Tom Clements

Video shows Evan Ebel shooting Texas deputy

Yesterday, in announcing a reprieve for quadruple murderer Nathan Dunlap noted that Lisa Clements remains against the death penalty even after what happened to her husband, the late Colorado prison chief Tom Clements. What happened to Clements is that Evan Ebel allegedly murdered him, then took off ... More >>

John Hickenlooper gives Nathan Dunlap reprieve from death but doesn't grant clemency

Moments ago, Governor John Hickenlooper announced his decision regarding the scheduled execution of Nathan Dunlap, who was convicted in 1996 of killing four people and seriously wounding a fifth during an assault three years earlier at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant. Rather than granting clemency, as ... More >>

Sexual misconduct at Denver women's prison: Why is the claimed rate so high?

A new government report on the rate of sexual victimization in America's jails and prisons lists the Denver Women's Correctional Facility as having the highest rate of sexual assault and misconduct by staff of any lockup in the nation -- four times the national average, in fact. That figure is dism ... More >>

Photos: Twenty most memorable mug shots of April 2013

It's a good indication that a month included some memorable mug shots if one of them features a guy (James Lohr) who's shaved off his eyebrows and replaced them with tattoos of the words "HARD" and "LUCK." But if this particular image stands out, plenty of others from our April crime coverage will ... More >>

Juan Flores: Who's to blame for inmate's early release -- and where is he?

At this writing, Juan Flores is a free man -- but he's not supposed to be. Flores was released early from Adams County Jail. He's been at large for the better part of two weeks now -- and the Department of Corrections, which has had to answer uncomfortable questions about why alleged killer Evan Eb ... More >>

Evan Ebel: Killer's ankle monitor worked fine -- so why did it take days to know he cut it off?

Evan Ebel, the man thought to have killed pizza-delivery man Nathan Leon and Colorado prison chief Tom Clements, cut off his electronic ankle bracelet, and it took his chief probation officer nearly four days to do anything about it. Ebel was a hell-raising inmate and a model parolee. The question, ... More >>

Tom Clements: Murdered prison chief seen in new video urging drug-law reform

Tom Clements, the reform-minded head of the Colorado Department of Corrections who was murdered at his home last month by a parolee, makes a posthumous appearance in a new video advocating for one of his favorite causes: more substance abuse treatment for chronic, low-level offenders, freeing up cos ... More >>

Eric Williams's bust in Texas DA murders nixes theory about Colorado white supremacy link

Earlier this month, speculation was rife that the killings of Texas prosecutor Mike McLelland and his wife Cynthia, as well as an earlier slaying, might be linked to the March assassination of Tom Clements, who headed Colorado's Department of Corrections. The theory involved white supremacist prison ... More >>

Thomas Guolee, white-supremacist-of-interest in Tom Clements killing, busted in Springs

Update: The El Paso County Sheriff's Office recently issued an alert for two alleged white supremacists thought to have been in touch with Evan Ebel shortly before he allegedly killed Colorado prison boss Tom Clements in March. The first of the pair, James Lohr, 47, was arrested in Colorado Springs ... More >>

Rollin Oliver pleads guilty to second-degree murder in slaying of Officer Celena Hollis

Rollin Oliver pleaded guilty today to second-degree murder in the shooting death of Denver police officer Celena Hollis last June. The 22-year-old faces a sentence of sixteen to 26 years in prison according to the plea agreement, which is on view below. The original charge of first-degree murder/ext ... More >>

Edward Montour guilty plea ruling: David Lane on death penalty, James Holmes, "bloody 18th"

At a February hearing, Edward Montour sought to withdraw his guilty plea for a 2002 murder in an effort to avoid the death penalty he'd previously sought. The office of 18th Judicial District DA George Brauchler, who's also seeking death for accused Aurora theater shooter James Holmes, argued agains ... More >>

Evan Ebel hit-list reference, "Bring on the f*ck letters" punctuated with a swastika

The more we learn about Evan Ebel, the man thought to have murdered pizza-delivery man Nathan Leon and Colorado prison boss Tom Clements, the more disturbing is the portrait he left behind after taking a bullet in the head at the end of a Texas police chase. Now, a letter has surfaced (see it below ... More >>

Joshua Stevens killed after busting into home of deputy, prosecutor

It could be, and probably is, just a coincidence. But mere weeks after Colorado Department of Corrections executive director Tom Clements was gunned down at his door (presumed killer Evan Ebel is also suspected of murdering pizza-delivery man Nathan Leon), and days since the second of two Texas pros ... More >>

Photos: Twenty most memorable mug shots of March 2013

March in Colorado crime was dominated by Evan Ebel, who's thought to have murdered pizza-delivery man Nathan Leon and Colorado Department of Corrections executive director Tom Clements before being gunned down in Texas. But he was far from the only person whose booking photos rose to the top of the ... More >>

Video: Nathan Leon's widow livid at mistaken early release of killer Evan Ebel

Last week, we shared the prison records of Evan Ebel, the man thought to have murdered pizza-delivery man Nathan Leon and Colorado prison boss Tom Clements. But while references in the documents (on view below) to guard-punching and feces smearing may have grabbed the most attention, another word wa ... More >>

Mike McLelland second Texas prosecutor killed in two months: Tom Clements murder link?

The investigation into Evan Ebel, the man thought to have gunned down pizza-delivery man Nathan Leon and Colorado Department of Corrections executive director Tom Clements, has taken another bizarre twist in a continuing series of them. On Saturday, Texas prosecutor Mike McLelland and his wife Cynth ... More >>

Thirty years in, these Best of Denver winners are still the best in town

Reader: John Hickenlooper was right to snap at reporter over Evan Ebel question

Yesterday, Patricia Calhoun wrote about the testy exchange between John Hickenlooper and a 9News reporter over an insinuation of special privileges for Evan Ebel, the son of a longtime Hick friend, and the man thought to have murdered his prison-chief appointee, Tom Clements. One reader thought Hick ... More >>

Video: John Hickenlooper's angry exchange with reporter latest example of his very hard year

For Governor John Hickenlooper, it was a very hard week at the end of a hard year, filled with disasters both natural and man-made -- disasters Colorado is still struggling to understand. The frustrations that consumed Hickenlooper over the past twelve months came bubbling out during an interview ab ... More >>

Evan Ebel: John Hickenlooper knew dad of alleged Tom Clements-Nathan Leon killer

Update: The tale of Evan Ebel, the man shot during a gun battle with law enforcers in Texas on Thursday (see our previous coverage below), seems to grow stranger with each passing day. Hours after Ebel was taken off life support, as evidence that he had killed both pizza-delivery man Nathan Leon and ... More >>

Photos: Motorcyclists rally at State Capitol for individual rights -- and against gun laws

Roaring engines announced their arrival and wailing sirens accompanied their departure. Approximately forty motorcyclists from the Colorado Coalition of Independent Riders and the Confederation of Clubs lined their bikes along Lincoln Street in front of the Capitol building before crossing the stree ... More >>

NRA takes aim at Colorado's 2014 election

It should be all hearts and flowers when Governor John Hickenlooper signs the civil unions bill at History Colorado this afternoon. But we're betting that this historic moment will also have a history-making amount of security, given the vehement response to Hickenlooper's signing of three gun measu ... More >>

The lifers book club: Of mice and men, hopes and regrets at the Limon prison

See also: The ten best books about America's prisons

Darrell Havens: Paralyzed inmate denied clemency, surgery

His doctors have told Darrell Havens that surgery could help relieve his deteriorating condition, but the wheelchair-bound inmate's keepers in the Colorado Department of Corrections aren't exactly eager to okay the operation -- or to release him to seek care on his own. Havens, who was left a quadri ... More >>

Tom Clements, new Colorado prison chief: Can he bust out of the state's revolving door?

Tom Clements.​This week, the Colorado Senate unanimously confirmed the appointment of Tom Clements as Department of Corrections executive director. It's not one of the most glamorous posts in Governor John Hickenlooper's cabinet, certainly, but it's one of the most crucial if the state is goin ... More >>