DENVER—A Colorado man who was imprisoned for 14 years after the killings of two people is free on bail with a new trial on the horizon.
Tim Kennedy, 52, posted $250,000 bail Friday night and was released from the El Paso County jail.
“I’ve been truly blessed,” Kennedy said during a phone interview, adding that he’s looking forward to his new trial.
“It’s great. There’s a whole other side of this case that’s never been presented,” he said.
Kennedy was convicted in 1997 of the 1991 shooting deaths of 15-year-old Jennifer Carpenter and her boyfriend, 37-year-old Steve Staskiewicz.
In April, El Paso County District Judge Thomas Kane, who presided over Kennedy’s trial, overturned his convictions, partly because no DNA evidence tied him to the crimes. He also cited flawed evidence and prosecutors’ failure to turn over evidence to the defense.
Kennedy’s $250,000 bail was set Tuesday, and one of his attorneys said it was posted by his family.
“We don’t believe that he’ll spend another day in a jail or a prison because he’s an innocent man,” said John Dicke, who has represented Kennedy since March 2008.
El Paso County prosecutors maintain Kennedy is guilty and say they will put him on trial again. It’s expected to start Sept. 21. The prosecutors have criticized the method of DNA testing used in his case, saying it’s unreliable.
“This man is dangerous,” Dan Zook, an assistant district attorney, said in court this week while arguing that Kennedy should be held without bond. “I believe he is a danger to the community.”
Dutch DNA expert Richard Eikelenboom, who conducted the DNA tests in Kennedy’s case, also ran tests for Timothy Masters. His conviction and life sentence in the 1987 slaying of Peggy Hettrick in Fort Collins was overturned with the use of DNA evidence, and he was released in January 2008. Hettrick’s slaying remains unsolved.
In Kennedy’s case, Eikelenboom said his DNA was not on the bodies of Carpenter and Staskiewicz, or an a sponge believed to have been used as a gun silencer.
Zook alleges Kennedy wore gloves during the shooting.
Investigators say Carpenter was a runaway and that someone ordered to have her killed just as prosecutors were looking to obtain her testimony for a case in which she was allegedly kidnapped and sexually assaulted.
Prosecutors say one of the handguns used in the shootings belonged to Kennedy, but he claims to have lent it to Staskiewicz, his friend, so he could protect himself.
Kathleen Carlson, who along with Dicke was appointed by a judge to represent Kennedy in 2008, said Friday she was glad he was released.
“I’m sure that he’ll enjoy just breathing fresh air and taking a walk,” she said.
Carlson said Kennedy would be living with his family in Arvada, Colo., while he waits for his new trial. Kennedy said he wants to return to work as a carpenter.
“I used to work with my hands,” he said. “I’ve been a carpenter all my life. I’m just looking forward to working with my hands again and start putting my life back together.”
Carlson and Dicke took over Kennedy’s case because he had a falling out with the public defender’s office, Carlson said. But as Kennedy’s case enters its new phase, Carslon and Dicke will cease to be Kennedy’s attorneys, and the public defender’s office will represent him again, Carlson said.
After his release, Kennedy went out for a steak with Dicke.
“It was delicious,” he said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve sat down at a restaurant. It was a blessing.”
