BOULDER, Colo.—A habitual criminal pleaded guilty Thursday in the deaths of four people and was sentenced to 70 years in prison.
Scott Lee Kimball faced second-degree murder charges in the deaths of his uncle Terry Kimball, and acquaintances Jennifer Marcum, LeAnn Emry and Kaysi McLeod. They all disappeared in 2003 and 2004.
Kimball led authorities to the remains of Terry Kimball and Emry, and McLeod’s body was found in northwest Colorado. He earlier agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder if the remains of the could be found, but Marcum’s have not been recovered. Prosecutor Katharina Booth said authorities agreed to the plea bargain so the victims’ families could have closure.
Kimball, once a cooperating witness for the FBI, was serving 53 years in prison on theft and a variety of other charges. The new sentence will run concurrently with his current term. The 42-year-old Kimball won’t be elibile for parole until 2044.
Booth told District Judge James Klein that Kimball was an evil man who deserved to spend the rest of his life in prison.
“The public didn’t know that he was a dangerous killer who walked amongst us,” Booth said.
Prosecutors charged that Kimball had connections to all the victims. Marcum was a federal witness against one of Kimball’s former cell mates, McLeod’s mother was once married to Kimball, and Emry had dated another of Kimball’s cell mates.
But Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett said at a news conference later that authorities still don’t know Kimball’s specific motives for the killings.
“Who knows why people do things like this,” Garnett said. “Mr. Kimball was a very dangerous and very sick man.”
Family members of victims wept in the packed courtroom as Kimball pleaded “guilty” in a quiet voice.
Robert Marcum, the father of Jennifer Marcum, said he has searched for years for his daughter to no avail.
But many relatives weren’t able to get into the courtroom, including McLeod’s grandmother, Katherine McLeod of Arvada. Like other members of the family, she wore a button with McLeod’s picture and a purple ribbon, her granddaughter’s favorite color.
“I think he should go to prison and never get out. They came to me telling me they found her skull up in the mountains,” she said.
After the court hearing, shouting broke out in the halls of the Boulder County Courthouse between family members of victims and Kimball’s cousin, Ed Coet, who read a statement from Kimball. The felon claimed that he was part of an international crime enterprise and that he tricked the FBI into using him as an informant. Booth said authorities investigated the claims and concluded he acted alone.
Kimball’s previous convictions include theft, issuing bad checks, forgery, illegal weapons, escape from custody, and possession of counterfeit securities, according to official records.
According to official records, authorities in Adams County investigated Kimball in 2004 for attempted homicide after his 10-year-old son reported that he had been pushed out of a moving vehicle. But the district attorney declined to file charges after a doctor said the boy’s statements were unreliable “due to his extensive head injury.”
“It was the most difficult decision I’ve made as a prosecutor,” Adams County District Attorney Don Quick said Thursday. “I’m glad he’s getting justice today for a variety of things that are in and out of court.”
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Associated Press Writer P. Solomon Banda also contributed to this report.
