with Jack Ebel played a role in the shooting. Hickenlooper said he did not having any role in Evan Ebel's parole in January.

Jack Ebel issued a statement offering condolences to all those who have suffered from his son's actions.

Clements, born in St. Louis, worked for 31 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections, both in prison and as a parole officer, before taking the top corrections' job in Colorado just over two years ago. He began a review of the state's solitary confinement system and eventually reduced the number of prisoners being held in solitary. He closed a new prison built specifically to hold such prisoners -- Colorado State Penitentiary II.

His work won praise from groups including the American Civil Liberties Union and the union representing prison workers, which called him a "leader who looked out for those he led."

Officials took additional security measures after Clements' death and placed the state prisons on lockdown Friday.

Following Clements' killing, corrections professionals said their jobs have grown more dangerous for themselves and their families because of the growing influence of prison gangs, their ability to communicate with affiliates on the outside through smuggled cellphones and the ease with which people can be found and tracked online.

Clements is at least the second head of a state prison system to be killed. The top administrator of the Oregon Department of Corrections, Michael Francke, was stabbed to death outside his office in 1989 in what prosecutors described as a bungled car burglary. A former state prison inmate was found guilty of aggravated murder in 1991 and sentenced to life in prison.

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Actor Jack Nicholson, record producer Lou Adler sell home in Colorado ski town for $11 million

Published March 22, 2013

Associated Press

ASPEN, Colo. –  More than three decades after actor Jack Nicholson and a friend bought a historic Victorian home in a Colorado ski town, reportedly so they could get better TV reception, the two have sold the residence for $11 million.

Nicholson and record producer Lou Adler split the cost of the nearly 5,800-square-foot home in Aspen's West End in 1980. The home was later added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

The Aspen Daily News reports (http://tinyurl.com/cgywrhu ) the sale closed Tuesday, a year after the home was listed for $15 million.

Nicholson and Adler already had homes in Aspen when they bought the residence, according to "Five Easy Decades," Dennis McDougal's book about the actor.

But neither home could get TV reception. So they went halves on the old Judge Shaw house, a historical landmark in a section of the mountain town that had better reception, chiefly so they could go there to watch Lakers basketball, McDougal wrote.

Historic documents say the five-bedroom, seven-bath house is on a quarter acre, and has a large wraparound porch and an unusual carriage house.

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Information from: Aspen Daily News, http://www.aspendailynews.com

View the original article here

Colorado governor signs civil unions into law

DENVER –  Civil unions for gay couples got the governor's signature in Colorado on Thursday, punctuating a dramatic turnaround in a state where voters banned same-sex marriage in 2006 and restricted protections for gays two decades ago.

Colorado will join eight states that have civil unions or similar laws. Nine states and the District of Columbia allow gay marriage.

Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper signed the bill as dozens of gay couples looked on during the signing ceremony. The law takes effect May 1.

Views on gay rights have been rapidly shifting in the United States. A Pew Research Center survey found that 49 percent of Americans favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally, and 44 percent are opposed to the idea. A decade ago, 58 percent opposed it and a third supported it.

Civil unions grant gay couples rights similar to marriage, including enhanced inheritance and parental rights. People in civil unions also would have the ability to make medical decisions for their partners.

"It means I can change my name finally," said 21-year-old Amber Fuentes, who plans to have a civil union with Yolanda Martinez, 34. "It's not marriage, but it still gives us a lot of the rights."

The signing in Colorado comes less than a year after the proposal was blocked in the House by Republicans.

"It's really meaningful. To have the recognition of your love and relationship just like any other relationship by the state is an important both legal and symbolic thing," said Democratic House Speaker Mark Ferrandino, a sponsor of the bill and the first gay lawmaker to hold the title of speaker in Colorado.

Supporters of civil unions say the passage in Colorado also is telling because in 1992, voters approved a ban on municipal antidiscrimination laws to protect gays. Four years later, the U.S. Supreme Court said the law, known as Amendment 2, was unconstitutional -- but not before some branded Colorado a "hate state."

Ferrandino said the shift "shows how much through hard work and through a very thoughtful approach you can change public opinion."

Most Republicans opposed the bill, saying they would've liked to see religious exemptions to provide legal protections for those opposed to civil unions. Churches are shielded under the new law, but Democrats rejected protections for businesses and adoption agencies, arguing the Republican suggestions were too broad and could provide legal cover to discriminate.

In May, Democrats said they had enough votes to pass the bill. But Republicans who controlled the House by one vote prevented debate on the measure.

Democrats took control of the House in November and retained the Senate.

Some Republicans insist the bill is too similar to marriage, and therefore violates the will of voters in 2006.

"Even though it was specifically told to us that it wasn't about marriage, I think both sides know that it is what it is about," said Republican Rep. Lori Saine, speaking against the bill before a final vote last week.

Democratic Sen. Pat Steadman, also a gay lawmaker who sponsored the bill, said public support has grown for civil unions because same-sex couples face the same challenges as other families.

"The issues at hand are ones that families all across the state know all too well," he said.

South of Colorado in Arizona, meanwhile, the city of Bisbee is poised to become the state's first community to legalize civil unions for same-sex couples.

View the original article here

Texas shootout may be tied to Colorado correction chief's murder, authorities say

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DECATUR, Texas –  A man who may be linked to the slaying of Colorado's state prison chief led authorities in Texas on a harrowing, 100 mph car chase Thursday that ended after he crashed into a semi and then opened fire before being shot down by his pursuers, authorities said.

A federal law enforcement official has confirmed the man to be is 28-year-old Evan Spencer Ebel, who is a paroled prison inmate, the Associated Press reports.

The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the case and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Legal records show Ebel was convicted several crimes in Colorado dating back to 2003, including assaulting a prison guard in 2008.

He was spotted driving a car that matched the description of the vehicle seen leaving the home of prisons chief Tom Clements Tuesday night around the time he was shot.

Ebel is "basically legally deceased" while still hooked up to equipment for organ harvesting at a Fort Worth hospital, Wise County Sheriff David Walker said at an afternoon news conference in Decatur.

The possible link to the Tuesday night slaying of Colorado prison director Tom Clements is tentative but intriguing enough to put Colorado investigators on a plane to Texas. The black Cadillac Ebel drove, with Colorado license plates, matches the description of a car spotted outside Clements' home just before the Department of Corrections chief was fatally shot while answering his front door.

"We don't know yet exactly whether this is the guy," Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper told reporters earlier on Thursday. "There's some indication. I hope it is."

Also heading to Texas were detectives from Denver and Golden who are investigating whether Ebel is linked to the shooting death of a pizza delivery driver in Colorado on Sunday, Denver police spokeswoman Raquel Lopez said. She said the agencies were working with El Paso County, Colo., sheriff's officials, who are investigating Clements' death, and she couldn't comment on evidence from the car that crashed in Texas.

Montague County sheriff's deputy James Boyd tried to pull over the Cadillac at about 11 a.m. Thursday, though officials wouldn't elaborate on the reason.

The driver opened fire on Boyd, wounding him, Walker said. He then fled south before crashing into a semi as he tried to elude his pursuers.

Walker said Colorado investigators were heading to Texas to determine whether Ebel is connected to Clements' killing. Boyd was wearing a bulletproof vest and is at a Fort Worth hospital, authorities said. Officials had said he wasn't seriously injured but later said his condition was unknown.

Decatur Police Chief Rex Hoskins said Ebel appeared to be a white man in his 30s. Ebel shot at Hoskins four times as the chief tried to set up a road block to halt him. He left his car after it crashed and opened fire on the authorities around him, Hoskins said.

"He wasn't planning on being taken alive," Hoskins said. In a brief interview, he added that Ebel had no identification on him.

El Paso County sheriff's investigators have been looking for a dark, late-model car, possibly a Lincoln or a Cadillac, that a neighbor spotted near Clements' home around the time of the shooting. Lt. Jeff Kramer refused to say what other clues may have been found after officers canvassed Clements' neighborhood.

Clements, 58, was killed as he answered the door to his home Tuesday night in Monument, a town of rolling hills and alpine trees north of Colorado Springs. His death stunned law enforcement colleagues in Colorado and Missouri, where he spent most of his career as a highly respected corrections official.

Police haven't said if they think his death was linked to his job.

Denver's KMGH-TV reported Thursday that Clements may have put a bicycle up for sale for $1,200 on Craigslist. Kramer told the station, "I can't speak to the efforts behind this tip, or the level we are giving it."

In recent weeks, Clements had requested chemicals to plan for the execution of a convict on Colorado's death row and denied a Saudi national's request to serve out the remainder of a sentence in his home country. Officials refused to say whether they were looking at those actions as possible motives.

Clements came to Colorado in 2011 after working three decades in the Missouri prison system. Missouri Department of Corrections spokeswoman Mandi Steele said Thursday the department was ready to help in the probe if asked.

"Tom regularly commented that corrections is inherently a dangerous business, and that's all that I'll say," said Alison Morgan, a Colorado corrections spokeswoman who worked closely with Clements.

Officials in positions like Clements' get a deluge of threats, according to people who monitor their safety. But it can be hard sorting out which ones could lead to violence. A U.S. Department of Justice study found that federal prosecutors and judges received 5,250 threats between 2003 and 2008, but there were only three attacks during that time period.

The last public official killed in Colorado in the past 10 years was Sean May, a prosecutor in suburban Denver. An assailant killed May as he arrived home from work. Investigators examined May's court cases, but the case remains unsolved.

View the original article here

Manhunt after head of Colorado Department of Corrections killed answering doorbell

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The head of the Colorado Department of Corrections was fatally shot when he answered the doorbell at his home Tuesday night, authorities say.

Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Kramer says Tom Clements, 58, was shot in the chest around 8:30 p.m. in the town of Monument, which is north of Colorado Springs. It is unclear if his wife and two daughters were home at the time of the shooting and police are searching for the gunman.

Authorities are also looking for a dark-colored "boxy" car seen near the house of Tom Clements, 58, when he was shot around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday in Monument, north of Colorado Springs. The vehicle's engine was running and a witness reported seeing one person driving away in the car.

Kramer, of the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, said investigators have not ruled anything out, but the shooting could have been related to Clements' job as executive director of the Colorado Department of Corrections.

"As the director of the Department of Corrections or any similar type position, it could in fact open someone up to be a target of a crime such as this. Although we remain sensitive to that, we also want to make sure that we remain open-minded to other possibilities as well," Kramer said.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper appointed Clements to the post in 2011 after he served for more than three decades in the Missouri Department of Corrections. He replaced Ari Zavaras, a former Denver police chief who led the department under two governors. The department operates 20 adult prisons and a juvenile detainment system.

Hickenlooper was red-eyed and somber and spoke haltingly Wednesday morning at a news conference in which he said he doesn't think the killing was part of any larger attack against his cabinet, members of which stood behind him, several of them crying. Others dabbed their eyes.

"Corrections is a very different job. You make difficult decisions every time that affect different people," Hickenlooper said, calling Clements dedicated, funny, caring and an expert on the latest and best methods in his field who chose the Colorado job over retirement.

"Tom Clements dedicated his life to being a public servant, to making our state a better place and he is going to be deeply, deeply missed."

Hickenlooper planned to go to Monument to meet with Clements' family after signing gun-control bills.

A family member called 911 to report the shooting. Search dogs were called in to comb through a wooded area around Clements' home, and authorities were going house to house trying to find out what neighbors heard and saw.

Clements lived in a wooded neighborhood of large, two-story houses on expansive 2-acre lots dotted with evergreen trees in an area known as the Black Forest. Long driveways connect the homes to narrow, winding roads that thread the hills. Clements' home was out of view, behind a barricaded of crime-scene tape in the road.

It would have been simple to find where Clements lived. It took two clicks to get his correct street address through a publicly available internet locator service Wednesday morning. The listing also included his previous home address in Missouri.

After Clements was appointed, Hickenlooper praised Clements for his approach to incarceration, saying he relied on proven methods to improve prison safety inside and programs that have been shown to improve successful outcomes after offenders are released from prison.

While Clements generally kept a low profile, his killing comes a week after he denied a request by a Saudi national, Homaidan al-Turki, to serve out the remainder of a Colorado prison sentence in Saudi Arabia. He cited al-Turki's refusal to undergo sex offender treatment in his denial.

Al-Turki, a well-known member of Denver's Muslim community, was convicted in state court in 2006 of unlawful sexual contact by use of force, theft and extortion and sentenced to 28 years to life in prison. Prosecutors said al-Turki kept a housekeeper a virtual slave for four years in his home and sexually assaulted her. A judge reduced the sentence to eight years to life. Al-Turki insisted the case was politically motivated. He owned a company that some years ago sold CDs of sermons recorded by Anwar al-Awlaki, killed in a drone strike in Yemen in 2011.

Al-Turki's conviction angered Saudi officials and prompted the U.S. State Department to send Colorado Attorney General John Suthers to Saudi Arabia to meet with King Abdullah, Crown Prince Sultan and al-Turki's family.

After Clements' shooting, someone with the State Department called the Colorado Corrections Department.

Prisons spokeswoman Alison Morgan said she had no details on the call other than to say it wasn't connected to the shooting investigation and may have been a simple courtesy.

"They called us because we have a cooperative international program with them," she said.

Hickenlooper ordered flags lowered to half-staff at public buildings until the day after Clements' funeral. Arrangements are pending.

Clements is survived by his wife, Lisa, and two daughters, Rachel and Sara.

Clements received a bachelor's degree in sociology and a master's degree in public administration from the University of Missouri. He started with the Missouri Department of Corrections in 1979 and over his 31 years there worked in prisons as well as probation and parole services. He was director of adult institutions when he left.

Missouri leaders also mourned his death.

George Lombardi, director of Missouri's Department of Corrections, said Clements was "just a very good, decent person."

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon said in an emailed statement that Clements "dedicated his professional life and his considerable skills to public service and protection, and the citizens of Missouri join the people of Colorado in mourning this tremendous loss."

Clements is at least the second state prisons chief killed in office. Michael Francke, director of the Oregon Department of Corrections, was stabbed to death outside his office in 1989 in what prosecutors described as a bungled car burglary. A convicted drug dealer, Frank Gable, was found guilty of aggravated murder in 1991 and sentenced to life in prison. He and supporters contend he was wrongly convicted.

Clements' slaying was reminiscent of the 2008 killing of Adams County prosecutor Sean May. His wife was six months pregnant when he was shot and killed as he returned from work to his home in northwest Denver. His killer was never found.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report

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Colorado governor to sign gun controls into law

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  Dec. 12, 2012: In this file photo, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is pictured during an interview with the Associated Press at his office in the Capitol in Denver.AP

DENVER –  Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper will sign legislation Wednesday that sets limits on ammunition magazines and expands background checks for firearms, marking a Democratic victory in a state where gun ownership is a treasured right and Second Amendment debate has played out in the wake of two mass shootings.

The measures proposed are some of the strictest gun laws in the nation, and their passage comes after weeks of tense legislative battles. Republicans and gun rights supporters put up a major fight against the measures in this politically moderate state, while Democrats made them the centerpieces of a package of legislative proposals drafted in reaction to shooting rampages at a suburban Denver movie theater and a Connecticut elementary school last year.

"I think it will make it more difficult for people to get guns who shouldn't have them, and that's really the goal," said Democratic Rep. Beth McCann on the expanded background checks.

Magazine limits would reduce gun violence and have an impact during mass shootings, because they would force gunmen to reload more times, she said. "It's an interruption in the spraying of bullets."

Hickenlooper spokesman Eric Brown confirmed Monday that the governor would sign the measures.

Colorado's gun controls, which become effective July 1, are the first beyond the East Coast approved this year. They also are getting approval as Congress embarks on its own gun debate in Washington, where Colorado Democrat's proposals were closely watched because the state was seen as a bellwether.

The Colorado laws include a ban on ammunition magazines that can carry more than 15 rounds, and eight shotgun shells. The bill on background checks expands the requirement to sales and transfers between private parties and online purchases.

Republicans reviled both bills and argued the proposals would not prevent more shootings, but hurt law-abiding citizens' exercise of their Second Amendment rights.

"We're obviously very disappointed. I think we demonstrated time and time again all of the issues associated with" the magazine limits, said Republican Rep. Mark Waller, the GOP leader in the House.

"They're doing this without any proof that banning this is going to have any impact on public safety," he said.

Republicans seemed resigned from the start that the bills would become law, though. Hickenlooper said previously he would sign the magazine limit, and he specifically asked the Legislature to expand background checks in his annual address.

"Our only hope now is if his pen runs out of ink," said a rueful Rep. Ray Scott, R-Grand Junction.

The governor also was planning to sign a bill reviving user fees for gun purchasers needing background checks. Colorado charged $10 background-check fees more than a decade ago, but the fees were dropped. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation currently picks up the tab checking prospective gun owners.

A Colorado-based magazine manufacturer said it would leave the state if the new restrictions were passed, taking hundreds of jobs with it. Democrats tried to ease the concerns from Magpul Industries, saying the company can still manufacture higher-capacity magazines if they were sold out of state.

Waller blasted Democrats on that amendment, saying it was hypocritical because they are telling the company "you can sell (magazines) at any other place where any of these tragic shootings have happened.

Waller called the exemption "a monumental inconsistency in their thought process."

Other Democratic gun control proposals still pending in the state Legislature include a ban on gun ownership by people accused of domestic-violence crimes and a bill to eliminate online-only safety training for people seeking concealed-weapons permits.

Two more Democratic gun control bills were withdrawn when they appeared to lack support for passage. Those included a new liability standard for gun owners and sellers, and a ban on concealed weapons on public college campuses.

Republican gun ideas were hastily rejected earlier this year. Those ideas included expanding gun laws to allow teachers to carry concealed weapons, and a failed attempt to require armed security guards at businesses that ban concealed weapons.

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Colorado sheriff says new state gun laws won't be enforced

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  March 4, 2013: Weld County Sheriff John Cooke, center, backed by a group of fellow sheriffs, testifies against proposed gun control legislation in the Colorado Legislature, at the State Capitol, in Denver.AP

Weld County Sheriff John Cooke won’t enforce new state gun measures expected to be signed into law by Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper, arguing the proposed firearms restrictions give a "false sense of security."

Lawmakers in Colorado on Friday approved a landmark expansion of background checks on firearm purchases. Earlier in the week, Colorado lawmakers approved a 15-round limit on ammunition magazines. 

Both measures are awaiting the expected approval of the governor.

Cooke told GreeleyTribune.com that Democrats in the state legislature are uninformed and scrambling in response to the Aurora movie theater shooting and other recent tragedies.

"They’re feel-good, knee-jerk reactions that are unenforceable," he told the news outlet.

The bill passed Friday expands cases when a $10 criminal background check would be required to legally transfer a gun. Republicans have opposed the bill, calling it an undue burden on law-abiding gun owners.

Cooke said the proposed firearms transfer requirement would not keep guns out of the hands of criminals, according to the GreeleyTribune.com report.

The sheriff told the news outlet that he and other county sheriffs "won’t bother enforcing" the laws because it won't be possible to keep track of how gun owners are complying with the new requirements.

Cooke is joined in his opposition to the proposals by El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa, who told an angry packed crowd at a meeting on Thursday in Colorado Springs he would stand firm against the bills.

"I can’t tell you when those were sold, bought and purchased. As far as I’m concerned, they were all pre-July 1 if the governor does sign this bill," he said.

Maketa said the proposed laws were hastily crafted and at least one would be unenforceable. A number of Colorado sheriffs are concerned the laws could lead to registration of gun owners, he said.

Maketa said his office keeps records of every concealed carry permit holder in the county as required by law, but he would never share it.

He said he would destroy the database if anyone tried to get their hands on it and would intervene if government agents started arresting county residents for exercising their constitutional rights.

The vice president praised passage of the bill on Friday.

"Congrats to Colorado House and Senate for passing universal background checks," read a tweet sent by the office of Vice President Joe Biden from his official (at)VP account.

It was followed by another tweet referring to the theater shooting that read, "The families of Aurora deserved a vote and got one. Now U.S. Congress must act too."

Congress is also considering a number of new firearm restrictions.

Colorado is the first state outside the East Coast to significantly ratchet back gun rights after the theater and school shootings. Colorado's gun debate was being watched closely because it's considered a swing state with both a gun-loving frontier past and an unfortunate history of mass shootings, including the 1999 Columbine High School attack.

Expanded checks have been a top priority for Hickenlooper, who called for the proposal during his State of the State address in January.

Both chambers previously approved the expanded checks in slightly different forms. However, both had to agree on an identical bill before passing it to the governor, so a second round of voting was required.

Democrats seemed relieved that Colorado's protracted gun-control debate was nearing an end.

The GOP unsuccessfully tried some last-minute legislative maneuvers on Friday to sink the background-check measure before it was passed 19-14 by the Senate.

Democrats grew frustrated at GOP attempts to imagine scenarios that would trigger background-checks. From 4-H members learning gun safety but needing to borrow a shotgun, to neighbors on weeklong elk-hunting trips, Republicans argued the bill would ensnare harmless gun users.

Democrats insisted that existing exemptions in the bill would cover most scenarios the GOP imagined. The bill's sponsor, Senate Democratic Leader Morgan Carroll, told Republicans that Democrats had enough votes to pass the measure but extended debate to make small changes requested by Republicans.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Colorado Legislature OKs expansion of firearms checks

Published March 15, 2013

Associated Press

DENVER –  Colorado lawmakers have passed expanded background checks for private and online firearm purchases and sent the bill to the governor's desk for his expected approval.

The bill was passed Friday in the Democratic-controlled House by a 36-27 vote on Friday, with only one Democrat opposing.

The bill came in response to the mass shootings last year at a suburban Denver movie theater and Connecticut elementary school.

Democrats in the Senate approved the bill earlier.

Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper called for the checks al during this State of the State address in January. He's expected to sign the bill within two weeks.

Republicans say the background-check requirement can't be enforced without universal gun registration, which they oppose.

Democrats insist that growing online gun sales and sales outside stores and gun shows have created a big loophole in gun transfers without background checks.

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Colorado campus gun bans divisive, hard to enforce

DENVER –  A Colorado Senate committee will consider a gun control bill this week that would ban concealed carry on public college campuses, reversing a state Supreme Court ruling last year that forced colleges to accommodate students with concealed carry permits.

Chances are, however, few students would notice any change.

Boulder Democratic Rep. Claire Levy's bill comes as majority Democrats in both legislative chambers push gun control measures that include an assault weapons ban, universal background checks and limits on gun magazines. But campus police and some students say any change on concealed carry likely would have little impact.

"It's a difficult ban to enforce, because we have so many entrances and exits to this campus," said Ryan Huff, a spokesman for the University of Colorado Police Department.

Nevertheless, faculty have raised concerns about the potential presence of guns since the March court ruling, which said that only the legislature could create exceptions to the state's concealed carry law. Levy, whose district is home to the main campus of the University of Colorado, said it was those fears that prompted her to propose the bill.

"It wasn't so much a concerns that someone might use a weapon, but that not knowing if there was a weapon would be intimidating and inhibiting," Levy said.

Levy's concealed carry ban passed the House last month and is expected to go before the Senate State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee on Monday.

Concealed carry is available to adults 21 and older, only a portion of Colorado's college students. Without security checkpoints, enforcement is hard. And officials at several Colorado universities and colleges say they are unaware of any incidents involving a concealed carry permit holder before or after the Supreme Court ruling in March 2012.

In November, however, an employee at the University of Colorado dental school accidentally discharged her weapon inside an office at the school, slightly injuring herself and another person.

"People on our campuses report that it doesn't seem to have much of a day-to-day impact, or a visible day-to-day impact, on campus," said University of Colorado spokesman Ken McConnellogue. "It's not like (the campus police) will knock on doors and say, `Hey, you got a gun?"'

"There'd be no difference," said Zach Knight, a sophomore chemistry student at Metropolitan State University in Denver. "The whole point of concealed carry is not to know."

Knight, a 19-year-old gun owner, said he opposes the bill. He plans to get a concealed carry license when he's 21, and he wants to be able to carry his weapon on a campus that Metropolitan shares with CU-Denver and the Community College of Denver, where there's a steady flow of 45,000 students and others on and off campus.

"I'm not saying something's going to happen, but there are a lot of homeless guys around here, and what if something did?" Knight said.

Some faculty and administrators have been vocal about the desire to ban concealed weapons.

Metropolitan State's board of trustees and faculty senate voted to support Levy's bill. Faculty said they worry about a safe working environment, guns in the classroom, and the prospect of guns mixing with after-hours alcohol use.

"There is no need or purpose for guns," said Metropolitan State President Stephen Jordan. "The thought of that chills the academic environment that we'd like to have in the classroom."

Twenty-one states ban concealed weapons on public university campuses, and 23 states let colleges set their own policies, according to the National Council of State Legislatures. Arizona, Kentucky, Maryland and Colorado are considering banning guns from campus.

The Colorado School of Mines, the Colorado Community College system and Colorado State University support the bill.

It's a turnaround for Colorado State, which was one of few state universities to allow concealed carry before the Supreme Court ruling. CSU leaders now cite a 2008 position paper by the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators that advocates for gun-free campuses.

CSU spokesman Mike Hooker said he could not remember any incident related to the presence of concealed guns on campus, and supporters of concealed carry rights have often attributed Colorado State's low crime statistics to concealed carry.

From 2002 to 2003, the year concealed carry went into effect, crime rates fell at Colorado State. Proponents specifically pointed to a drop in sexual assaults. But CSU police chief Wendy Rich Goldschmidt said linking the two can be misleading and offered that she had never heard of an attempted sexual assault on campus stopped because someone had a gun.

Levy's bill has triggered debate at the University of Colorado, which was the focus of a lawsuit filed by Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, a national advocacy group, that ultimately led to the Supreme Court ruling.

Last month, CU's elected board of regents voted to table indefinitely a resolution expressing support of concealed carry. The decision upset faculty and others on both sides of the issue.

"I don't want to avoid the issue or remain silent while the events unfold that are affecting the university and its campus," said Sue Sharkey, a Republican regent who backed the resolution.

Levy said she originally planned a bill to let each campus adopt its own policy. She said she later proposed a statewide ban because she didn't want the issue to become even more polarizing than it is and detract from university boards' academic priorities.

"I'm pleased the (CU) board decided not to weigh in, because I think this would have had the effect I was concerned about," she said.

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Colorado state senator criticized for remarks to rape victim at gun hearing

A Colorado state senator has come under fire for remarks she made to a rape victim at a committee hearing Monday on a bill that would ban concealed weapons on public college campuses.

Sen. Evie Hudak, a Democrat from Westminster, Colo., criticized testimony provided by Amanda Collins, 27, who said that the attack on her at University of Nevada, Reno, may have been avoided had she been allowed to carry a gun on campus, The Denver Post reported.

"I just want to say that, actually, statistics are not on your side even if you had a gun," Hudak told Collins during the hearing, according to the report. "And chances are that if you would have had a gun, then he would have been able to get that from you and possibly use it against you."

Hudak cited statistical data compiled by the Colorado Coalition Against Gun Violence, claiming that for every woman who used a handgun to kill someone in self-defense, 83 were murdered by their own weapon, The Post reported.

Collins, who reportedly had a valid concealed-carry permit at the time of the assault, told the paper that Hudak's remarks were shocking and deeply disturbing. 

"I had a hard time falling asleep because I couldn't stop thinking about what she said to me," Collins said.

Dave Kopel, a professor at the University of Denver law school and author of a firearms law and policy textbook, told The Post that Hudak's comments displayed the senator's "self-righteous, ignorant bigotry."

Hudak, who apologized to Collins after the hearing, said in a statement to the paper that she "didn't mean to be insensitive." 

The bill, which would reverse a state Supreme Court ruling that forces colleges to accommodate students with concealed carry permits, passed the committee on a 3-2 party line vote.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Mark Kelly, Gabby Giffords' husband, to testify in support of Colorado gun law

Former astronaut Mark Kelly, the husband of former Rep. Gabby Giffords, will testify in Colorado Monday in support of one of seven gun control bills, Fox 31 Denver reports.

Kelly will testify in support of House Bill 1229, which would mandate that all private gun sales and transfers are subject to background checks, according to the station.

Kelly testified before Congress earlier this year in support of gun-control measures.

He and Giffords, who was shot in the head outside a Tucson grocery store more than two years ago, have started their own gun control advocacy group, “Americans for Responsible Solutions,” earlier this year to “combat the influence of the gun lobby.”

According to Fox 31, Patricia Maisich, the woman who tackled the Tucson gunman, Jared Lee Loughner, as he was reloading, is also going to be at the Colorado Capitol Monday to testify in support of House Bill 1224, which will ban high-capacity magazines of more than 15 rounds.

Public testimony on each bill will be limited to three hours — 90 minutes for each side.

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