When his mining claim prospects appeared bleak, James Chester Blanning Jr. would hint that if things didn’t turn around, he could always turn to “Plan B.”
“It looks like he decided Plan B was going to work out,” his brother Bill Blanning, 71, said Thursday.
On New Year’s Eve, James Blanning, 72, built four gasoline bombs in an extortion scheme in which he would demand $60,000 each from four Aspen banks on the busiest night of the year, police said.
When two of the four banks ignored his demands and called police, James Blanning abandoned his scheme and shot and killed himself. His body was found early Thursday.
The threats caused the evacuation of the downtown area and postponed the annual fireworks show until Thursday night.
Bill Blanning said his brother was always tortured by the belief that Aspen’s wealthy “bigwigs” thwarted his real estate business and ultimately had him imprisoned for actions that were civil, not criminal, in nature.
“Paranoia was a part of it,” Bill Blanning said. “I’ve been worried for years about his mental health. He’s been taking antidepressants for years.”
It was his brother’s belief that rich and famous people who didn’t want the land developed obstructed his plans to turn mining claims into lucrative mining deals, Bill Blanning said. He also believed small- government officials like county commissioners were their accomplices, he said.
“He was angry, that’s for sure,” Bill Blanning said.
In June of 1994, fellow miner Stefan Albouy shot himself to death after a series of failed attempts to develop his “Smuggler Mine.”
James Blanning took it personally.
A month later, James Blanning wrapped a climbing rope around his neck, put an Aspen Mining hat on his head and climbed on a ledge atop the Pitkin County Courthouse for seven hours, threatening to jump.
He blamed local government for driving Albouy to suicide and told the newspaper he shared Albouy’s frustrations with what he saw as Aspen’s transformation from a small mining town to a private preserve for the rich.
James Blanning had said he originally planned to stay on his perch at the courthouse for about a week.
Two years later, James Blanning was convicted of racketeering, organized crime, fraud and theft among numerous other charges and was sentenced to 16 years in prison. He was released to a halfway house in 2001 and put on parole in 2005.
“He always thought he should have never been sent to prison, that it was a civil matter,” his brother said.
He had other demons, too.
Bill Blanning said his brother, who grew up in Aspen, had a troubled life, with four failed marriages.
In a suicide letter he gave to the Aspen Times on Wednesday, he referred to his stay in prison, where he was never written up for disciplinary problems.
“For the first two years I was in prison I woke up every (morning) wishing I was dead,” he wrote. “Now it comes to pass. I was and am a good man.”
A neighbor in Blanning’s apartment building near West Colfax Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard in Denver said he didn’t know Blanning well but had some interesting interactions with him over the years.
On the positive side, Blanning regularly deposited the morning newspapers at his neighbors’ apartment doorsteps and said “hello” in the hallways, said Bill Sanders, 80.
But about five years ago, Sanders stepped out into the hall when he heard a commotion. There were two uniformed officers with guns drawn at Blanning’s door. They told him to return to his apartment, which he did, and he never heard more of it.
Once a few years ago Blanning knocked on Sanders’ door and told him to turn down his classical music. Sanders did, and Blanning returned a few minutes later telling him it was still too loud. Sanders turned off the music. It was the only confrontation between the two, he said.
“I considered him a nice person and a good neighbor,” Sanders said. “It was completely unexpected to hear of him going up to Aspen to rob a bank. Nothing indicated anything like that.”
Bill Blanning said his brother was driven by financial problems. On Christmas Eve he went to his brother’s office to see how he was doing.
His brother complained that several people who owed him money were not paying up because of the bad economy.
In his letter to the Aspen Times, he “bequeathed” crime scenes from Wednesday’s robbery attempts, including his Denver office at 1615 California St. and his Denver apartment at 1590 Wolff St., to Aspen Mayor Mick Ireland and Pitkin County Sheriff Robert Braudis.
“Rot in hell,” the letter said. “The story is in the scene.”
Bill Blanning said in the past whenever his brother hinted about “Plan B” he figured he was planning another stunt like the one at the courthouse.
On Christmas Eve, his brother referred to Plan B again.
“He was at the end of his rope,” he said.
Staff writer Greg Griffin contributed to this report.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
THE PLOT
Angry over Aspen’s shift from mining town to rich haven, James Blanning, left, wrapped bombs to extort four banks.
THE END
Blanning’s body was found early Thursday in his vehicle, where he apparently committed suicide after distributing two packages.
THE IMPACT
New Year’s Eve parties in the mountain resort town were postponed as police evacuated a 16-block section of downtown.
