Brighton – A man originally sentenced to death for kidnapping, raping and murdering a woman in 1994 was re-sentenced today to life in prison without parole.
Robert Harlan got a death sentence from an Adams County jury for killing Rhonda Maloney but escaped execution after the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that jurors in the case improperly consulted the Bible.
“It could be said you may have avoided the death penalty by a technicality,” Adams County District Court Judge Scott Crabtree told Harlan.
Crabtree said his hands were tied and the sentence he imposed was “mandated” by the judicial system.
“I have no discretion here,” Crabtree said.
Maloney’s sister, Kerri Gemeinhardt, said she’s disappointed that Harlan won’t be put to death.
“I’m unhappy that he didn’t get the death sentence,” Gemeinhardt said after the court hearing. “But as long as he never gets out I’m satisfied.”
On Feb. 12, 1994, Harlan kidnapped, raped and murdered Maloney as she tried drive from her Central City job to her Adams County home.
Maloney temporarily escaped when motorist Jacquie Creazzo slowed down after spotting two cars parked off the highway near Interstates 76 and 25.
Maloney jumped into Creazzo’s car and told Creazzo she’d been run off the road by a man with a gun.
Creazzo sped toward the Thornton Police Department with Harlan in pursuit. Harlan fired bullets into the good samaritan’s car, hitting Creazzo in the knee, spine and face, causing her to crash.
Harlan pulled Maloney out of Creazzo’s car, dragged her to his car and drove off. Maloney’s body was found seven days later.
Creazzo, who remains paralyzed from the assault, didn’t appear in court today.
Bob Grant, the former Adams County District Attorney who prosecuted the original case, told the court today that a life sentence “is not what the citizens of Adams County” wanted for Harlan.
“It’s a damn shame the (death penalty) verdict will not be carried out,” Grant said after the hearing.
Kathleen Lord, Harlan’s defense attorney, said the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling is correct and justice is served.
“An eye for an eye is not the law of Colorado,” Lord said, referring to the jury’s use of the Old Testament.
“It was a serious error of the law,” she said. “It was not right.”
Gemeinhardt said she felt the jury did nothing wrong and the death sentence should have been carried out.
Meanwhile, she still grieves for her sister.
“I miss her every day,” Gemeinhardt said. “It is never going to go away.”
Staff writer Kieran Nicholson can be reached at 303-820-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
