Capital Punishment

Nathan Dunlap clemency backers cite broad support as calls for death continue

The campaign to either save Nathan Dunlap from the death penalty or execute the man convicted of four brutal murders at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant in 1993 has turned into something of a public-relations competition. As the Arapahoe District Attorney's Office continues to dole out statements from v ... More >>

Reader: Even if James Holmes is sentenced to death, he could cheat the needle

Yesterday's hearing in the Aurora theater shooting case, in which prosecutors called for the death penalty, was preceded by flurries of paperwork, with the defense floating James Holmes's willingness to plead guilty and prosecutors calling the announcement a publicity ploy. For one reader, though, t ... More >>

Jacqueline Gallegos's son wants death penalty for killer of his mom

In recent days, members of Colorado's general assembly have been battling over legislation intended to outlaw the death penalty in Colorado. Yesterday, however, the proposal failed in the House Judiciary Committee. This development distressed the Colorado ACLU; see the group's statement below. But ... More >>

Edward Montour case: Was inmate a "volunteer" for the death penalty?

In an unusual court hearing unfolding in Castle Rock, attorneys for Edward Montour Jr. are seeking to withdraw his guilty plea for the murder of a correctional officer in 2002, claiming that he was mentally ill at the time and seeking "court-assisted suicide" by firing his lawyers in a death-penalty ... More >>

The ten best books about America's prisons

This week's cover story, "The Lifers Book Club," reports on the Words Beyond Bars Project, a pilot progam at the Limon Correctional Facility that puts high-security prisoners, many of them serving life sentences, in a room with volunteers to discuss great books. It's a modest effort that could trans ... More >>

Damien Echols on the West Memphis Three, exoneration and Life After Death

Is there life after death? After eighteen years behind bars for a crime he didn't commit, most of them spent in the debilitating confines of death row, Damien Echols plans to find out. In 1993 Echols, then eighteen, and two other Arkansas teenagers were arrested and charged with the murders of thre ... More >>

Arapahoe County's district attorney race could prove a lethal election

See also: James Holmes case exploited on Facebook by district attorney candidate?

James Holmes case exploited on Facebook by district attorney candidate?

This week's cover story, "Lethal Election," reports on one of the most keenly fought local contests in Colorado this fall, the race for district attorney in the state's largest judicial district. Since Carol Chambers is term-limited, the winner in the 18th District (which includes Arapahoe, Douglas, ... More >>

Reader: The story of Joe Arridy drew me in immediately

Joe Arridy was the happiest man on death row

See also: Eddie Ives's botched execution and replacing the noose with the gas chamber

Carli Richards, wounded in Aurora theater shooting, calls for James Holmes death penalty

On Monday, accused Aurora theater shooter James Holmes was charged with 142 counts, including attempted murder allegations involving 116 people. Among them is Carli Richards, who was wounded in the attack. Now, Richards is publicly calling for Holmes to get the death penalty -- and not by lethal in ... More >>

"Walking Down Death Row," the eerily titled song by James Holmes's sister

See Also: - Dark Knight Rises composer Hans Zimmer pens song for Aurora shooting victims - Neil Diamond donates proceeds from merch sales to Aurora Victim Relief Fund - Reel Big Fish donating proceeds of Aspen show to Aurora shooting victims/families - Tim McGraw and other musicians pay tribute to t ... More >>

Joe Arridy: Pardoned long after his execution, mentally impaired man gets online props

The most shameful date in the history of Colorado's death penalty is January 6, 1939 -- the day the state executed a bewildered 23-year-old man with an IQ of 46, a man who was innocent in just about every sense of the word His name was Joe Arridy. And three-quarters of a century after his death in ... More >>

Ed Edmunds on electric chairs, haunted houses and the Travel Channel's Making Monsters

​Chances are you've seen -- and screamed at -- some of Ed Edmunds' work, whether you realize it or not. The artist is responsible for creating the creepy animatronics in haunted houses all over Colorado, as well as for making custom projects like set pieces for Alice Cooper. Edmunds' Greeley c ... More >>

DA Carol Chambers under fire for giving witness a car in death-penalty case

Sir Mario Owens​Attorneys for Sir Mario Owens, sentenced to death for the 2005 murders of Vivian Wolfe and Javad Marshall-Fields, claim that Eighteenth Judicial District Attorney Carol Chambers and her prosecutors made several unusual deals with witnesses in the secrecy-shrouded case -- includ ... More >>

Nipsey Hussle wants to give the '90s West Coast hip-hop sound a facelift

David Bueno murder conviction vacated: Carol Chambers's office hid evidence, says David Lane

David Bueno.​"Arapahoe County DA Charges Death-Penalty Fees to State," a February 2008 feature by Alan Prendergast, spotlighted the prosecution of David Bueno, one of two cons charged with killing a fellow prisoner in 2004. District Attorney Carol Chambers sought the death penalty against Buen ... More >>

Javad Marshall-Fields/Vivian Wolfe CSU scholarship endowed 5 years after their murders

Marshall-Fields and Wolfe were engaged.​Rhonda Fields says nothing could ever fill the void left when her son, Javad Marshall-Fields, a material witness in a murder case, was gunned down in Aurora in 2005. But she says Marshall-Fields lives on through a scholarship at CSU, which she struggled ... More >>

Death Penalty Discourse

Wake-Up Call: Mason Tvert on the money

If the Colorado Legislature can tie a debate on the death penalty to the dismal economy, no reason California can't do the same for a discussion of legalizing marijuana. "Well, I think it's not time for (legalization), but I think it's time for a debate," Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesda ... More >>

AG Bails on Troubled Death Penalty Case

Life in the Florence Prison: It's a Riot

Bad Execution

A judge removes DA Carol Chambers from a death-penalty case -- and blasts prosecution misconduct.

Westword Now Exhibit A in Death Penalty Tussle

Death Sentence

James Wan puts down the Saw to dispense some vigilante justice.

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Follow That Story

Roan and Groan

Cine Power

Seeing Queerly unspools provocative fare

No Mercy

The tragic Life and Death of Aileen Wuornos, sensationalized.

Pop Quiz

Outta Sight!
November 20, 2003

Shrine On

You must remember this.

Cruel and Unusual

Declaring prison a waste of his time and your money, a minor felon seeks his own execution.

Best Theater Production (Since March 2001)

Coyote on a Fence
Curious Theatre Company

Letters to the Editor

From the week of October 4, 2001

Letters to the Editor

From the week of July 5, 2001

Justice, Boulder Style

The county will soon have its first new DA in 28 years. But in order for justice to be done, former cop Steve Thomas thinks the office needs a complete overhaul.

Snoop Dogg Presents Tha Eastsidaz

(Dogg House/TVT Records)

Death Takes a Holiday

A technicality stalls the state's first decision under a new death-penalty law.

Murderer's Row

Two years ago, a deadlocked jury saved Thomas luther from the death penalty. But the legacy of his crimes continues.

Scenes From an Execution

Dead on Arrival

Trial by Ire

The candidates in the Denver's DA's race refuse to come to order.

Thrills for the week

Second-Degree Burn (Part II)

Cher Elder's family knew all about Thomas Luther. The jury didn't.

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