A man who doused himself in gasoline and threatened to blow up the home of his ex-girlfriend, using a pickup truck loaded with canisters of gasoline and diesel fuel, has been sentenced to more than 100 years in prison.
William Ples Hunt, 54, was convicted in April by an Arapahoe County Jury on three counts of attempted first-degree murder. He was sentenced Tuesday, according to an Arapahoe County District Attorney’s Office media release.
Hunt received a 136-year prison sentence.
In July 2005 Hunt was arrested by Arapahoe County Sheriff’s deputies after 20 homes were evacuated around the 7300 block of South Fillmore Circle.
After receiving a tip from an acquaintance of Hunt, sheriff’s deputies went to the victim’s home and found the woman distraught over death threats she had received.
Investigators found an abandoned U-Haul truck Hunt had been driving about a block away from the victim’s home. Hunt abandoned the vehicle after being overcome with vapors, which displaced oxygen in the cab. Deputies found him hiding nearby in bushes.
The Tiffany subdivision in Arapahoe County was shut down for most of the day as gasoline and diesel fumes permeated the area.
At the time of the incident, Hunt was on parole for first-degree murder and aggravated assault out of Mississippi.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
