AURORA | Gov. John Hickenlooper on Friday pardoned 21 people and commuted the sentences of 12 others, including several people convicted of murder and other crimes in counties that cover Aurora.
Among the clemency orders announced Friday, Hickenlooper decided three convicted murderers should be eligible for parole, and three other men convicted of murder should be eligible for parole earlier than their current sentence stipulates, including a man convicted of killing two ministers in Arapahoe County in 1998.
Terrance Wilder was 17 years old when he was arrested in an Aurora motel on suspicion of killing a pair of local ministers, according to news reports from the time.
Wilder was later convicted of first-and-second degree murder for killing ministers Joel England and Roderick Marble. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
Both men were shot, and England was bludgeoned with a baseball bat, according to court records.
Hickenlooper’s commutation stipulates Wilder, now 37, will be eligible for parole after serving 40 years in prison. He’s already served about 19 years, according to the governor’s office.
Wilder was re-sentenced earlier this year under new federal sentencing guidelines for juvenile offenders. In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it is unconstitutional to sentence juveniles to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
But because Wilder only had the sentence for one of his several charges altered, he still wasn’t technically eligible for parole for another 86 years.
“Upon re-sentencing, Mr. Wilder was given a sentence for first-degree murder of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years served,” Hickenlooper wrote in a letter of support for Wilder to the state board of parole. “However, his sentences for other crimes were untouched, leaving him with an estimated parole eligibility date of 2104 — effectively a life sentence again.”
Hickenlooper pointed to Wilder’s strong record while incarcerated at the Sterling Correctional Facility, saying he has earned his GED and worked as a paraprofessional for other prisoners.
The governor also commuted the sentence of Nathan Ybanez, who in 1999 was sentenced as a juvenile to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murdering his mother in Douglas County. Ybanez, who since being sentenced has argued repeated abuse at the hands of his mother and father led him to commit the crime, will now be eligible for parole in about two years.
Along with a friend, Ybanez struck his mother in the head using a fireplace tool, put a plastic bag over her head and choked her to death, according to George Brauchler, district attorney for the 18th judicial district, where Ybanez’s case was prosecuted.
A local sheriff’s deputy later found Ybanez carrying his mother’s body in a sleeping bag and holding a container of gasoline, Brauchler said.
Brauchler said he did not expect Hickenlooper to grant Ybanez clemency.
“I never once for a moment thought (Hickenlooper) was going to grant Ybanez any sort of commutation,” he said.
Brauchler said his office has issued letters of objection regarding the governor’s decision to commute the sentences of Wilder and at least two other offenders from his jurisdiction.
“It doesn’t mean I object to all of (Hickenlooper’s) exercise of his clemency powers,” he said. “This isn’t a universal condemnation, but these cases really strike me as extreme.”
The local district attorney also scolded Hickenlooper for announcing his clemency decisions on the Friday before Christmas.
“Given the timing, it felt like the Grinch whole stole justice,” Brauchler said. ” … that is not when you release something when you want the public to pay attention.”
Several of the other convicted murderers who received clemency orders Friday will be eligible for parole at various points throughout the next decade. One of the men, Dwight Anderson, received the same 40-year stipulation as Wilder. Anderson, who previously had no parole eligibility date, has already served about 23 years in prison.
The six other people granted commutations were convicted of various lower-level crimes.
Hickenlooper also granted 21 pardons on Friday, including several people convicted of lower-level crimes in Arapahoe and Adams Counties.
Brauchler also questioned the governor’s pardon decisions.
“Is that the new standard for pardons?,” he said. “Like, ‘hey, if it’s really hard for you to find a good job and you didn’t commit any other crimes, we’ll wipe it way?’ I don’t know, but I’m not the governor.”
Brauchler briefly ran for governor last year.
The governor’s most notable pardon was granted to Promise Lee, who in 1975 pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in El Paso County. He was 15.
Lee has since completed his sentence. Hickenlooper’s pardon reinstates a slew of civil rights to Lee, except his right to purchase firearms.
While a pardon doesn’t scrub a conviction from a person’s record, it reinstates several rights to an offender, including the ability to vote, hold public office and serve on a jury.
During his governorship, Hickenlooper has commuted the sentences of more than a dozen people who were sentenced as juveniles to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
“Hundreds of applications for clemency have come through our office. We have selected only those where the individual has a proven track record of rehabilitation, ” Hickenlooper said in a statement. “Those granted clemency … have shown they deserve a second chance and have the support system to help them succeed.”
To date, Hickenlooper has pardoned 156 people and commuted the sentences of 18 others, according to the governor’s office.
Last week, the outgoing governor commuted the sentence of Curtis Brooks, who was convicted of murdering a man near an Aurora Mall in 1995. Originally sentenced as a juvenile to life in prison without the possibility of parole, Brooks is now set to be released from the Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility next summer.