State, victims clash over whereabouts of notorious criminals
Author:*Anastasiya Bolton, Kevin Vaughan
Published:*3:10 PM MST January 10, 2018
https://www.9news.com/article/news/...ereabouts-of-notorious-criminals/73-434296319
"Colorado prison officials have transferred scores of killers and rapists to other states and refused to tell victims and their families where they are -- despite a constitutional amendment and state law that were designed to guarantee those answers, a 9Wants to Know investigation found.
Instead, state Department of Corrections officials and Gov. John Hickenlooper have repeatedly refused to disclose the whereabouts of inmates to victims.
The result: more than 100 Colorado inmates -- including some of the states most notorious killers -- are being held in what is essentially now a secret prison system.
The findings of our 9Wants to Know investigation into the system frustrated a former legislator who helped write the Victim Rights Act, passed by Colorado voters in 1992 and codified into state law the next year.
I do not understand how a bureaucratic decision can override a victims constitutional rights, said Jeanne Faatz, a longtime Republican legislator who was the prime sponsor of the victim rights law."
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"DOC provided 9Wants to Know the list of all Colorado inmates currently in the ICC.
On that list is Robert Browne, the killer of 13-year-old Heather Dawn Church.
Heathers dad, Michael Church, wants to know where Browne is.
Heather was my first, my first girl, love of my life, Church said. Really attentive in school, little bitty thing, she was really short. She was an avid reader, she loved to read.
Heather was kidnapped from the familys Colorado Springs home in 199.
Her remains were found in 1993. In 1995 Browne, who purports to have killed dozens across the country, was arrested for her murder. Browne went to prison for Heathers death and has long been held out of state, as part of the transfer system.
Try not to put my hatred -- have hatred overwhelm me, Church said. Its hard to do, especially when youd like to know where hes at, whats he doing. I want him to be as miserable as he possibly can be. But unfortunately, Im not able to do that."
