Community wonders if they’ll find closure in life sentences for triple murderer
A town rocked by triple murder got answers Thursday about the accused killer’s fate, but some wonder if the man got off easy.
A judge sentenced Harry Mapps, 60, to three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.He pleaded guilty to killingKim and Reginald Tuttle and their daughter, Dawn Roderick, before setting their Rye home on fire on November 27, 2013.
Mapps was arrested at a motel in Roland, Oklahoma on December 28, 2013.
The victims were dead for at least five hours before their house was set on fire, according to court papers obtained by The Pueblo Chieftain in January 2014.
Roger Ice lived next to the Tuttles. He wanted Mapps to pay the ultimate price for his neighbors’ deaths.
“Well if a person likes the outdoors, that may be worse then death, though I would still give him the death penalty,” said Ice.
The Tuttles’ burned home is still standing. There are temporary fences surrounding the charred property to keep people out.
“Ithink it’s a real eyesore and I don’t like to look at it for the memory of what happened,” said Ice.
Larry Schweers watched the Tuttles’ home burn from his yard. He said he wasn’t friends with the couple, but they were “good neighbors.”
He also wanted the death penalty for Mapps but thinks the judge’s decision could bring closure to the victims’ family.
“It’s going to work out for the best, he may suffer more for three life sentences without the chance of parole,” said Schweers.
Schweers and Ice said it still leaves one question unanswered. They said the community wants to know why Mapps killed the Tuttles and Roderick.
“What provoked him to do it? We sure haven’t heard anything on that part,” said Ice.
“What I really want to find out is why he done it. There is a reason back in there somewhere,” said Schweers. “We thought, if it goes to trial we will find out.”
The community doesn’t have all the answersit wanted, butit hasone — Mapps will never return to Rye.
“It will probably bring some closure to most of it and now that they can move forward,” said Schweers.
