Earlier that day we had received two fax transmissions from the Colorado Division of Adult Parole Supervision describing David Butler as “an escapee from the Colorado Department of Corrections” and advising that the “current conviction is homicide.” We also received that same afternoon a “hit confirmation” from CCIC, the state crime computer system, listing David Butler as a wanted person for “flight – escape” by the Colorado Department of Corrections and authorizing nationwide extradition. It further cautioned that Butler has “violent tendencies” and listed the original charge as “homicide.” That information was the basis for our issuing a public alert, and for the press release which contained factual information as we knew it at the time.

Although we strongly believed that the body was that of David Butler, absent any positive identification we could not publicly confirm that, leading unfortunately to the public perception that Butler was still loose and a threat to the community. It was not until Monday that the body was positively identified as Butler, and the coroner released that information to the public immediately.

Reports published and broadcast by our local media were based on information released by this office, and were accurate in that regard. A Denver Post article claimed, inaccurately, that Butler was an escapee from the Buena Vista Correctional Facility. It is not known where the Post got their information, but it did not come from this agency nor from the correctional facility. Another newspaper report said that Butler had been charged with murder, a term never used by this agency in any press release or in any response to a reporter’s query.