John cHickenlooper: Colorado's "chicken governor" and the Chuck-E-Cheese killer
1993 article
Colorado governor blasted for death-penalty reprieve in Chuck E. Cheese murders
Excerpt:
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is under fire for his decision to block the execution of man convicted of massacring four people at a Chuck E. Cheese in Aurora, Colo., two decades ago.
The Democrat has vowed not to sign a death warrant for Nathan Dunlap as long as he's in office, even though he declined to back an outright repeal of capital punishment two months ago.
Hickenlooper's decision on Dunlap — a day before lawyers for Aurora movie-theater massacre suspect James Holmes were due in court to challenge the death-penalty statute — infuriated some victims' relatives and law-enforcement officials.
"He should die," former Aurora Police Officer Dan Jones, who was the first to arrive at Chuck E. Cheese the night of Dec. 14, 1993, told NBC station KUSA.
"What he did was horrific. And now 20 years later...the governor passes the buck."
Bob Crowell, whose 19-year-old daughter Sylvia was one of those killed, called Hickenlooper a "chicken governor."
"We've waited an awful long time," Crowell said after a heated conference call with the governor on Wednesday. "It's a little like carrying a knife in my back. Today, that night was severely twisted."
Colorado has had the death penalty since 1977, although only one person has been put to death since then and there are just three on Death Row.Comment: It's time for justice for the slain!
NYTimes archived article
ReplyDeleteDenver Post timeline with links
ReplyDeleteMy interest in this? We lived in Littleton CO at the time and once had a birthday party for one of my kids at this restaurant.
the dead and wounded
ReplyDeleteMore details of the crime
ReplyDeleteAmerican Thinker: Exploiting Nathan Dunlap:
ReplyDeleteIn his first term the governor has assumed the people of Colorado would reject any effort to repeal the death penalty, but having great personal reservations about it, he has effectively repealed the death penalty on his own accord. He found that his powers are great enough that he doesn't need the consent of the governed in cases where gaining that approval would be politically costly. He can simply change the laws to reflect what he hopes the will of the people will become, allowing time to evolve political conditions in such a way that the will of the people will eventually mirror his -- providing eventual democratic legitimacy to his present actions.
This is turning on its head the democratic process. This is enacting bold changes now and later allowing the people to rubber stamp these actions. More seriously this is putting into jeopardy the political peace which our democracy has purchased and preserved in Colorado. The law that he is refusing to execute is at present the declared will of the people. It is the result of a democratic process in which the people of the state declared capital punishment not to be in violation of our state or federal constitutions under which we organize our lives. It was under this declared will of the people that the prosecutors presented the peoples' case against Nathan Dunlap, and a jury of his peers found him guilty, and a judge sentenced him to death. It is in violation of the established will of the people the governor refuses to carry out the duties of his office. His reprieve is an exploitation of Nathan Dunlap -- and a threat to the liberty of all Coloradans.
I am the uncle of isaiah shoels whom was murdered at columbine.She mr Governor u dont realize tha pain we go thru day in day out missing our loved ones.Not once did he say anything about tha family.chucken Governor hisl
ReplyDelete