Juror in Nathan Dunlap trial speaks out, disagrees with Hickenlooper’s handling of case
Steve Cohen was one of 12 individuals who recommended the death penalty for convicted killer Nathan Dunlap 18 years ago in a Colorado Springs courtroom.
Recently fired from his job, Dunlap shot and killed four former co-workers and gravely wounded a fifth at the Aurora Chuck E. Cheese in December 1993.
Cohen’s traveled a long road, hoping to see justice.
“I want to see this to the end,” Cohen said. “Not just for this crime, but crimes of the future, you just can’t get away with it.”
In an interview with CNN earlier this year, Governor John Hickenlooper said he could grant Dunlap clemency if he loses the November election to former congressman Bob Beauprez.
In May 2013, the governor granted Dunlap a temporary reprieve only months before the killer’s scheduled execution. That decision angered Cohen.
“This crime was heinous enough that Dunlap should be put to death,” Cohen said. “If Gov. Hickenlooper can change the way of the jury system then why do we need a jury system?”
As part of Dunlap’s clemency petition filed last year, some of Cohen’s fellow jurors signed affidavits stating had they known about the death-row inmate’s diagnosed bipolar disorder in 1996, they may not have supported the death penalty in this case.
But Cohen has never wavered from that original decision.
“It’s just an obligation I set forward with myself that I’ll see this to the end. The end is near, not there.”