HomeMy WebLinkAbout972531.tiff1900 East County Road 34
Fort Collins, CO 80528
October 24, 1997
George Baxter
Senior Chair Commissioner
Weld County Commissioners
915 10th Street
Greeley, Colorado 80632
RE: Sheryl Parker
Murdered July 18, 1996
Del Camino, Colorado
For the past 15 months, the murder of Sheryl Parker has been
under investigation with no arrest having been made. To refresh
your memory regarding this little publicized murder, Sheryl was
killed by blunt trauma and her body was disposed of in the St.
Vrain River. She was not found for eight days and was
identifiable only by her dental records. Sheryl was our oldest
daughter.
The two investigators who have been assigned to follow through on
this case from Weld County, are Alan Price and Robbie Korgan-
Reed. They have provided us with continuous reports on the
progress of this investigation, offering assurance that this case
is very solvable with time.
Sheriff Ed Jordan, Al Price, Robbie Korgan-Reed and Andy Josey
from Larimer County met with us in May regarding some of the
information they had accumulated toward solving this case. The
meeting included our youngest daughter, Linda Workman, as well as
her husband, Jonathan. Our reaction to viewing and listening to
the results of the investigation was one of mixed emotions.
Frustration due to lack of hard evidence that would lead to a
conviction and anger about the deception that was uncovered
regarding the behavior of her husband during the 22 years of
their marriage.
In weekly updates from Al Price, we find that the time being
spent on the investigation of Sheryl's case has been limited to
two days per week, although we are assured that there is "a ton
of work yet to do". The cutback on allowable time for this case
was cited due to the workload of the few investigators for the
entire county. It seems that each time another crime is
committed, Sheryl's case is set aside until the new crime is
settled. Then the investigation resumes as time allows.
Ack74.3- c-5/49
972531
Page Two
It is extremely difficult to understand how one murder can pre-
empt another. How can one life be more important than another?
If the decision has been made that no further progress can be
made on a case, then possibly another case could take precedence
over another. However, we are assured that this is a very active
case and no such decision has been made. Sheryl Parker was
murdered and the person responsible for her death is continuing
their life as if nothing has happened.
There should be some sense of urgency to finalize a pending
murder case rather than to table the case while other more recent
cases are resolved. An investigator should be able to follow
through on potential evidence until either the case is solved or
declared to be unsolvable - not put on hold while other cases
take precedence.
Is it possible that you are understaffed and do not have the
capability to handle the workload in your county? How can you
justify ignoring a pending murder case for a more recent case?
Understandably, it is necessary to quickly collect evidence when
a crime has been commmitted. Evidence can be destroyed and never
be recovered again if the law is not responsive immediately.
However, there should be adequate staff to allow law officers to
stay active on the current case to which they are assigned.
Just an example of procrastination regarding Sheryl's case is
many search warrants have been obtained to follow up on telephone
activity of certain individuals. A chart has been made regarding
this activity, Robbie Korgan-Reed has become a telephone expert
and integral telephone calls have been researched. However, some
information is still lacking and other sources have been
contacted to assist in this research. This was all done quite
some time ago and when Al Price was questioned about the results
of the research, he had not been able to get back to the research
source due to lack of time because of other cases to which he had
been assigned.
It would seem that Sheryl's case is not receiving even the two
days that had been allocated to seek her justice. Why?
Charlotte L. Hahn
Donald L. Hahn
Page Three
A request was made when this investigation began to
keep a low profile in the media regarding our
daughter's death. It was our opinion that the children
would suffer if the news media was involved with the
rumors created by the newspapers and other news
sources. Maybe that was a mistake - it seems that if
there is not a high profile, the case loses importance.
For instance, compare the Ramsey Case with Sheryl's
case and you will find a close parallel with the
exception of the high profile in the media. Also,
instead of reducing the amount of time spent on the
Ramsey investigation, there have been increases in the
budget and the number of people assigned to the
investigation. Not a reduction! The Ramsey murder was
a brutal crime, but Sheryl's murder was no less brutal.
Plus Sheryl's murder is several months older than the
Ramsey murder.
The above is submitted as a protest to the progress of
our daughter's murder investigation. The Weld County
Sheriff's office and staff have extended every courtesy
in keeping our family informed to the best of their
ability without jeopardizing the integrity of their
case. In our opinion, the case would move along more
rapidly if continuous attention was available. Our
family has offered a reward, personal information has
been provided, and media coverage in the newspapers and
television was publicized. At this time, we feel all
the bases have been covered on our part. Now....it's
up to law enforcement to do their job. We expect
action with results. If they are occupied by every
other case that happens to come along, Sheryl's killer
will go unpunished.
erely,
/ch
cc: Ed Jordan, Weld County Sheriff
C°C OF THE Sh,
O
GREELEY OFFICE
910 10TH AVENUE
GREELEY, CO 80631
PHONE (970) 356-4015
November 5, 1997
Mrs. Charlotte L. Hahn
1900 East County Road 34
Fort Collins, CO 80528
Dear Mrs Hahn:
ED JORDAN
FT. LUPTON SUB -STATION
330 PARK AVENUE
FT. LUPTON, CO 80621
PHONE (907) 356-4015 EXT.5906
(303) 857-2465
I am in receipt of your letter addressed to Commissioner Baxter regarding your concerns about
resources allocated to the ongoing, active investigation of your daughter's murder. I have
discussed your letter with the detectives assigned to the case, their supervisor, and the
administrator for the operations department.
I need to clarify some general issues raised in your letter. The role of investigators is to
competently gather and document all facts and information resulting from a criminal episode.
This information is provided to the District Attorne who is ultimately responsible to determine
if the facts and information are sufficient to convince a jury of twelve people that crime was
committed and that a specific person or persons committed that crime beyond a reasonable
doubt.
The gathering of facts and information is the only aspect of a case that can be controlled. The
random circumstances surrounding a case dictate what facts and information are present to be
discovered. While a competent investigation may discover all the facts and circumstances, the
weight of that evidence may not be sufficient for the District Attorney to prosecute. With this in
mind, I am concerned any case be characterized as "solvable" because that is ultimately not
controlled by investigators. There is also no way to predict how long a case investigation will
take for the same reasons.
You specifically mentioned the Boulder PoliceRamsey case investigation. I cannot comment
Syktot nI`Y
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972588
Mrs Charlotte L. Hahn
November 5, 1997
on, nor draw any comparison to, the level of resources dedicated to that investigation and the
investigation of your daughter's murder. The level and duration of resources committed to a case
investigation are based upon the specific needs of each case. Some investigative steps may
immediately be necessary to gather evidence or information before it is destroyed or
contaminated; other continuing investigative steps are sequential and more methodical. These
and many other factors, in conjunction with the experience and training of the staff directly
involved, determine the level of resources committed to an investigation. Each case is different
in that regard.
You expressed a concern about detectives assigned to your daughter's case also working on other
case investigations. I can assure you your daughter's murder is an active and on -going
investigation. As I have already explained to you we will continue working leads on this case to
the extent that it is necessary. If the leads dictate that it take one hour a week or eighty hours a
week we will make sure that the resources are available.
Additional resources have been requested and provided in this case. None has been denied.
These resources included additional budget expenditures to support specific investigative
activities and staff overtime. These expenditures have been accommodated within the current
budget. There has not been a request for additional staff resources requiring general fund
supplemental budget appropriations and I have not made such a request to the Weld County
Board of Commissioners. The decision to request resources within the Sheriffs Office is mine
as an independent elected official.
The assigned detectives have indicated they have kept you appraised of case progress and that
will continue. I have asked the Investigations Division supervisor to meet with the detectives
and review all resource allocation relative to the needs of this case. If additional staff time is
required, it will be assigned. The allocation of resources will be regularly reviewed and assigned
accordingly. As I stated earlier, this is an active, on -going investigation.
We all want to see the perpetrator held responsible for what has been done. I assure you we are
all committed to doing all we can to make that happen. While I understand your frustration and
concern, there is no way I could imagine your terrible loss. However, there are others who do
understand because they too have lost their children by murder. If you have an interest, please
call or write:
PARENTS OF MURDERED CHILDREN
228 La Paz Place
Longmont, CO 80501
303-772-6004
2
Mrs Charlotte L. Hahn
November 5, 1997
Please call me if you have other questions or concerns. 1 can be reached at 1-800-436-9276, ext
4633.
Sincerely;
Ed Jordan
Weld County Sheriff
cc: George Baxter, Commissioner
Rick Dill, Administrator
Rick Bauer, Investigations
Robbie Korgan-Reed. Investigator
Al Price, Investigator
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