May 23, 2010 06:52 PM UTC
Shocking "Willie Horton" Story Upends Attorney General's Race
110 Comments- by: Colorado Pols
MONDAY UPDATE: Fox 31 reports (video to right):
Pop quiz, folks–you’re the sitting Attorney General of Colorado, and you’re running for re-election against the first real competition you’ve ever faced as an incumbent. What’s the absolute worst possible story that could come out the day after the state convention?
As the Denver Post reports:
Less than four weeks before Scott Kimball started killing people, then-U.S. Attorney John Suthers signed the order that transferred the habitual criminal and escaped convict to Colorado [Pols emphasis] and set in motion his ill-fated career as an FBI informant.
Suthers, now Colorado’s attorney general, does not have “any specific recollection about involvement in the case,” said Mike Saccone, spokesman for the attorney general’s office. He said Suthers was unavailable for further comment.
The document approving the transfer, which was recently unsealed by a federal judge, was signed by Suthers on Dec. 24, 2002 – just days after Kimball’s release from a Lakewood prison in a deal in which he promised to provide information about a murder-for-hire plot involving a witness in a drug case…
While out on the streets in 2003 and 2004, he murdered three women and his uncle, evading suspicion for years before the fathers of two of the victims pressed for a new investigation that unraveled his elaborate web of deceit.
The unsealed papers, in conjunction with other documents, raise new questions about the diligence with which federal prosecutors and agents looked into Kimball’s background before making him a paid “confidential human source.”
…Boulder District Attorney Stan Garnett, who plans to challenge Suthers in the November election and who prosecuted Kimball for the killings, said he was flabbergasted by the picture painted by the newly unsealed documents.
“This is one of the worst plea bargains in the history of the world,” he said. “To give this kind of guy with four prior felonies this kind of bond and freedom so he could go and commit these murders is unbelievable.”
…On Dec. 18, 2003, Kimball was released from prison “to actively cooperate with the FBI on the Steven Ennis matter,” according to a previously released affidavit. Six days later, Suthers and Timothy Burgess, then the U.S. attorney in Alaska, both signed the transfer document. In it, Kimball agreed to have his case adjudicated in Denver – where he had just begun work as an informant.
The Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure require that the U.S. attorney in each district personally approve a transfer for a plea and sentence.
You may recall the name Willie Horton from the 1988 presidential race between George H.W. Bush and Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis. Considered one of the key moments that sank Dukakis’ already-slim hopes of defeating Bush, Horton had been released by Massachusetts prison officials on a “weekend furlough” when he committed further crimes including rape. Horton’s crimes and mug shot were linked to Dukakis at every opportunity, and seriously damaged him. Now it’s true those ridiculous photos of Dukakis in the tank didn’t help much either, but the successful linkage of Willie Horton’s story to Dukakis made Horton a household name for many years–and a lesson taught in political science classes around the world on how to successfully smear a political opponent.
That’s right–and Dukakis wasn’t even personally involved with Horton’s case. Dukakis didn’t sign any court proceedings transfers so Willie Horton could remain in his state, and Dukakis certainly never approved of setting Willie Horton permanently free to work for the cops.
And there’s another difference, too: Willie Horton didn’t murder four people when he got out.
Folks, we really don’t know what the campaign of Democratic opponent Stan Garnett plans to do with this, or independent groups sizing up the Attorney General’s race–our Sunday morning guess is that the Post and Boulder Daily Camera did the legwork on this story, and Democrats and their allies are just as surprised to read it as everybody else.
But if you don’t see a story with devastating political consequences for Suthers–who had better come up with an excellent reason for why he let this man loose in our state to murder four people, and right now–you’re pretty much blind. Suthers has been accused of political grandstanding, and ideological bias tainting his department, but this story cuts directly to the heart of his fundamental charge to protect public safety. This is much worse than anything Suthers has faced so far, and his feeble “no recollection” responses are like chum in the water.
And having Suthers’ opponent be the prosecutor who finally put this guy away? That’s just poetry.
UPDATE: Statement from Garnett’s campaign after the jump–says spokesman Charlie Brennan, “It was essentially a get out-of-jail-free card for a four-time convicted felon, alleged rapist and a man who escaped from custody in Montana following a conviction just two years before. On Christmas Eve 2002, John Suthers put his name to that document, setting Mr. Kimball free…[o]nly a few weeks later, Mr. Kimball would kill the first of four known victims in a murder spree.”
Press Release
Stan Garnett
For Our Attorney General
Tough. Fair. On Your Side
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 23, 2010
MEDIA CONTACT: Charlie Brennan
(720) 383-0133
John Suthers’ Plea Bargain With a Serial Killer
The Denver Post published an article May 23 that tells a tragic story bigger than any political contest. More importantly, this story has important ramifications for voters deciding who should be the next Attorney General for Colorado.
John Suthers, then U.S. Attorney for Colorado, signed a document on Dec. 24, 2002, which officially transferred Scott Lee Kimball’s counterfeiting case from Alaska to Colorado. That transfer came with the understanding that Mr. Kimball, soon to be a serial killer, would be granted a plea bargain giving him sentencing leniency in return for his service as an informant to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
It was essentially a get out-of-jail-free card for a four-time convicted felon, alleged rapist and a man who escaped from custody in Montana following a conviction just two years before. On Christmas Eve 2002, John Suthers put his name to that document, setting Mr. Kimball free, ultimately to be sentenced to just a $5,000 fine, time served and three years’ probation. Only a few weeks later, Mr. Kimball would kill the first of four known victims in a murder spree. It was a rampage Mr. Kimball, who called himself “Hannibal,” carried out while a paid informant working for, and purportedly supervised by, the United States Department of Justice.
When questioned about the matter by the Post, Mr. Suthers didn’t remember signing off on the deal, and said he would have “No Comment.” His lack of awareness of what he was signing, his failure to ensure that Mr. Kimball was adequately monitored, and lack of accountability now, is troubling. It merits more than a “No Comment” from a campaign spokesman.
Throughout the handling of Mr. Kimball’s case, the United States Attorney’s office, under Mr. Suthers’ supervision, repeatedly filed motions to close hearings and seal records, covering up case proceedings and denying the public a chance to know about problems they were experiencing with their “informant.” When the judge expressed concern about such secrecy, Mr. Suthers’ prosecutors said they were worried about safety – “Hannibal’s” safety.
Only when a Lafayette detective subsequently launched what started as a fraud investigation into Mr. Kimball’s activities, joined by the Boulder District Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI, did authorities see the full horror and homicidal mayhem for which Mr. Kimball was responsible after he was freed.
Through the solid work of the above agencies, and the prosecutorial efforts of the team working under the direction of Boulder District Attorney Stan Garnett, Mr. Kimball entered a guilty plea Oct. 8, 2009, to two counts of second-degree murder, while admitting responsibility for all four murders for which he had been investigated. Mr. Kimball was sentenced that day to 70 years in prison.
“I am pleased that in this very difficult case we were able to reach a disposition that assures that Scott Kimball will spend the rest of his life in prison and that provides the victims’ families some measure of comfort,” Garnett said.
Approval by the United States Attorney for Denver of an extremely lenient plea bargain for Mr. Kimball – who had four prior felony convictions, had escaped from a 10-year sentence and had been described by a Montana judge as unfit for community supervision speaks to a management style lacking in focus. It shows Mr. Suthers was out of touch, not paying attention at a critical moment that, for the families of four innocent victims, will reverberate painfully forever.
Boulder County prosecutors secured a 48-year term against Mr. Kimball in December 2008 for theft as an habitual offender, and at the same time gave him a chance to plead guilty to one count of second-degree murder, providing he lead authorities to the bodies of the three murder victims whose remains had not yet been found: LeAnn Emry, Jennifer Marcum and Terry Kimball. When Mr. Kimball failed to produce Ms. Marcum’s body, that deal was revoked by District Attorney Stan Garnett May 11, 2009. Less than five months later, Boulder County prosecutors won convictions and the sentence that will keep Mr. Kimball behind bars the rest of his life.
“I am incredibly proud of the work my office did to crack these cold cases, and lock up Mr. Kimball for the rest of his life in a manner that is acceptable to the victims’ families,” Garnett said. “Managing an office with law enforcement responsibility such as District Attorney, U.S. Attorney or Attorney General is all about priorities. And public safety must be the highest priority.”
Those seeking more information concerning the Kimball case are advised to consult the superb 15-part series “Free to Kill” authored by reporter John Aguilar, published by the Boulder Daily Camera. It is archived on the paper’s website.
For additional information, contact Charlie Brennan at Charlie.brennan24@gmail.com. Also, please visit the campaign website at Garnettforag.com.
I thought Pols had underestimated Suthers before, but now?
The only way this isn’t the end of the line for the AG is if this story doesn’t get the play it would in a race like the presidency (which is where the Willie Horton comparisons fall apart – people won’t be seeing Kimball’s face on TV 24/7). That’s conceivable, but you’ve got to figure that if Garnett won’t jump on this, some outside group will.
Suthers unleashed a murderer on our community. And he did everything he could to keep everything about this under a court seal. Unless Suthers can bring up some compelling reason for his decision, I think he should resign.
And “no comment” and “I don’t remember” don’t count as reasons, they just are efforts to evade responsibility for his actions.
And not for the politics. For the failure to vette the guy.
The law enforcement people are focused on using someone like Kimball to prosecute the crime(s) they are working on. By definition they tend to be blind to anything else the person may be doing. When Suthers’ approved Kimball being released on Colorado, he had a responsibility to supervise what Kimball was up to.
Four people are dead and their families are devastated because of Suthers first failing to properly vette. Two accusations of rape – and that should have been taken into account. When deciding if someone should be released outside of their sentence, any and all info should be taken in to account.
And second, where was the follow-up? When you let a criminal lose on the public, and his lesson is that if he talks enough he will not be punished for his crimes, then you need to be watching him.
If Suthers drops from the race can the Republican party nominate someone else? I don’t want this to be political, and to not be political the GOP needs to be able to appoint someone else to run for the office. I would even be ok with the party being able to give the new candidate a starting donation equal to Suthers’ COH so there is no political disadvantage to his being replaced on the ballot.
This could be a pivotable issue.
It’s almost impossible for anyone in either party to be “tough on crime” when something like this happens.
after he granted clemency to a guy who went on to shoot four police officers.
he pardoned, since we are now completely off topic–Wayne DuMond who went on to rape and murder at least 2 women. There was ample evidence of DuMond’s prior violent behavior unlike the situation here with Kimball and Suthers.
The point is, these kind of things are major, major blows to law-and-order candidates. Any nuance gets lost when you’re talking dead bodies.
which is entirely possible–I seem to be doing it quite a bit today on a variety of topics–but I don’t recall that this hurt Huckabee one bit. Not when he was governor and not when he ran for President. I remember being revolted at the background story of DuMond and the fact that this story never seemed to matter to the vast majority of the public.
And my entire issue with Suthers, which I’ve probably said ad nauseam at this point, is not that he approved an early release so this guy could be an informant. It’s his response to the Denver Post and then his complete lack of one when he mingled with the unwashed masses on Saturday at the State Assembly. I find his reply unpardonable and cruel to the victims’ families. To pretend that this guy doesn’t even ring a bell for you? That’s just fucked up and I don’t have a more polite phrase to describe it.
Anything would have been better than what he said. Anything. And pretty much nothing could have been worse than to flat out say you don’t recall having anything to do with this case. Nothing.
or running for president in 2008 because it didn’t happen until December 2009.
DuMond got his sentenced commuted in 1997.
killed four cops in the fall of 2009. So it’s impossible for that to have had an effect on the 2008 presidential campaign, but it has had a big impact on his future prospects.
for the other US Attorney, Burgess. After all, he’s now a federal judge for the United States District Court for the District of Alaska, appointed under Bush in 2006.
Knowing how all Republicans on this site adore the Clear the Bench campaign, I’m sure they’d be the first to endorse removing Burgess. Oh wait, that’s right, it’s up to Congress to impeach and remove him. Whew. Lucky him.
Is it too much to ask that our elected officials, some of whom presumably have advanced degrees and other credentials, be considered unfit for service when their memory goes? It has become such the common response that it is beginning to reach the laughable stage.
Yeah, right, when a guy I released in hopes of advancing my career by getting some good info out of him kills four people, I didn’t go “Oh, shit.” Instead, I never thought about it again and so I don’t remember it now.
I don’t expect any of us to know where we were on December 24, 2002 or where you had lunch that day. But if you signed the release for a felon who shortly after killed 4 people, that’s not a memory that would just disappear.
It will be an issue in Nov.
Typical voters who even noted this story now will have a hard time remembering it in Nov. unless Garnett/the Dems run ads reminding them.
Then Garnett runs the risk of being labeled “mud-slinger”
Kimball was just convicted last October, as in 2009. How could Suthers be unaware of it when it was such a huge case and only recently resolved?
And less than a month ago, 48 Hours ran a one hour special called “Hannibal Unmasked” about Kimball’s killing spree. This isn’t exactly old news. Suthers response to this is just…lacking. In fact, it’s downright pathetic.
lawyerly, cover your butt hedging (specific recollection) than a memory problem. But the public isn’t all that fond of such niceties. Remember how well the whole “it depends on the meaning of is” thing went over?
Timeline:
It states that Kimball was released before his plea deal was completed (prior to the transfer of his court case to Colorado, which means prior to the order signed by Suthers). Was Kimball released on bail or something while his plea and sentence were still in the works?
always 20/20. So something that Suthers did as a matter of routine while running the US Attorney’s office that had tragic consequences is now going to “upend” the AG race? Sorry, I don’t believe it will. Mountains out of molehills comes to mind, especially when there does not appear to be a hint in the evidence that Kimball had any kind of violent history.
I’m sure it will make good politics, but to implicitly suggest that Suthers somehow knew Kimball would do what he did and signed the transfer anyway is simply unbelievable and is the kind of thing that can boomerang.
Apparently we differ on the definition of “violent.”
Which indicates it wasn’t part of his record or public information until after the fact.
It is a well-known fact that a person not charged with any violent crimes who has a lifetime record of crime including theft, counterfeiting, accusations of child abuse and rape and involvement in a murder plot means that the person MUST be innocent. (sarcasm)
Anyone who has spent any time working in the penal system would know that Kimball was NOT safe to be on the streets. My question is who was he ratting out that made it alright to put him back out on the streets? Regardless the AGs, DAs and judges should have known that he was a major risk to public safety.
They got taken by a known lifetime con artist.
Accusations are easy–they happen all the time.
I’ve prosecuted and defended cases like that. Simply because someone claims something happened doesn’t make it so. Without having the case file(s), we can’t determine what happened. To pretend that Kimball had a “violent” history is to convict him, in effect, on the basis of much later actions simply because they appear to fit the pattern. In other words, you’re applying 20/20 hindsight and assuming that the accusations were true, when an investigation by the police (or prosecutor’s office) in the area at the time found no grounds to file charges.
Innocent until proven guilty, unless it suits political expediency? Evidently.
Do you know how many ex-husbands are accused of sex assault or assault and not charged after thorough investigation?
This is nothing. There was nothing violent in his jacket before he was released.
Nice try, Pols. Maybe progressnowmakeadumbskitcolorado can get some props and get something hilarious and poignant front-paged?
You know – that he was the type of convict who was uncontrollable and likely to commit more crime…
Would have been screaming like a mashed cat if some judge locked up a serial check-fraudster forever and threw away the key.
Nothing to see here, people. Move along. Totally non-violent offender snaps after release and becomes serial killer. Not Suthers’ fault.
Seat stays R. Suthers is smart to play the odds and bet on repeal of the worst law evah.
He wasn’t black, like Willie Hornton, so we can expect an entirely diferent attitude from the right, can’t we? Now if the guy were an illegal immigrant or a Muslim, that might carry some weight on the right?
You lose credibility when you try to blame everything under the sun on some sort of phantom racism.
Remember Willie Horton’s picture in the ads? Remember all the black criminals it showed?
that naked racism doesn’t work on the right.
If someone is deemed incorrigible by the judicial system, with 4 felonies, attempted escape, etc. to back them up (and a competent review by a psych panel), then I’d be more than happy to see the guy serve extended time.
This guy was released early on a special deal by the FBI, with Suthers signing off on it, knowing this. Further, it looks an awful lot like his status as “informant” may have been a matter of his own ability to con the FBI.
But that wasn’t the case, now was it?
So even if we buy that he’s a non-violent offender, he’s not exactly trustworthy, is he?
He’s clearly a chronic offender, not to be trusted on the street. Suthers turned him loose. And you’re telling us that was OK, because all he was going to do was steal more money from people.
And that deflection to HCR? Classic.
That this is nothing. Simply participating in the repeal effort of ObamacareВ® should guarantee Suthers a win.
Being accused of a crime, particularly by someone who has reason to do damage to you does not count as a conviction. He had no other violent offenses – just accusations that weren’t deemed to be worthy, and most States are pretty aggressive when it comes to spousal abuse.
Oh, and I’m a racist according to BlueCat because of this. Just FYI.
but this is politics. 🙂
At the very least, this is an embarrassing diversion for Suthers. There’s no way for Suthers to put a positive spin on this – that much is clear from his responses. If this story gains any traction, it’s a real problem. There’s no good way to counter it, so I don’t think it’s “nothing.”
And no matter how “popular” Rasmussen says HCR repeal is, I bet that Suthers doesn’t trot that out unless he’s talking to a group of teabaggers. The entire effort has zero chance of success, which means it’s a big waste of money. Channeling your inner Don Quixote doesn’t win elections.
What they did was totally throw out his sentence. As a law & order kind of guy, you should be upset that he was able to avoid serving the time the court sentenced him to.
But I also know the lengths they’ll go to in order to get a solid murder conviction.
This guy was also a world-class liar. Those homicide guys aren’t dummies, and he had them eating out of his hand.
From the looks of things, the US Attorney’s office (under Suthers for at least part of the time) tried to bury Kimball’s record and snuff out charges against him on at least one occasion.
Suthers wasn’t, from the looks of things, involved in “managing” Kimball on a one-time basis. Rather, Kimball’s excesses kept coming back and biting the FBI and the US Attorney’s office in the ass.
For Suthers to say that he can’t recollect anything of the case is ludicrous and hurts his integrity as much as the decision to move this guy to Colorado and set him free.
They’ve had a run of quality in-depth articles recently. Kudos to all involved on this – good job.
If nobody from Garnett’s staff accesses NCIC for a while.
I’m just sayin’
The release strikes the proper non-hysterical tone letting the facts speak for themselves. This does seem like pretty inexcusable lack of attention on Suthers part so there is no need to go over the top with accusations that he doesn’t care if people get murdered. He apparently was just doing a really crappy, lazy job. Segue to Garnett doing a really good job. No need to engage in hyperbole. Very nice.
Garnett’s repeated reference to “serial killer,” in the context of Suthers’s agreement to the plea deal, suggests (falsely) that Kimball was known to be a serial killer at the time of the plea dea. I don’t like Garnett’s statement in that regard.
It strikes me as strange sometimes how quick we are to demand our candidates campaign in only the fairest kindest gentlest way possible, when the other side is calling us all Nazis.
but, if the claim is that Suthers acted negligently based on the information he had at the time, stating “soon to be serial killer” adds nothing relevant and instead is a gratuitous play to emotions. Perhaps such gratuitous actions are expected in politics, but they annoy me anyway.
Man, you’re not one to admit when you fuck up, are ya? Heh.
Nothing else explains your random laughter.
Nope, sober. I just find middle aged assholes who love to parse amusing. Highly amusing. Always makes me wonder what folks like you did for a living.
But probably super accurate.
And playing with doesn’t count as one.
Ciao, little man.
do they make you feel wise?
Very. How’d you guess, old boy?
See what I mean about you, Earnest? God, you’re a gas.
Oh and by the way, apparently you don’t either. It means either “hello” or “goodbye”, kind of like “aloha” to a lesser extent.
can’t wait to get to know you better
I just did a Microsoft word search on the press release.
What “repeated reference” are you referring? It’s in this statement a whopping two times–once as the title of the press release and once in actual release itself, in the second paragraph, used precisely as “soon to be a serial killer“.
I get that you really enjoy arguing/parsing over minutia, Earnest, but please try and get your facts straight when you’re doing it.
why DO you get so worked up about my comments?
And you tend to refuse to admit. Like right now.
Maybe you don’t know what repeated means? And your reference to “often” is simply random bitchiness. Thanks for that.
Isn’t it interesting that I’m not the only one that found your comment a bunch of crap?
…as consistent with your random bitchiness.
Was sxp’s reply to you too vague for your comprehension?
Yours was neither.
No way MOTR is gonna let you win an argument.
Hell, she even beat Triguardian. All of them.
I did, didn’t I? I hadn’t thought about it quite that way before.
I’m really looking forward to Garnett’s acceptance speech in November.
And none of your knew John Edwards was a twisted adulterer. Amazing.
Is he up for election and potentially facing a bigger challenge because of this information.
Do you understand the term ‘relevance’?
for my sig line so you know, facts be damned…
They just pick a Dem who did something bad. It’s totally predictable if entirely irrelevant.
Actually I think it had the opposite effect on the population size.
Republican hangups about sex are really weird.
I think comparing an adulterer, twisted or not, to a serial killer is a helluva stretch.
Give me some dirt on someone who is actually running against Suthers.
If not, just swallow it. Your guy is the Governor Ritter of someone’s 527’s wettest wet dream.
The topic is John Suthers, not John Edwards.
If you can’t make a relevant comparison, try something a little more your speed. A Disney forum, perhaps.
Is that you are hypocrites. I’m not saying adultery is as bad as murder, only a dumbass liberal would make ridiculous leaps like that.
besides bringing up someone who has zero to do with the actual topic.
You have nothing logically to use in any debate, so you either attack all Democrats (i.e. dumbass liberals), attack the poster (many other threads) or you bring up someone who has nothing to do with the thread (John Edwards).
Try bringing some substance to the conversation, or try something more your speed.
Again, I suggest a Disney forum. You could argue whether Miley Cyrus is acting too adult for a 17 year old.
It’s good material for campaign commercials sure to be used against Suthers.
Is a stand up Guy. He was framed by a one handed man for the murder of his wife. The pharmaceutical company he worked for was trying to pull something shady.
What a colorful family
Let’s discount the fact that Kimball went on to kill at least 4 people and focus on the info Suthers had when the decision was made to release Kimball on a plea. Garnett’s press release hits the nail on the head with this part:
That does not sound like a good candidate for a plea bargain. Especially when you read the “Plea Agreements-Considerations to be Weighed” section of the U.S. Attorney’s Manual.
I think Garnett held back when mentioning the 2002 judgment by the Montana judge on Kimball’s probation violation. He could have really gone after Suthers with this quote:
You can find a link to the judgment here.
it was a judgment in 2000, not 2002.
From the Fox31 site:
It’s not really that complicated.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Colorado (Suthers’ office) entered into a plea deal with Kimball on his check fraud case out of Alaska so he could assist in the murder-for-hire case involving Marcum and Ennis. Instead of helping, he killed people.
I’d say that’s important information the people of Colorado would want to know.
That probably bothers people more than the Garnett comments.
…the Romanoff school of how to treat a bad story?
Suthers signed the papers himself.
Garnett prosecuted the guy later.
Wow. Amazing.
Bullshit. Just BULLSHIT.
I don’t know what angers me more: Suthers’ lackadaisical attitude about this, or his transparent lying in saying he didn’t remember it.
I would think as soon as Suthers heard that this piece of shit that he set free had murdered people, Suthers was praying and hoping that the papers HE PERSONALLY SIGNED approving the release would never be unsealed.
Suthers has probably been thinking about Kimball every day of his political life since then.
This is like Scott McInnis “not remembering” that he was on the advisory board of Republicans for Choice. You’ve gotta know, Scottie has been fretting since he was thinking of this candidacy whether that position would come back to haunt him in a Republican primary if not the November election.
How stupid do these people think we are, anyway?