The mother of a 15-year-old murdered by his best friend in Park County has offered her forgiveness and wants to testify at his resentencing hearing this week, but a number of hurdles stand in the way.
Jennifer Vandresar – in prison for vehicular homicide after a drunken-driving episode prompted, she says, by her despair over the death of her son five years ago – wants to help Isaac Grimes get his 60-year sentence reduced, according to her sister.
“It’s very complex. It’s a spiritual thing,” said Vandresar’s sister, Kathy Creech. “What she’d like to see is having his sentence reduced so that he can have some hope that he could have a life outside of prison and to get the kind of treatment that he needs.”
Grimes reportedly has spiraled into despair in the aftermath of slashing Tony Dutcher’s throat during a triple homicide on that New Year’s Eve outside the sleepy Park County hamlet of Guffey.
Dutcher’s grandparents Carl and Joanna Dutcher also were slain that night by Jonathan Matheny, who participated with Grimes in what was described as a paramilitary club led by classmate Simon Sue at Palmer High School in Colorado Springs.
Sue ordered Matheny and Grimes to steal Carl Dutcher’s vast cache of weapons as proof of loyalty to the organization.
Although Vandresar has written to Grimes and volunteered to testify for him in a sentence-reconsideration hearing Wednesday, her imprisonment and his apparent reluctance to help himself bring to question whether she will be called to appear.
“Jenny wants to be there, but we’re not sure how we can even get that accomplished,” Creech said.
She is considered a victim in the murder of her son under the Colorado Constitution and therefore legally allowed to attend the hearing, but typically victims are brought to the courts by the prosecution.
In this situation, however, Vandresar would be testifying on behalf of the defense.
“It’s an unusual procedural setting,” acknowledged Denver defense lawyer Dan Recht, who is not involved in the case. “In 99 percent of the cases, the victim’s right to be heard is helpful to the prosecution. Nevertheless, it isn’t just a tool for the prosecution.”
Grimes, though, is not represented by an attorney, and his mother, Donna, says he may not fight to reduce his sentence, meaning he may not request that Vandresar appear or even know how to make the motion.
Vandresar can assert her own rights to appear under the 1992 Victim’s Rights Act, Recht said, but she would need to draw the attention of the judge – something that may be difficult to do from the Denver Women’s Correctional Facility – so that transportation and courtroom security can be arranged.
“She has the right to appear at the hearing and be heard, whether or not the prosecution wants her to be heard and whether or not Grimes wants her to be heard,” Recht said.
Vandresar is serving 10 years for homicide in a collision she caused while driving drunk down the wrong side of Interstate 25 in Colorado Springs as she turned to substance abuse in her struggle with her son’s death.
Grimes, now 20, received his GED in prison but has recently found himself in “a very dark place,” according to his mother, in part because a similar hearing a year ago resulted in a 10-year reduction that was overturned on a technicality.
“He really began to change then,” Donna Grimes said about her son, who has recently cut off all direct contact with her. “That’s when he gave up.”
Late last year, the Colorado Supreme Court sent the sentences against both Grimes and Matheny back to District Judge Kenneth Plotz for reconsideration, contending that lengthy sentence enhancements included in their prison terms were improper because both were resolved through plea bargains.
Vandresar’s path to forgiveness toward Grimes has been difficult, Creech said, but she recalled her son’s best friend as a charming, intelligent kid with a good sense of humor, and she doesn’t want to see him completely discarded.
“There is a concern that she won’t be taken seriously because people don’t understand. How could a mother ever forgive the person who killed her child?” Creech asked. “But she’s really concerned about Isaac, and hearing about his mental state really compelled her to try to reach out and help in any way that she can, even if it’s just to say: ‘I forgive you.”‘
Not everyone in the family feels the same way, Creech acknowledged. Vandresar’s former husband, Charles Dutcher – who could not be reached for comment but lost his parents and his only son in the slayings – has stated previously that the death penalty would have been too good for the killers.
Staff writer Steve Lipsher can be reached at 970-513-9495 or slipsher@denverpost.com.
