http://www.denverpost.com/ci_6256419
Forest murder suspect had killed before.
Man accused in forest death strangled Kansas teacher in '81.
By Kirk Mitchell and Steve Lipsher
Denver Post Staff Writers
Article Last Updated: 06/29/2007 09:00:52 AM MDT
Robert Amos is being held for investigation of first-degree murder in the death of Alyssa Heberton Morimoto. (Park County)
Murder suspect had killed before Fairplay - A man arrested in the death of a student working with the Colorado Geological Survey was convicted of strangling a music teacher at his Kansas City home during a 1981 burglary, officials say.
Robert R. Amos, 44, served 19 years in prison before being paroled in 2001, and is being held in the Park County Jail on suspicion of slaying Alyssa Heberton-Morimoto at a remote campsite south of Fairplay.
The 24-year-old's body was found Tuesday night in a shallow creek with a strap around her neck, hours after she sent out a distraught plea for help on her radio, according to an arrest affidavit.
"We still don't know all of what happened," said Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener.
But authorities said Alyssa Heberton- Morimoto's body was found after a 10-hour search. A suspect was arrested. (Colorado DMV)believe Amos strangled the woman at his campsite - where she had parked her vehicle - then dragged her body to the shallow Salt Creek and concealed it with branches, according to court documents released Thursday.
Authorities focused on Amos after learning of his criminal background.
Amos was sentenced to 15 years-to-life in Wyandotte County, Kan., for the 1981 murder of 69-year-old music teacher Albert F. Bronson, according to Kansas Department of Corrections records.
Bronson was found strangled, according to an article in the Kansas City Star. His home had been ransacked.
Amos, 19 at the time, was convicted of the slaying under the alias Dennis Lee Cook.
For undisclosed reasons, he later was transferred to Colorado, said Katherine Sanguinetti, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Corrections.
In 1992, while he was at the Buena Vista Correctional Facility, he was investigated for attempted murder, but no formal charges were brought, Sanguinetti said. He was charged with attempted murder again in 1994 while he was at the Colorado State Penitentiary in Cañon City, and that charge was reduced to assault.
He was paroled in November 2001, and completed parole in 2003.
On Tuesday, Heberton- Morimoto was mapping a portion of the Pike-San Isabel National Forest under the direction of University of Colorado geology instructor Karen Houck when Heberton-Morimoto encountered Amos.
Heberton-Morimoto told Houck over their Global Positioning System radios that she had parked her gray Jeep there with the approval of "some camper," according to the arrest affidavit by Park County Detective Yosinobu Goto.
About 20 minutes later, Heberton-Morimoto radioed: "Karen, help, help, help!"
Houck, who was on foot some distance away, told detectives she received another hysterical radio transmission from Heberton-Morimoto moments later.
The GPS radio coordinates matched the location of the Jeep, which was found about 30 yards from Amos' campsite.
By the time Houck arrived on a dead run, she found the Jeep open but Heberton-Morimoto missing along with the keys and her radio.
Amos, whose bail was set at $800,000 and is expected to be charged with murder Monday, told authorities he had been away from his camp and returned only as Houck arrived.
At Houck's request, he drove her down the road where she could get cellphone reception to report the disappearance.
En route, they encountered Sara Mayben, the Forest Service district ranger. Mayben told authorities the bottom 2 or 3 inches of Amos' pants and his shoes were wet.
While searching for Heberton-Morimoto that evening, Goto saw what appeared to be drag marks from the campsite, leading toward the creek. Heberton-Morimoto's body was a short distance away.
Marian Brezina, who answered the phone at Heberton-Morimoto's home Thursday and identified himself as a close family friend, said relatives were too upset to talk.
"This is very personal," Brezina said. "She was a great woman."
Heberton-Morimoto, who recently had married, was working toward a master's degree in environmental science when she took on the paid summer internship with her favorite instructor.
_______________________________________
So much for those who say you shouldn't be armed out in the boonies 'cause odds are, no person or animal will attack you.
Problem is, odds are, you won't. But, IF you are -- and it does happen from time to time -- you are no longer part of the odds, you've just became part of the statistics.
Unfortunately, the young woman in the article from the DENVER POST, is now part of the statistics.
L.W.
Forest murder suspect had killed before.
Man accused in forest death strangled Kansas teacher in '81.
By Kirk Mitchell and Steve Lipsher
Denver Post Staff Writers
Article Last Updated: 06/29/2007 09:00:52 AM MDT
Robert Amos is being held for investigation of first-degree murder in the death of Alyssa Heberton Morimoto. (Park County)
Murder suspect had killed before Fairplay - A man arrested in the death of a student working with the Colorado Geological Survey was convicted of strangling a music teacher at his Kansas City home during a 1981 burglary, officials say.
Robert R. Amos, 44, served 19 years in prison before being paroled in 2001, and is being held in the Park County Jail on suspicion of slaying Alyssa Heberton-Morimoto at a remote campsite south of Fairplay.
The 24-year-old's body was found Tuesday night in a shallow creek with a strap around her neck, hours after she sent out a distraught plea for help on her radio, according to an arrest affidavit.
"We still don't know all of what happened," said Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener.
But authorities said Alyssa Heberton- Morimoto's body was found after a 10-hour search. A suspect was arrested. (Colorado DMV)believe Amos strangled the woman at his campsite - where she had parked her vehicle - then dragged her body to the shallow Salt Creek and concealed it with branches, according to court documents released Thursday.
Authorities focused on Amos after learning of his criminal background.
Amos was sentenced to 15 years-to-life in Wyandotte County, Kan., for the 1981 murder of 69-year-old music teacher Albert F. Bronson, according to Kansas Department of Corrections records.
Bronson was found strangled, according to an article in the Kansas City Star. His home had been ransacked.
Amos, 19 at the time, was convicted of the slaying under the alias Dennis Lee Cook.
For undisclosed reasons, he later was transferred to Colorado, said Katherine Sanguinetti, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Corrections.
In 1992, while he was at the Buena Vista Correctional Facility, he was investigated for attempted murder, but no formal charges were brought, Sanguinetti said. He was charged with attempted murder again in 1994 while he was at the Colorado State Penitentiary in Cañon City, and that charge was reduced to assault.
He was paroled in November 2001, and completed parole in 2003.
On Tuesday, Heberton- Morimoto was mapping a portion of the Pike-San Isabel National Forest under the direction of University of Colorado geology instructor Karen Houck when Heberton-Morimoto encountered Amos.
Heberton-Morimoto told Houck over their Global Positioning System radios that she had parked her gray Jeep there with the approval of "some camper," according to the arrest affidavit by Park County Detective Yosinobu Goto.
About 20 minutes later, Heberton-Morimoto radioed: "Karen, help, help, help!"
Houck, who was on foot some distance away, told detectives she received another hysterical radio transmission from Heberton-Morimoto moments later.
The GPS radio coordinates matched the location of the Jeep, which was found about 30 yards from Amos' campsite.
By the time Houck arrived on a dead run, she found the Jeep open but Heberton-Morimoto missing along with the keys and her radio.
Amos, whose bail was set at $800,000 and is expected to be charged with murder Monday, told authorities he had been away from his camp and returned only as Houck arrived.
At Houck's request, he drove her down the road where she could get cellphone reception to report the disappearance.
En route, they encountered Sara Mayben, the Forest Service district ranger. Mayben told authorities the bottom 2 or 3 inches of Amos' pants and his shoes were wet.
While searching for Heberton-Morimoto that evening, Goto saw what appeared to be drag marks from the campsite, leading toward the creek. Heberton-Morimoto's body was a short distance away.
Marian Brezina, who answered the phone at Heberton-Morimoto's home Thursday and identified himself as a close family friend, said relatives were too upset to talk.
"This is very personal," Brezina said. "She was a great woman."
Heberton-Morimoto, who recently had married, was working toward a master's degree in environmental science when she took on the paid summer internship with her favorite instructor.
_______________________________________
So much for those who say you shouldn't be armed out in the boonies 'cause odds are, no person or animal will attack you.
Problem is, odds are, you won't. But, IF you are -- and it does happen from time to time -- you are no longer part of the odds, you've just became part of the statistics.
Unfortunately, the young woman in the article from the DENVER POST, is now part of the statistics.
L.W.
