Colorado Springs Police Department employees discarded evidence in one murder case and two suspected killings – including the 1986 kidnapping of an infant from his crib – raising concerns that the agency’s bungled evidence-room overhaul could have more serious repercussions than first disclosed.
The seriousness of the cases involved is at odds with recent statements by Police Chief Luis Velez that homicide cases were apparently unaffected by what he termed an “accidental” mass purging of evidence during the past two years by poorly supervised temporary employees. Velez, who has declined to publicly reveal details of problematic cases, was out of town and could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Meanwhile, confusion and frustration over the mishandling of evidence has roiled the El Paso County legal community, where prosecutors and defense lawyers are scrambling to gauge the damage to cases and the scope of the problem. Some believe it’s time for an outside investigation to help sort through the fallout so that information can flow to the various parties more accurately.
“This is just a horrible problem,” said public defender Carrie Thompson, suggesting that a task force be formed. “It’s a drain on our resources, and it’s only getting bigger,” a reference to continually revised lists of potentially affected cases that could number in the tens of thousands.
The district attorney’s office recently notified Thompson that a machine gun at the center of a 1999 murder case handled by her office was mistakenly discarded.
In the 2004 trial of that case, Derrick Turner was convicted of the gang-related shooting, along with two other defendants. Now 31, he is serving life without parole but is appealing the conviction.
While the missing gun’s impact on the appeal process is under review, it could factor heavily into a retrial if the conviction is overturned, Thompson said.
“Generally, weapons are very crucial to a trial,” she said.
Meanwhile, a source with knowledge of internal investigations into the evidence woes told The Denver Post that police employees junked evidence in two missing-person cases that were being treated by investigators as unsolved homicides.
The first is the vexing 1986 abduction of Christopher Abeyta, a 7-month-old who vanished from his crib. The child’s disappearance, among the most sensational mysteries in Colorado history, inspired an FBI investigation and a cross-continent family search to find him.
His parents, Gilbert and Bernice Abeyta, reported him missing in July of that year, saying he had vanished from his crib, which sat within 10 feet of their bed.
For a time, investigators focused on the parents as suspects – Bernice acknowledged failing portions of two polygraphs. But both proclaimed their innocence and pointed the finger at a woman Gilbert was romantically involved with for a brief period while he was separated from his wife.
Gilbert Abeyta said investigators took evidence such as Christopher’s hairs, bedding and handprints of his son into custody. He said police have refused to tell him what portion of that evidence is now missing.
“Somebody has to be held accountable,” he said. “That’s total incompetence and a lack of administration by the Police Department. … They can’t even tell me if my case was there or not? You have just lost 20 years of our lives? Twenty years of hope, and we have nothing now? Information that could have linked us to our son is gone?”
In the second case, a bloodstained mattress involved in the investigation of the 2001 disappearance of 83-year-old J.D. Ferguson from his Broadmoor home was discarded when the evidence room was cleaned out.
In recent years, police detectives struggled to develop leads in the Ferguson case while family members have repeatedly made public pleas for information and offered rewards.
In late April, Chief Velez informed members of a justice advisory council for the Pikes Peak region that evidence linked to some missing-person cases had been inadvertently trashed because it was not properly classified, said Thompson, who sits on the panel.
“He said there was a series of mistakes where the nature of the investigation would change” from missing persons to homicide and that a mislabeling led to evidence being disposed, Thompson said.
El Paso County District Attorney John Newsome has declined to comment on the potential impact on cases his office is prosecuting or has prosecuted.
But Thompson, the public defender, said the potential for lost evidence exists across the spectrum of cases she handles, from lesser felony investigations to misdemeanors.
Aside from logistical problems in cases, “there’s a real credibility issue at stake here,” Thompson said.
Velez has stressed that several internal inquiries – one by the city auditor, one by the district attorney and three by police – should run their course before case specifics are revealed to the public.
Staff writer Miles Moffeit can be reached at 303-820-1415 or mmoffeit@denverpost.com.
