Five killed in Douglas County crash, report says suspect was on parole

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) - Five people died in a violent crash near Franktown earlier this week and the man investigators say caused the collision was out on state parole at the time, according to 9NEWS Investigates in Denver.

The crash happened Monday after a stolen Toyota Matrix crossed Highway 83, rolled, and hit another vehicle head-on.

9NEWS reports that the driver suspected in the crash is Walter Huling III, who investigators believe carjacked the Toyota from a woman at an RTD Park-and-Ride in Aurora roughly an hour earlier.

Public records reviewed by 9NEWS show Huling had been arrested more than a dozen times in just over ten years. The station reports his most recent prison sentence began after he pleaded guilty to assaulting three people in Denver in 2019. One of the victims in that case was a police officer. At the time of Monday’s crash, he was under the supervision of the state parole system.

9NEWS legal analyst Scott Robinson told the station that parole is designed to help people transition back into the community after incarceration, but that repeat offenses are not uncommon.

"In theory, parole is a transition stage between being in the prison and being out in society," Robinson said, adding that historically, "people who have been convicted of crimes in the past are more likely to commit crimes in the future."

According to 9NEWS, the incident in Douglas County is now the latest in a string of deadly crimes involving people on parole. Since 2023, the station has tracked 19 deaths along the Front Range in which the suspects were under parole supervision. Those cases include a stabbing of an RTD passenger in September 2023 and a deadly crash in Clear Creek County last month.

9NEWS also reports that Huling was convicted of violating a restraining order in Boulder County in 2024. The station has not been able to determine whether his parole officer was aware of that violation or whether any effort was made to revoke his parole.

State parole officials have not yet released information about Huling’s most recent supervision status or any decisions leading up to Monday’s crash.