Fairplay – A paroled murderer was charged Monday with kidnapping and strangling a geology intern in rural Park County, among other criminal counts that could bring the death penalty.
Robert R. Amos, 44, appeared in shackles and chains in the Park County District Court to be advised of charges in the killing of Alyssa Heberton-Morimoto on June 26 as she worked in the Pike-San Isabel National Forest on a geological survey.
Amos, a suspected alias for a man who served 19 years in prison for a 1981 murder in Kansas under the name Dennis Lee Cook, also faces charges of illegally possessing a rifle and acting as a habitual criminal.
“Does the defendant prefer ‘Mr. Cook’ or ‘Mr. Amos’?” District Judge Charles Barton asked the slightly built defendant.
“It’s up to you, judge,” he answered.
“OK, I’ll go with ‘Mr. Cook.”‘
“Go with ‘Mr. Amos,’ please,” he responded.
Heberton-Morimoto’s body was found with a green military web belt wrapped around her neck in a stream northwest of Antero Reservoir, partially covered by branches, hours after she frantically called her supervisor on a GPS radio, screaming for help.
The 24-year-old newlywed had split paths with University of Colorado geology professor Karen Houck as they mapped geological features west of U.S. 285, and she was waiting at their vehicle when she purportedly encountered Amos, who was camping nearby.
District Attorney Molly Chilson, who is prosecuting the case, declined to comment on whether she would seek the death penalty.
Court records reveal that investigators last week searched a trailer home where Amos is said to have resided for a couple of weeks before he was asked to leave by the RV park owners.
Paul and Deborah Gentry also mentioned that Heberton-Morimoto had visited the campground a couple of weeks earlier and had told them she would be mapping in the area. It is not known if she encountered Amos at the time.
At 5-foot-8 and 145 pounds, Amos seemed dwarfed in a red jail jumpsuit, his face framed by a mane of bushy blond hair, thin beard and moustache.
In part because of his role as a one-time informant, Amos was transferred for his safety to Colorado’s Buena Vista Correctional Facility, where he served 17 years of his 15-years-to-life sentence in the 1981 murder of a Kansas teacher. He won parole in 2000.
