EDITOR: By a coincidence, I was thinking of Nathan Dunlap when I read your editorial that mentioned his murder of four co-workers at Chuck E. Cheese. At the time, that was the worst mass murder in Aurora history. I was thinking of Dunlap because the Colorado House Judicial Committee will consider a bill on March 30 that could let him walk free in about four years. Dunlap was sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted to life without parole plus 108 years.
House Bill 21-1209 says in part, “If an offender who committed murder in the first degree . . . has served 28 years of his or her sentence and successfully completed the [three-year] program . . . there shall be a presumption in favor of granting parole.”
Dunlap would be eligible to enter the three-year program 90 days after the governor signs the bill and would likely be released three years later. I hope that citizens will let lawmakers know what they think.
— Ray Harlan, via letters@sentinelcolorado.com
Ray Harlan is the chairman for Colorado Victims for Justice
What this comment forgets is that John Hickenlooper refused to sign the order to put this trash to death, after 19 years of trials and appeals. When the death sentence was upheld by all parties, Hickenlooper alone said ‘not on my watch’, and with that a mass murderer got transferred to Sterling Colorado prison for ‘his share of sunshine’ ….true story.
Gov. Hickenlooper was rightfully honoring his religious convictions. He declined to sign the death order, rather than “refuse.” He is a Quaker and his beliefs do not allow him to kill anyone. (I’m not a Quaker, but I could never kill anyone, either. I know it’s hard for some to understand, but there are some who share this belief.) He simply left the decision up to the next guy. I, for one, honor the Governor for his commitment to his ethical stand despite the push-back. Nathan Dunlap is one of the worst people ever to walk the earth, but that didn’t mean that the Governor had to be the one to put an end to it. Then it was the Legislature that abolished the death penalty. Events did take strange turns, but the Governor’s conscience is clear. The only thing that bothers me is that he continues his mentally-deficient ways in prison at our expense. Has anyone thought of trying to get him help with the mental issues. There are 3 people who were on death row who will never see the light of day.
HB21-1209 is just another weapon for criminals in the war against law and order in our state, foisted on us by increasingly radical elected officials from the state down to the municipal level.
When will the lunacy stop? And will we have a city when the day comes? Elections have consequences.
Whenever they want to scare people to their cause, they bring up Nathan Dunlap, falsely, I might add. He is NEVER getting out of prison. His behavior there doesn’t qualify him for parole on any level. Now give us some cases in which murderers might be eligible for parole and we can discuss those.
The legislature is going all out to protect criminals. The police reform bill with its vague use of force guidelines and attacks on implied immunity (which is only allowed sometimes by the courts anyway), has crippled the police ability to address crime. Now, the legislature is trying to make all crime easier with no consequences. They are very humane to criminals while leaving the citizens ad victims out in the cold. Strange where we have come to in this world.