Jefferson County Sheriff Ted Mink announced today that the Jefferson County sheriff’s Department will release 936 pages of documents seized from the the homes and vehicles of Columbine killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.
But Mink said that although he will release the writings of the two perpetrators of the worst school massacre in U.S. history, he has decided not to release the tapes that the killers made prior to killing 12 fellow students, a teacher and then themselves.
Mink said the department is prepared to release the records as soon as possible. However, their release will be delayed because the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision gives the Harris and Klebold families the right to legally challenge the sheriff’s decision.
The Denver Post had sought release of the notes written by Wayne Harris about his son and Klebold; medical records of the teenagers; the audio and videotapes they made; and their writings, including school papers, notations in the Columbine High School yearbook and diaries.
Last November, the Colorado Supreme Court agreed with The Post that items seized from the homes of Harris and Klebold are criminal justice records, clearing the way for their release if Mink determined the release would benefit the public.
The Post had contended that a court, rather than Mink, should make the decision.
Today Post lawyer Steven Zansberg said that the newspaper is pleased that Mink has agreed to allow the public to view the written journals of the Columbine killers and Wayne Harris.
“These writings will unquestionably shed light on what the sheriff’s office did in response to reviewing those materials, which is the purpose of the open records statute,” Zansberg said.
“While we appreciate the concerns cited in the sheriff’s position statement with respect to release of the video tapes, we believe the public (including researchers, law enforcement agencies, historians, academics) should be able to view those tapes, under the supervision in the sheriff’s office, as was previously done with members of the press,” he said.
Mink said in court documents filed today that he had consulted with FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit to make an impartial analysis of the tapes and the potential impact of the tapes.
“The deeply disturbing nature and content of the tapes was immediately apparent to the sheriff,” the Jefferson County Attorney’s Office said on behalf of the sheriff.
“The tapes are a manifesto authored by Harris and Klebold, in which the two call out to other adolescents to commit similar heinous acts…Their dying wish was that these tapes would be distributed and spread across the Internet. The sheriff is unwilling to be an accomplice in Harris’ and Klebold’s final act by releasing these recordings.”
Mink and the Jefferson County Attorney’s Office include in their decision a report from FBI agent supervisory agent Mary Ellen O’Toole, who is assigned to the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, who with other members of the unit analyzed the tapes.
O’Toole was the agent who in 1998 and 1999 studied school shooting culminating in the September 2000 FBI report titled, “The School Shooter: A Threat Assessment Perspective.”
O’Toole noted that the tapes were made in the months, weeks, days and hours before the April 20, 1999 shootings.
“To date, the shooting at Columbine High School is considered the most deadly school shooting in the history of the United States,” she reported. “In effect, this shooting could be considered the benchmark for school shootings, and, as such, sets the bar for other potential school shooters.’
O’Toole said research information concerning copycat behavior in adolescents as well as case studies of school shootings, and threats of shootings occurring after Columbine, indicate that many adolescents have been influenced or inspired, in part, by the Columbine massacre.
“It is the opinion of the BAU that ‘The Tapes’ provide instructional material for how to successfully plan and implement a similar or even more violent act,” the FBI assessment said. “In addition, they could serve as a strong motivating influence for emotionally troubled adolescents at risk for suicide and/or homicide.”
The FBI assessment was based on three aspects of the tapes: the content of “The Tapes”; the manner, style and the status of Harris and Klebold, “now considered notorious”; and the potential perception by others susceptible to their messages.
Jefferson County officials concluded based on the FBI report, that the tapes are a “call to arms” and that there is a high likelihood that the tapes would be used by other suicidal or homicidal individuals as a guide for committing acts of violence.
Mink, however, concluded the writings of Harris, Klebold and Wayne Harris can be released.
The writings were described as “largely irrelevant and innocuous, consisting of mostly school work.”
“The writings, specifically the journals of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, provided Harris and Klebold a forum to express their anger and dissatisfaction with school, relationships, and their lives,” Jefferson County authorities said Monday in court documents. “The writings, therefore, consist generally of Harris and Klebold complaining and venting about their lives and problems at school.”
Mink concluded that the writings do not provide the instructional and planning details found in the tapes. But the sheriff said the released writings have been redacted to remove names, phone numbers, addresses and other personal information regarding other students and individuals targeted by Harris and Klebold. The writings have also been redacted to remove bomb-making instructions and copyrighted material, such as song lyrics.
The sheriff’s office will also withhold other materials in their entirety, including copyrighted materials, documents which provide bomb-making instructions, medical records and Harris and Klebold’s yearbooks, in which notations were made on pictures of the students.
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-820-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
