Colorado's Insanity Cases

The state's insanity cases have involved a range of inviduals who have invoked the defense with varying results. Among them:

• Jeffrey Miller, Byers. Killed his newborn son in 1997 by hurling him against the walls and ceiling of his trailer. Claimed "intermittent explosive disorder." Found guilty, sentenced to life in prison without parole.

•Tzigheweini Woldu, Glendale. Killed her four-year-old daughter in 1996 by strangling her with a necklace. Found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo.

• John Coursey, Delta. Bludgeoned his drinking buddy to death in 1997, then dismembered and burned the body. Found not guilty by reason of insanity.

•David Jackson, Denver. Took hostages and held police at bay at a Denver mail-sorting facility on Christmas Eve 1997. Claimed he suffered severe depression after being fired. Found guilty.

• William Wuest, Denver. Stabbed his seven-year-old niece to death, 1998. Believed he was being stalked by a hit man, the Devil, or God. Found not guilty by reason of insanity.

•Anthony Farrell. Took part in the 1996 kidnapping and murder of a 76-year-old Brighton widow when he was sixteen. Jury rejected the insanity plea and he was sent to prison. His convictions were thrown out earlier last year, and he has been granted a new trial.

• Melvin Lynne Bomprezzi, Douglas County. Arrested in 1998 for harassing and stalking a former childhood friend. Bomprezzi claimed that God told him to marry the woman, even though he hadn't seen her for twenty years. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity, over his objections. Bomprezzi, acting as his own attorney, has since filed numerous appeals in the case.

• Robert Walter Dunn, Manitou Springs.Stabbed to death his seven-year-old daughter because he said he believed she was possessed by the devil. Last month, a Colorado Springs judge accepted Dunn's plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. Dunn was sent to the state hospital in Pueblo.

• Donta Page, Denver. Murdered and sexually assaulted a 24-year-old Denver woman who interrupted a burglary in progress. Claimed he was abused as a child and mentally unstable. Jury rejected his plea. A three-judge panel is to decide whether to sentence Page to death or to life without possibility of parole.