Is the death penalty dead in Colorado?

On the evening of October 13 th , 1997, Gary Lee Davis, a convicted murderer and rapist, was put to death by lethal injection at the Colorado State Penitentiary. The last time any Colorado inmate was put to death.

During the last 17 years, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, there have been over 2,600 murders in Colorado but only three men are on death row: Nathan Dunlap, Sir Mario Owens and Robert Ray.

In the last year, two triple murderers, Harry Mapps and Jacob Vanwinkle, didn’t face the death penalty despite their victim’s family members requesting that punishment.

“Our lawmakers and our Governor are flat ignoring that. The only thing they have success on is making sure the murderers get more fresh air,” said Jim Stotler, whose daughter, Mandy Folsom, was murdered by Vanwinkle.

Back in May, Governor John Hickenlooper granted Nathan Dunlap an indefinite reprieve.

That decision is what Stotler believes played into the decision to not pursue the death penalty.

“When our kids and grand kids were murdered they had stopped Dunlap’s execution which affected us because the decision was made that they weren’t going after it because you’ve got a Governor who’s not gonna let it happen anyway,” Stotler said.

Cost is another factor that plays into pursuing capital punishment.

Some estimates show it costs 20 times as much to prosecute a capital murder case as it costs to prosecute a first degree murder case where the death penalty is not pursued.

If a District Attorney chooses to pursue the death penalty, taxpayers of that county foot the bill of the prosecution. All three men on death row were convicted in the Denver metro area which has a large tax base.