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News
Colorado’s Death Row
Edward Montour Jr. represented himself and pled
guilty
in 2003 for the murder of a correctional officer. He continued
to represent himself in the penalty phase,
presented
no mitigation, and was sentenced to death by Judge King
of the Douglas County District Court.
Continuing
pro se,
Mr. Montour
then
waived any post-conviction challenges and now seeks to waive
any appeal other than the mandatory
review
by the
Colorado
Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has remanded the case to
the District Court for determination
of Mr.
Montour's
competency
to waive his appeal, and counsel has now been appointed
over Mr. Montour's objection to litigate
the issue
of competency.
This case
highlights
the problem
of so
called "volunteers," or
defendants
who refuse
both
legal
representation
and fail to present any defense or mitigation. Although
individuals have the right
to represent
themselves,
if we
have a death penalty, our system must find a way to see
that mitigating information is brought
before
the court
lest we
simply have suicide via the State in such cases.
A Colorado Supreme Court decision in April 2007, however,
reversed
the death
sentence
and remanded
the case
back
to "the trial court for a jury
determination
of whether
to impose
the sentence
of life
imprisonment
or death."
Related Stories
- About Broken Links
- Mountour, Edward: Slaying Case Escalates
The state will seek the death penalty in the case of Edward Montour Jr., 35, who is charged with first-degree murder in the Oct. 18 slaying of a corrections officer at the Limon Correctional Facility. (12/19/02, Rocky Mountain News)
- Killer Tells Judge: 'State Can Kill Me'
The next resident of Colorado's death row could be a prison inmate who all but dared a judge to put him there. Edward Montour Jr. pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the slaying of Sgt. Eric Autobee, a 23-year-old officer at the Limon Correctional Facility. "I am antisocial, homicidal and without remorse and will remain a potential threat. The state can kill me, I don't care," Montour told Douglas County District Judge Paul King during a hearing earlier this month. (2/25/03, The Rocky Mountain News)
- Death Sentence for Killing Guard
CASTLE ROCK -- An inmate who beat a prison guard to death with a soup ladle was sentenced to death today. Edward Montour Jr. killed Sgt. Eric Autobee, 23, in order to raise his stature in prison, prosecutors told Douglas County District Judge Paul King. (2/27/03, The Denver Post)
- Try him? Fry him? Death Law Put to Test
From all appearances, it looks like an easy try-him-and-fry-him murder case. Edward Montour Jr., a 35-year-old convicted murderer doing life without parole at the Limon Correctional Facility, admitted killing a prison guard last October by whacking him with a heavy ladle while on kitchen detail. ... But even in the notoriously gnarly field of death penalty law, this case is a legal briar patch. (2/20/03, The Denver Post. News Commentary by Diane Carman.)
- Inmate Got Death, But Who Won?
Even the brashest proponents of capital punishment insist it should be administered with the utmost caution. And rarely has it been imposed as casually as it was in the People vs. Edward Montour Jr. Montour got death simply because he asked for it. Against the advice of lawyers and judges, a man with 500 pages of sealed mental health records at the Department of Corrections and no relevant education or experience was allowed to defend himself. Then no one reconsidered the decision when he refused to do it. The court took his word about how and, more significantly, why corrections officer Autobee was murdered. There was no trial. No evidence of competence. No questions were asked. He pleaded guilty. Case closed. (3/2/03, The Denver Post. News Commentary by Diane Carman.)
- High
Court Tosses Killer's Death Penalty
A
death
sentence
against
an
inmate
who
killed
a
prison
employee
is
not
valid
because
a
jury
didn't
decide
his
fate,
the
Colorado
Supreme
Court
has
ruled.
The
state's
high
court
did,
however,
uphold
the
first-degree
murder
conviction
of
Edward
Montour
Jr.
for
the
October
2002
bludgeoning
death
of
Eric
Autobee,
a
23-year-old
kitchen
supervisor
at
the
Limon
Correctional
Facility.
Montour
pleaded
guilty
to
the
death
of
Autobee,
and
in
doing
so "automatically
waived
his
right
to
have
a
jury
determine
his
sentence" under
the
state's
death
penalty
statute,
the
Supreme
Court
found
in
a
ruling
posted
today.
...
The
court's
decision
reverses
the
death
sentence
and
remands
the
case
back
to "the
trial
court
for
a
jury
determination
of
whether
to
impose
the
sentence
of
life
imprisonment
or
death." The
ruling
leaves
convicted
murderer
Nathan
Dunlap
as
the
only
person
currently
on
Death
Row
in
Colorado,
Lane
said.
Dunlap
murdered
four
people
at
a
pizza
parlor
in
Aurora
in
1993.
(4/23/07,
The
Denver
Post)
Search the news archives of the Boulder Daily Camera, the Denver Post, and the Denver Rocky Mountain News for additional information.
For information on other prisoners, see Colorado's Death Row.
See the Web site's News section for more articles and information about the death penalty.
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