A CLOCKWORK MURDER: The Night A Twisted Fantasy Became A Demented Reality

by Steve Jackson

  I also understand that “death is different.” It’s harder on all involved—including prosecutors and family members—but it’s a tremendous amount of pressure on the defense attorney who is trying to save a life. I have met many fine defense attorneys—including some mentioned in this books such as Dave Kaplan and Mike Enwall—whose belief in the sanctity of life, even if I don’t agree with them, is impressive and it shows in their efforts.

  I have no doubt that other defense attorneys mentioned in this book—none of whom responded to requests for interviews when it was written—Lauren Cleaver, Terri Brake and Doug Wilson are just as committed to making the state prove its case, and to saving their clients’ lives. However, as noted in the book, there is zealous and there is so over the top that justice takes a back seat to gamesmanship and politics.

  It’s not just the silly motions such as arguing that courtroom security guards dress in civilian clothes and not come armed because jurors might get the impression that the defendant is dangerous. (He’s on trial for a murder he admitted to; by any definition that makes him dangerous. And it’s simply not a precedent that those whose job it is to protect everyone in the court, including the defendant, will want to set.)

  Such demands cost money and time. But they’re only part of the strategy to delay and slow the process of justice that includes filing hundreds of motions they know will have to be answered, missing court deadlines and continuously asking for more time, making ludicrous accusations—such as Wilson’s charge that the prosecution reneged on a deal—all of it meant to cost taxpayers and prosecutors money and time, as well as beat down the family of the victim until they wave a white flag and agree to a life sentence.

  Then there are the defense witnesses, in this case a series of psychologists. This isn’t a case of saying that the free-spending habits of the Colorado Public Defenders Office in death penalty cases is wrong, though compared to states that put a limit on such expenditures it would seem like a lot. We have to remember that the state has the full resources of law enforcement, the crime labs and expert witnesses of its own.

  However, when you call a witness to the stand such as the psychologist who contended that Woldt actually believed that he was the one being sexually assault—when there was no prior indication of that in his confession or anything he said to his co-conspirator Salmon—you are pushing the boundaries of common decency. That wasn’t an object the psychologist was claiming “raped” the defendant, it was accusing a young woman he beat, raped, tormented and brutally murdered. A daughter. A friend. An innocent human being. And to stand there and act as if that opinion, as well as some of the others, had any bearing on the facts was pushing ethical boundaries.

  That’s not fighting to ensure due process or to make the state prove its case; that’s having a cause—anti-death penalty—and using other people’s lives—the Luiszers—and the resources of your community to make your point. The sentiment was epitomized in this book by Wilson’s comment that the Luiszers suffering could end if the district attorney would drop the death penalty.

  One can, I guess, argue that a killer’s life is more important than the emotional pain the parents of a murder victim go through. But using their pain to coerce people like the Luiszers to surrender, and ask the district attorney to follow suit, demonstrated a lack of empathy for the real victims in these cases. The Luiszers, and so many other grieving parents, siblings, children, spouses, relatives and friends, are right when they complain that the only rights that matter are the defendants’.

  Yet, while some defense attorneys seem to know no line they won’t cross in their zeal in a courtroom, many aren’t as keen on their actions being reported or described. They will claim inaccuracies, usually without providing examples, and claim that the writer was biased, even if the facts as written are the truth.

  One thing, perhaps, these reviewers forget that writing a book is different than writing for a newspaper. Books are more in-depth. They look behind the scenes. They examine general issues and reflect issues in our society. They can also be more opinionated than the “news.”

  While I try to be fair and accurate in my writing, I make no pretense of objectivity when it comes to how I feel about two brutal killers of a young woman. And if the defense attorneys don’t like how they, their witnesses, their cases or their clients are portrayed then they can look first in the mirror.

  The same would apply to unethical, over-zealous and ill-prepared law enforcement and prosecutors. I’ve written about them as well.

  But if you’re going to complain, provide examples/proof. And have the courage to use your name. I do.

  Finally, there is one last update that saddens me to write. After the original publication of this book, I stayed I touch with Peggy Luiszer as I have with many of the people I’ve come into contact with while working on my books. She was all the evidence I ever needed that time does not heal all wounds, all it does is scar over them until something happens to tear them open again.

  However, it was about this time that I also took a break from writing true crime books. The tears. The crying. The pain. The injustice. The brutality. The questions of “why” that I could not answer. The explanations and excuses of killers. It eventually wore me down and I needed to back away for a time. In doing so, I lost touch with the Luiszers and others.

  So it was that when I decided to re-release this book under its new title, I learned that Peggy Luiszer died last summer in the arms of her loving husband, Bob, after a lengthy illness.

  I can only hope that there is a God who reunites mothers and daughters. And that they are both at peace.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  (Written in 2003)

  The author would like to thank Peggy and Bob Luiszer, who have suffered the most horrible ordeal that can happen to parents and did so with nobility and courage. There are no words to ease the pain, no time that can pass that will make it better, nothing that can—or should—be done to help you “get over it.” There is no getting over the loss of Jacine for her family or friends. I can only hope that there will come a time when you’ll find yourselves again basking in the light and warmth of her smile and love.

  The books owes portions of its text to a variety of sources including court transcripts, notes, interviews, and a number of media outlets. At certain points, the media were as much part of this story as they were later an information source for the author. In part their reaction was used herein to illustrate the impact of such a crime on the media of a midsized city and in turn, the media’s impact on the justice system.

  In instances where comments were made to the media in general (such as a press conference), that’s how they are attributed in the text; otherwise the author endeavored to credit the specific source in the attribution of the text. Some aspects of this book originally appeared in June 2001 as work done by the author for Westword newspaper in Denver, Colorado. Otherwise, the author would like to credit the work during the three and a half years of hearings, trials, and sentencing of: KCNC-Channel 4, KUSA-Channel 9, KRDO-Channel 12, the Denver Post, the Rocky Mountain News, the Colorado Springs Independent, the Littleton Observer, and most of all the Gazette in Colorado Springs and the writing of then-Metro Editor Valerie Wigglesworth, columnist Ralph Routon, and reporters John Diedrich, Debra Franco, Ardy Friedberg, Jennifer Hamilton, Bill Hethcock, Bill McKeown, Jeremy Meyer, Danielle Nieves, and Erin Randolph. The author would like to thank in particular from the Gazette: Gazette cartoonist Chuck Asay for the cartoons that appear in this book, as well as his insights into the community he loves, and Creators Syndicate for allowing his work to appear here, as well as photographer Jay Janner for his assistance.

  Also the author thanks the staff of the Fourth Judicial District Attorney’s Office, in particular Gordon Denison, Dan Zook, and David Young, who knew the truth and proved it.

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