8 You didn't name him but I think you would
9 certainly say that absolutely applied to Steve
10 Thomas, didn't it?
11 A Yeah.
12 Q And I think he would have been one of the
13 others who had left, right?
14 A Yes.
15 Q And then back in that March 16th, 2000
16 article by Chris Anderson that we had shown you
17 earlier about the not currently active suspects. You
18 were quoted as saying, quote, The problem with it is
19 he, and he refers to Lou Smit, ignores the other
20 evidence in the case, end quote, said Beckner who
21 believes Smit may have grown too close to the
22 Ramseys. Quote, Some of the information he is using
23 is not accurate, end quote.
24 Do you do you remember that?
25 A No, but --
173
1 Q You don't disagree with making that
2 statement, do you?
3 A No.
4 Q Would I also be right that you would apply
5 that same statement to Steve Thomas in his public
6 disclosures about this case and discussions --
7 A Read the whole thing to me again.
8 Q "The problem with it is he ignores the
9 other evidence in the case, some of the information
10 he is using is not accurate."
11 A Yes.
12 Q That would apply to Steve Thomas in your
13 view?
14 A Yes.
15 Q True?
16 A True, in the sense that he does not have
17 all the information that has been developed since
18 that time.
19 Q Have you ever read his book?
20 A No, I haven't.
21 Q Was there ever during your time since
22 October of '97 at any time period where any members
23 of the Boulder Police Department were allowed to have
24 screen savers that identified anyone including Chris
25 Wolf as being the killer?
174
1 A No.
2 Q If you had known that would you have
3 stopped it immediately?
4 A Yes.
5 Q It would have been totally unprofessional
6 and inappropriate, wouldn't it, Chief?
7 A Yes.
8 Q Do you recall an incident when the mayor,
9 Boulder Mayor Greenlee, got fairly upset at least
10 with Steve Thomas, maybe others, about Chris Wolf?
11 This would have been in February of 1998?
12 A No, I don't recall that.
13 Q This is, and I'm going to read to you from
14 my notes from what I believe are quotes from Steve
15 Thomas' book. It said an incident involving you and
16 Thomas where it starts off, Mayor Bob Greenlee wants
17 to ask you a few questions my boss Beckner said and
18 retreated to a chair. Detective, Mayor Greenlee
19 began all business, what do you know about Jackie
20 Dilson? He gave me no chance to respond. I had to
21 suppress a grin. I knew all about Jackie Dilson who
22 was a regular visitor to police headquarters with her
23 theory that her boyfriend probably murdered JonBent.
24 Greenlee said that he had personally met with
25 Ms. Dilson. Did you know, detective, that her
175
1 boyfriend Chris Wolf had high tech boots?
2 I don't need to go on and on but do you
3 recall that incident taking place?
4 A Yeah, I recall the mayor coming over and
5 having some discussion about the case. I couldn't
6 recite it as specifically as you have, but I do
7 recall some conversation with Bob Greenlee.
8 Q The mayor had apparently gotten
9 information from Jackie Dilson and apparently was to
10 some level at least upset that there may be questions
11 about Wolf that had not been answered?
12 A I don't recall him being upset. I recall
13 him being inquisitive as to getting this information.
14 It was not unusual for politicians to call us and
15 say, hey, so and so told me this and pass it on or
16 want to know what we were doing.
17 Q Upset may be the wrong word. Thomas
18 described Greenlee's ruddy face as being tinged with
19 contempt and I stole a glance at Beckner who looked
20 away from him. Greenlee eventually ran out of breath
21 and let me speak.
22 A Well, I wouldn't characterize it that way,
23 but that's his interpretation I guess.
24 Q And Chris Wolf (sic) said we are
25 thoroughly investigating Chris Wolf?
176
1 MR. MILLER: You've got that wrong.
2 Q (BY MR. WOOD) Well, here is what it says
3 is we --
4 MR. MILLER: You said Chris Wolf.
5 MR. WOOD: Oh, yeah, I'm sorry. And Steve
6 Thomas.
7 Q (BY MR. WOOD) Do you remember making a
8 statement to Mayor Greenlee, We are thoroughly
9 investigating Chris Wolf?
10 A Not specifically.
11 Q Do you believe that the Boulder Police
12 Department has thoroughly and completely investigated
13 Chris Wolf?
14 A Up to a point, yes.
15 Q Tell me what you mean when you say up to a
16 point.
17 A To the point where there is agreement that
18 he is not a suspect right now or under suspicion.
19 Q And there was -- I didn't ask this
20 although you may have told me the answer which tells
21 me the answer to this, but was there any forensic
22 test with respect to Susannah Chase which removed
23 Wolf from any level of suspicion in that case?
24 A Well, we do have DNA and we do have Wolf's
25 DNA so there would have been a comparison of the DNA
177
1 in both. Once you have DNA in CBI it goes into a
2 database. So any case that comes in after that it's
3 automatically run against that database so you don't
4 have to go back and request every time that you want
5 every previous suspect you have had in a similar case
6 run against that DNA.
7 MR. WOOD: Okay. Let me get a couple
8 minutes with my lawyer here and then we'll see if
9 we're good to go.
10 VIDEO TECHNICIAN: We're off the record at
11 approximately 1:08 p.m.
12 (Recess taken from 1:08 p.m. to 1:11 p.m.)
13 VIDEO TECHNICIAN: We're on the record at
14 approximately 1:11 p.m.
15 Q (BY MR. WOOD) Chief Beckner, have you
16 ever learned or been made aware that simultaneously
17 with or perhaps even subsequent to the Boulder Police
18 Department's investigation of Chris Wolf in
19 connection with the JonBent Ramsey case that the
20 Boulder district attorney's office undertook an
21 investigation of Mr. Wolf as a suspect in connection
22 with the case?
23 A What time frame are you talking about?
24 Q I think it would be in 1998 and perhaps
25 even 1999. That's why I say subsequent,
178
1 contemporaneously in part and perhaps even subsequent
2 to the point in time where you felt like you had
3 reached the point that he was no longer under the
4 umbrella that the DA's office might have continued
5 efforts to investigate him?
6 A No, because we were working as a team at
7 that point and most of those -- all of those
8 decisions were discussed as a team in terms of, you
9 know, who we considered under suspicion, who needed
10 more investigation, you know, whether we were
11 satisfied with where we were at, those kind of
12 things.
13 Q The district attorney's office concurred,
14 did they not, its investigators and the involved
15 personnel from the district attorney's office
16 concurred that based on the information known that
17 Chris Wolf was in fact a viable individual to be
18 under the umbrella of suspicion, to be under
19 suspicion in connection with the case?
20 A What time frame are you talking about?
21 It's been five years.
22 Q When you all were working together with
23 them?
24 A Well, that covered a period of four years,
25 so what time frame are you talking about?
179
1 Q Just any time during that time period,
2 that the Boulder district attorney's investigators
3 concurred during that time period at some point
4 that --
5 A Okay, yes.
6 Q -- Chris Wolf was an individual who should
7 be considered as under suspicion in connection with
8 the murder of JonBent Ramsey?
9 A Yes.
10 Q Whether the Boulder district attorney's
11 office did any investigation beyond that done by your
12 office, maybe, maybe not, you don't know?
13 A Well, again it depends on your time frame.
14 If you're talking about prior to the second half of
15 '98, because the team was reorganized in the summer
16 of '98 --
17 Q Sure. When it went over to the grand
18 jury?
19 A Reorganization took place. Then it was a
20 different arrangement than what had been previously.
21 We worked much closer together once the team was
22 rearranged.
23 Prior to that, I think there was a
24 parallel investigation going on.
25 MR. WOOD: I'm going to have to ask you
180
1 all to give me a copy of this before I leave because
2 it's my only copy that I brought. Let's mark this as
3 Exhibit 7.
4 MR. MILLER: What is it?
5 (Exhibit 7 was marked.)
6 MR. WOOD: This is a letter and a packet
7 of materials sent from Newsweek journalist Dan Glick
8 to Alex Hunter in 1999.
9 MR. MILLER: Is it signed any place?
10 MR. WOOD: I think the letter on the
11 second page is signed. Let me take a look here.
12 Yeah, I don't have a signature copy.
13 MR. MILLER: And it's not on letterhead,
14 huh?
15 Q (BY MR. WOOD) That's my question is
16 whether or not you have either seen that packet of
17 materials or whether such a packet of materials from
18 Dan Glick was ever discussed with you by Alex Hunter
19 on or after February of 1999?
20 A Briefly looking at this, much of this is
21 familiar; I don't know if I have actually seen this
22 document before.
23 Q If that document itself had been shared
24 with you, would it be in the Boulder Police
25 Department files or any parts of it?
181
1 A It should be, yes, if it was given to us.