The Colorado Court of Appeals on Thursday threw out the attempted first-degree murder conviction of an ex-convict who said she was going to “kill two pigs,” bought the ingredients for two pipe bombs and drove by the home of one of her alleged targets several times.
One of Charity Michelle Lehnert’s targets was Thomas Vanderwerf, a state Department of Corrections officer. Vanderwerf worked at the Denver Women’s Correctional Center and earlier was threatened by Lehnert while she was incarcerated there.
Colorado law says a person commits “criminal attempt” if he or she engages in conduct that is a “substantial step” toward committing a crime.
According to a Court of Appeals ruling by Judge Sandra Rothenberg, Lehn ert’s actions amounted to “mere preparation” to carry out a plot and didn’t amount to a “substantial step.”
Kristen Hubbell, spokeswoman for state Attorney General John Suthers, said the opinion may set a precedent in Colorado. She said Suthers is taking the ruling seriously and will ask the Court of Appeals for a rehearing. If that request is denied, Suthers will consider whether to ask the Colorado Supreme Court to review the case.
Robin Whitley, who heads the appellate division of the Denver District Attorney’s Office, said the “mere preparation” standard announced by the court was new to him and that he “gasped a few times” as he read the decision.
Denver prosecutor George Poland prosecuted Lehnert, who was convicted of attempted first-degree murder and possession of explosive or incendiary devices. She was sentenced to 30 years in October 2002 on the attempted-murder charge and six years on the explosives count, which wasn’t overturned. Lehn ert remains incarcerated.
In the summer of 2001, after Lehn ert, 31, was released from prison, Denver investigators were contacted by a gun-shop owner who told them a woman was trying to buy gunpowder from him. Police learned from a Lehnert acquaintance that she had said she intended to “kill two pigs” with two pipe bombs.
Police raided Lehnert’s apartment and found wire, electrical tape, a battery, two metal pipes, two metal cap ends, flashlight bulbs that can be used to ignite pipe bombs, gloves, shotgun shells, falsified birth certificates, a falsified high-school transcript and directions to Vanderwerf’s home.
But Rothenberg said the pipe bombs had not been assembled and that they hadn’t been placed near the intended victims. Thus, there was no viable bomb. While the evidence showed she was preparing to carry out her plan, she was arrested “before she took any substantial step beyond preparation,” the opinion said.
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-820-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
