Colorado governor a friend of paroled inmate's dad
Updated 10:50 PM ET
DENVER Attorney Jack Ebel testified before the Colorado Legislature two years ago that solitary confinement in a Colorado prison was destroying the psyche of his son Evan.
When Jack Ebel's longtime friend, Gov. John Hickenlooper, was interviewing a Missouri corrections official for the top prisons job in Colorado, he mentioned the case as an example of why the prison system needed reform. And once Tom Clements came to Colorado, he eased the use of solitary confinement and tried to make it easier for people housed there to re-enter society.
Colo. prisons chief murder suspect on life support
Now authorities are investigating whether Evan Spencer Ebel, who was paroled in January, is linked to the assassination of Clements, who was shot and killed Tuesday night when he answered the front door of his house in a rural neighborhood.
The bullet casings from that shooting are the same type as those found at the site of a bloody gun battle Thursday between Evan Ebel and Texas law enforcement officers that ended with Ebel being shot and killed, according to court records.
The car Ebel drove matched the description of the one spotted outside Clements' house on the night of the prison director's death. Authorities also found a Domino's pizza delivery box in the trunk and a jacket or shirt from the pizza chain. Denver police say Ebel is now a suspect in the Sunday slaying of pizza delivery man Nathan Leon.
Wise County Sheriff David Walker in Texas spoke to CBS News correspondent Anna Werner about what the car could tell the authorities. "I think the vehicle will lead us to where he's been," he said. He also added that it is unknown why he was in Texas.
- White supremacist linked to Texas car chase, Colo. slaying
- Colo. police look for car in prison director's killing
- FBI checks link between Texas, Colorado slayings
Hickenlooper confirmed his relationship with Jack Ebel to The Denver Post and KUSA-TV Friday evening and then in a written statement Friday night. State records show Ebel donated $1,050 to the governor's 2010 campaign. But there's no indication that Hickenlooper's relationship with the Ebels played a role in the shooting.
Hickenlooper denied having any role in Evan Ebel's parole.
"Although Jack loved his son, he never asked me to intervene on his behalf and I never asked for any special treatment for his son," Hickenlooper's written statement said.
State prisons spokeswoman Alison Morgan said Evan Ebel was paroled Jan. 28 as part of a mandatory process after serving his full prison term. He had most recently been sentenced to four years for punching a prison guard in 2008, according to state records.
Hickenlooper said he never mentioned Ebel's name to Clements or anyone else connected with the prisons system. He said he only heard about the role of his friend's son Thursday night.
"I didn't know Evan was out," the governor told The Denver Post and KUSA, adding that he called Jack Ebel after being told of the connection. "He was distraught, he was devastated. I've never heard him so upset, and he's had some hard things in his life."
Lt. Jeff Kramer of the El Paso County sheriff's office said Friday evening that he was unaware of the relationship between Hickenlooper and Ebel's father.
Jack Ebel did not return multiple phone calls seeking comment.
A federal law enforcement official said Ebel was a member of a white supremacist prison gang, the 211s. The official wasn't authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Police chase ends in fiery crash
Colorado officials wouldn't confirm Ebel's membership but placed state prisons on lockdown Friday afternoon.
"There's been an inordinate amount of media attention on one threat group, and that has required additional security measures," Morgan said. The corrections department also was preparing for a Monday memorial service for Clements, she said.
The 211 gang is one of the most vicious white supremacist groups operating in the nation's prisons, comparable to the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremist groups.
Founded in 1995 to protect white prisoners from attacks, it operates only in Colorado and has anywhere from between a couple hundred to 1,000 members, senior fellow Mark Potok said Friday.
Legal records show Ebel was convicted of several crimes in Colorado dating back to 2003.
Scott Robinson, a criminal defense attorney and media legal analyst, represented Ebel in 2003 and 2004. He said Ebel had been sentenced to a halfway house for a robbery charge in 2003 before he was accused in two additional robbery cases the following year that garnered prison sentences of three and eight years.
"I thought he was a young man who was redeemable, otherwise I wouldn't have taken the case," Robinson said, saying he didn't recall the details of the case.
Robinson said he knew Ebel before he got in trouble. He said Ebel had a younger sister who died in a car accident years ago.
Vicky Bankey said Ebel was in his teens when she lived across from him in suburban Denver until his father moved a couple of years ago. She remembers seeing Ebel once jump off the roof of his house. "He was a handful. I'd see him do some pretty crazy things," she said.
"He had a hair-trigger temper as a kid. But his dad was so nice," Bankey said.
Hickenlooper agreed that Evan Ebel had "a bad streak" that his parents had tried to correct.
"The events of the past few days have been devastating for all involved," he said in the written statement. "I am in shock and disbelief about how everything seems connected in this case. It makes no sense. Tom's death at the hands of someone hell-bent on causing evil was tragic in every way. It also now appears Tom's killer may have had another victim. Our hearts and prayers are with Nathan Leon's family as well."
Meanwhile, Kaufman, Texas police chief Chris Aulbaugh said Friday the FBI is checking to see if the January shooting death of Kaufman County Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse is connected to Tuesday's killing of Clements. Hasse was killed about 100 miles away from where Ebel died.
Aulbaugh calls the investigation routine for attacks that appear similar. Both targeted law enforcement officials.
Popular on CBSNews.com
- O.J. Simpson's ex-lawyer contradicts his testimony on guns 34 Comments
- Dozens injured as commuter trains collide in Conn.
- Seven-time lottery winner shares secret to winning Powerball
- Navy pilot earns degree in combat zone
- Tornadoes rip through northern Texas 17 Photos
- Why marry? Three generations tell their wedding stories
- Jail logs: Cleveland suspect Ariel Castro polite to guard
- Powerball jackpot at $600 million -- and climbing
How screwed up is our country:
Law Abiding Citizens that go to work everyday, struggle to live month to month, get cancer and are strapped with hundreds of thousands of medical bills.
Prisoners that don't obey the laws, go to jail, get FREE FOOD, SHELTER, CLOTHING, HEALTH CARE, EDUCATION, ETC. IRRESPONSIBLE people have it way better than a good majority of people.
This guy is a piece of TRASH. His father probably gave a nice sizable donation to The Democratic Governor, and so he gets it easy.
We're SCREWED
Authorities have killed the ex-con, drug-dealing skinhead whose father is a friend of the governor, and that's the end of it.
Duh, I think I might know why he was in Texas.
"Whether it's software or DNA, sometimes you're just dealing with bad code."
It may be a case of the F.B.I. "Keeping Secrets", his father is connected with the governor, we have something in the United States, called "Keeping Secrets". Many times it starts with the rape of a infant, or toddler and stays with that person for the rest of his life, constant degradation, and humiliation, all sorts of abuse, secret denial of all constitutional rights.
Very similar or the same as Devil Worshiping but it is forced upon individuals from infancy.
Educate yourselves, Dissociative Identity Disorder, some people refer to it as Military Mind Control, and it is a main stream problem with out Government, it is a program of the United States Government.
To those who think bad genetics, may be your illiterate thinking or your closed mind, is bad genetics.
Just ask a primary/middleschool/highschool teacher about how many kids are in every classroom with something really big challenging them like... autism, ADHD, dyslexia, or bad parents/home environment.... and you will quickly see and understand that there are plenty of kids who don't get the help they need and they turn into Evan Ebel... or all the other shooters we have seen in recent years who kill innocents because they are hurting and angry.
If anything, Evan should have been glad Tom Clements was loosening things up with regard to solitary, etc. ... that would only have helped Evans and his buddies.
Where's the beef?
That's OKAY. We have ways of eventually dealing with bad streaks in people. The Texas boys know the drill well. It does not matter anymore, the background or reason someone goes haywire. When they no longer can perceive their proper place in a society, society has a way of dealing with them. And YES, there is a terrible price to pay sometimes for the presumptive right to live free in an open society. It is as simple as good and evil and too often evil gains a momentary upper hand. We can mourn our losses but we cannot stop evil.
Darrow...for the Prosecution