Tom Clements: Did the System Fail? Or Was Failure Built Into the System?
Tom Clements was the Colorado Corrections Chief that was gunned down and killed by suspect Evan Ebel, on March 14, 2013. Ebel was the parolee who prompted the Colorado parole director to create a new policy that would reduce the response time for ankle bracelet tampering alerts after he allegedly removed his ankle bracelet and went on a shooting spree, killing Clements and a pizza delivery man, Nathan Leon. Ebel was later killed in a shoot-out with police after fleeing to Texas. Refer to: http://www.prisonlawblog.com/blog/colorado-cuts-response-time-bracelet-alerts/
One would wonder how Ebel, a convicted felon could acquire a gun. Tom Clements / Image courtesy nydailynews.com
According to Normando Pacheco, Stevie Marie Anne Vigil’ s defense attorney, Vigil, the 22-year old woman accused of purchasing a Smith & Wesson hand gun for Ebel, says she was threatened by Ebel to buy him the gun or else…..
The handgun was purchased March 6 and Tom Clements was shot on March 14.
Vigil is out on $25,000 bail and charged with illegally purchasing a gun and enabling Ebel to obtain a gun. She is scheduled for a four day trial Aug. 12.
Clements would still be alive if it wasn’t for a clerical error and an ineffective bracelet monitoring procedure. Ebel known as “Evil Ebel” in prison was released four years early. Clements was killed five days later.
Before the incident, Evil Ebel spent most of his adult life in prison and much of that time was spent in “the Hole.” He was a member of a White supremacy gang – called 211 – and had the word hateful tattooed all over his body. Ebel had even threatened a female guard with her life while incarcerated.
