Family of 1988 rape, murder victim speaks out on suspect’s insanity plea

It’s been 30 years since Cynthia Renkel last saw her sister alive, and while her family is getting closer to finding justice, her sister’s case has been complicated.

“I don’t think we’ll ever get closure,” Renkel said.

The man accused of killing Mary Lynn Renkel Vialpondo in 1988 in Old Colorado City was arrested last year thanks to DNA testing. James Papol, now 46, was 15 years old at the time of the crime.

“It’s been 31 years since she was murdered. I knew there was DNA and I felt somewhere, sometime the DNA will match somebody and it finally did,” Renkel said.

Thursday, he appeared in court and pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. That means Papol, who is being held at the El Paso County jail without bond, will be moved to the Pueblo facility for an evaluation.

“We weren’t surprised. We expected it, given his past,” Renkel said.

Papol has a history of mental health and was even a patient confined at the state hospital at the time of his arrest. In fact, it’s where he’s spent much of the past two decades because of insanity commitments.

“I’ve been patient and I’m still going to be patient because I would rather see this done correctly than quickly. That’s the important for me, so I can be more patient,” she said.

At the time of the alleged crime, Papol was living with his mother and siblings in an Old Colorado City motel near the area where Renkel Vialpando’s body was found.

Investigators say she had argued with her husband after returning home from a wedding and ran away. Her body was found in an alley the next morning, stabbed, sexually assaulted and beaten.

Papol is set to appear back in court on October 8.

Stay with KRDO for the latest on this case.