Four people from Ignacio were given federal prison sentences in the beating and stabbing death of an American Indian man in the summer of 2007, according to authorities.
Isaac Headman, 27, of Ignacio was sentenced to life in prison this week in the slaying of Clifton Joseph Greany, who was beaten and stabbed in the neck over the course of two days on the Southern Ute reservation in southwestern Colorado in August 2007, according to a news release by Jeffrey Dorschner, spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Colorado.
Judge Robert Blackburn on Wednesday also sentenced April Watts, 21; Johnita Taylor, 32; and Monica Williams, 24, to prison terms of 22 years, 25 years and 23 years, respectively, for their roles in the murder, Dorschner said in a news release.
“This was a horrific crime,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Jim Davis said in a statement.
Taylor, Williams and Watts were convicted of first-degree murder but received lesser sentences after entering guilty pleas before Headman’s trial in September.
Headman and the other defendants beat and kicked Greany, Dorschner said. Headman put the victim into the trunk of a car and with his co-defendants drove to a remote location. Headman, Watts and Williams then stabbed Greany in the throat with a knife while Taylor encouraged the stabbing.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
