Golden – Jefferson County Sheriff Ted Mink will make no decision on whether to release materials seized during the Columbine High School shooting investigation until after the tragedy’s seventh anniversary.
“With all due respect to the families, the sheriff will not be making a decision until sometime after the anniversary,” sheriff’s spokeswoman Jacki Kelley said Thursday.
On April 20, 1999, 12 students and a teacher were killed and 20 others were injured when Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris shot them as they walked through the south Jefferson County high school and campus.
Materials requested for release include audiotapes, writings, diaries and notations in school yearbooks made by Klebold and Harris; the so-called “basement tapes” in which the two gunmen display weapons and boast about their plans; notes written by Harris’ father, Wayne, about juvenile crimes committed by the two teenagers a year earlier; and medical records for Harris and Klebold.
On Nov. 15, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled The Denver Post, which joined victims’ families in seeking the materials, was correct in arguing that items taken under search warrants from Klebold’s and Harris’ homes are criminal justice records and are to be released unless that is contrary to the public interest.
The court said Mink should make that decision based on five factors. To gauge public impact, Mink sent letters asking the opinions of the victims’ families.
Mink has received an unspecified number of e-mails, faxes, letters and phone calls, Kelley said, and “they are still coming in.”
The Post sought a Feb. 24 deadline for responses and a March 10 deadline for Mink to make a decision. Jefferson County District Court Chief Judge Brooke Jackson denied that request Feb. 3, saying when the decision is made is up to the sheriff “absent an unreasonable delay.”
Staff writer Ann Schrader can be reached at 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
