Amber Torrez

Overview

Amber Lee Torrez was found not guilty by reason of insanity in connection with the 2004 killings of John Hand and Mesfin Gezahgn.

She had claimed she was a government assassin of traitors and that she planned to recruit a global army of 700 assassins for her Shadow Angel Industries, a group she believed would kill enemies of the government, particularly robbers, rapists, prostitutes and their patrons.

Timeline

• March 28, 2004 — John Hand was found dead from stabbing in his Denver apartment.
• March 29, 2004 — Mesfin Gezahgn, a Freedom Cab driver, was found dead from stabbing near his cab.
• June 3, 2008 — Amber Torrez pled guilty to second degree assault, a class four felony and a crime of violence.
• August 27, 2006 — Amber Torrez was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
• August 29, 2006 — A judge ruled Torrez was insane when she stabbed two men to death in 2004.
• August 28, 2006 — Torrez was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the killings.
• October 3, 2005 — Torrez was ruled competent to stand trial.
• December 14, 2004 — A judge found Torrez incompetent to stand trial.
• June 29, 2004 — Torrez appeared in court amid extra security after a futile escape attempt.
• March 29, 2004 — Denver police investigated the stabbing of Mesfin Gezahgn; Torrez was taken into custody.
• July 25, 2008 — Torrez was in court for sentencing on a Jefferson County felony conviction for an assault.

Background

Amber Torrez was diagnosed with mental illnesses since age 14, and she began crafting her delusional Shadow Angel Industries in her mind at about that time.

Her condition worsened after she was brutally attacked by an ex-boyfriend at age 15, whom she believed was not appropriately punished. Torrez had post-traumatic stress syndrome as a result.

In court, she insisted she was guilty and wanted to be sentenced immediately, but a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity was entered over her objections.

At trial, defense attorneys and prosecutors agreed to a trial without a jury, in part because Torrez adamantly insisted she was guilty and wanted to be sentenced immediately.

She told a doctor who examined her that she was a government-paid assassin and that she planned to hire 700 killers to form an army of assassins; one doctor described her as delusional.

The offence

Killings in Denver (2004)

John Hand

John Hand, 55, was found dead of 30 stab wounds in his Denver apartment. Police had found him alone on the floor suffering from a stab wound after a struggle in adjacent apartments was reported.

Hand founded Colorado Free University and was described as wanting to challenge people to grow personally and empower communities to connect. The school had opened in 1987 and offered low-cost classes in topics including investing, gardening, cooking and clubbing.

A statement posted by the Colorado Free University staff on FreeU.com said:

"In light of the recent events, the Colorado Free University staff would like to thank the community for its condolences and support at this tragic time. Our offices will remain open and classes will run as scheduled. We are doing our best to keep the Free University running as we feel John Hand would have wanted. We will post any further information as it becomes available, including service arrangements."

Mesfin Gezahgn

Mesfin Gezahgn, 45, was killed the next day after being stabbed 39 times near his cab at East 18th Avenue and Gilpin Street.

Police investigated an earlier 911 call about a fight. The man was rushed to Denver Health Medical Center and died.

Neighbors told police they heard arguing. The cab was towed away with one of its turn signals still blinking and its engine still on.

Gezahgn was an employee in good standing with Freedom Cab.

Jefferson County assault (separate incident)

Amber Torrez was arrested in March 2004 on a Jefferson County warrant following an attack on a 20-year-old disabled man who had been her friend. The victim, Ian Daugherty, had a back injury from a car accident which left him wearing a brace on one leg, using a crutch to walk and with little use of his left arm or hand.

Torrez and co-defendant Dayle Karry, 30, went to Daugherty’s house because Torrez was planning to attack Daugherty based upon something she believed he had said.

At Daugherty’s house Torrez at first offered to rub his shoulders or neck, but then began her assault by trying to break his neck. Karry held Daugherty while Torrez severely punched and beat him in the face and head.

They then tied his feet and hands, covered his mouth with duct tape, and Torrez poured alcohol over Daugherty intending to light him on fire, except that she could not find matches.

Torrez and Karry stole property from Daugherty and pulled the telephone out of the wall before they left.

Investigation

Detective Shawn Webster described the crime scene at Hand’s home during testimony:

"There were obvious signs of a struggle,"
"There was lots of blood. There was blood in the living room near the couch and a lot of blood in the work area."

Webster testified that DNA found in the blood matched Torrez’s DNA.

Webster also testified that surveillance cameras at the Denver gas station where Torrez allegedly used Hand’s credit card showed something white wrapped around her fingers.

Webster testified that Hand was pronounced dead soon after police responded to calls from a neighbor, and that the person in the downstairs unit called 911 after he heard his upstairs neighbor yelling he was being killed.

In prior court hearings, Dr. Mark Diamond testified that Torrez was schizophrenic, had a bipolar orientation that makes her manic and difficult to control, and had an antisocial/borderline disorder.

Competence and mental health proceedings

Incompetent to stand trial (December 14, 2004)

A Denver judge found Torrez unable to assist in her defense, ruling she was incompetent to stand trial.

Deputy District Attorney Kevin VanDonselaar said that the incompetency ruling meant Torrez was not thinking clearly enough to assist in her own defense, and that it did not mean she was insane.

Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter had until Jan. 4 to accept or reject the judge’s finding. If Ritter rejected the ruling, he could argue that Torrez should stand trial or be re-evaluated.

Torrez remained in custody in Pueblo at the Colorado Mental Health Institute. When she was ruled competent, she would stand trial.

Friends said Torrez told them she was raped at the age of 16 and her throat was slit. A relative said Torrez got into drugs after that incident and was a completely different person now than she was before she was allegedly raped.

Competent to stand trial (October 3, 2005)

Torrez was ruled competent to stand trial by a Denver District Court judge.

The case proceeded on first-degree murder charges related to the fatal stabbings of John Hand and Mesfin Gezahgn. Hand was killed March 28, 2004 in his Hilltop home and Gezahgn was killed the next day in front of his apartment near East 18th Avenue and Gilpin Street.

Hand was stabbed 30 times and Gezahgn was stabbed 39 times.

Torrez had repeatedly tried to plead guilty to the killings.

Escape attempt (June 29, 2004)

Torrez appeared in court amid extra security after a futile escape attempt.

Authorities said she attempted to escape from her high-security lockup by climbing bars between her cell and the shower. She refused orders to come down and pushed ceiling tiles aside in an apparent effort to get away, but found her way blocked by concrete.

The sheriff's department added extra security for her court appearances and rated her an escape risk.

Trial and adjudication

Defense attorney Holly Lucas made a brief statement asking for a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity.

Denver District Judge Christina Habas rejected Torrez’s request and entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.

The trial was scheduled for two days, but Habas completed testimony Monday.

The ruling followed “unrebutted” conclusions from two psychiatrists and a psychologist that Torrez was delusional and psychotic when she killed Hand and Gezahegn, and that she was legally insane at the time of the killings.

Judge Christina Habas said she was compelled to find Torrez not guilty by reason of insanity.

The judge ordered Torrez committed to the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo until she was eligible for release.

Two psychiatrists and a psychologist provided opinions that Torrez was insane when she repeatedly stabbed both men to death.

Court statements and testimony (verbatim)

Prosecutor

T.C. Clinton, one of the prosecutors in the case, said:

"The court's ruling was directly on point," Clinton said.
"The court found that there were three unrebutted psychiatric opinions that she was legally insane."

Judge’s framing

Judge Christina Habas said she was compelled to find Torrez not guilty by reason of insanity based on “unrebutted” conclusions from two psychiatrists and a psychologist that Torrez was delusional and psychotic when she killed Hand and Gezahegn.

Witnesses and relatives

Helen Hand, who said she had to accept the conclusion reached, stated:

"It's been a long process - two years and five months since Amber Torrez savagely killed my brother," said Helen Hand.
"I have to accept the conclusion reached today is appropriate. I will never be able to remove the images in my mind of how my brother lost his life."

Helen Hand said her brother would be remembered as an "incredibly wonderful, vibrant, kind, life-affirming person" who left behind a legacy of his two children as well as Colorado Free University.

Haile Selassie Girmay said:

"there is no justice in this country."

He said he will not call his brother an American anymore — even though Gezahegn had become a U.S. citizen — because:

"America did not serve him justice."

Psychiatrists

Mark Diamond testified, stating:

"She felt she was on a mission," Diamond said.
"She believed they were traitors and needed to be killed. She believed it was her duty to get rid of these people, and the world would be a better place."

Diamond also said:

"she felt she had a higher calling."

In explaining what Torrez understood, Diamond said:

Sentencing and subsequent custodial status

On July 25, 2008, Amber Torrez was in court for sentencing on a Jefferson County felony conviction for an assault that took place just days before the murders in Denver.

Amber Lee Torrez was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the assault.

Torrez had pled guilty to second degree assault, a class four felony and a crime of violence, on June 3, 2008.

The Jefferson County assault case had led to her being arrested in March 2004 on a Jefferson County warrant following the attack on Ian Daugherty.

Torrez had been in the custody of the Colorado Mental Health Institute (CMHI) since she was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the Denver cases in 2004.

After sentencing, she would be transferred into the custody of the Colorado Department of Corrections.

Co-defendant in the Jefferson County assault

Co-defendant Dayle Brandon Karry, 30, pled guilty to third degree assault of an at-risk adult, theft, and false imprisonment on February 9, 2005.

He was sentenced to five years Intensive Supervision Probation (ISP).

Other charges and procedural history

Beyond the murder charges, Torrez also faced charges of beating and robbing a man in Jefferson County, with allegations that she doused the man with alcohol and threatened to set him on fire.

A preliminary hearing in the murders was rescheduled to August after Torrez was ruled competent to stand trial.

During the incompetency proceedings, Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter had a deadline to accept or reject the finding and could argue Torrez should stand trial or be re-evaluated if he rejected it.

Outcome

Amber Torrez was found not guilty by reason of insanity on August 27, 2006 for the killings of John Hand and Mesfin Gezahgn.

The judge ordered her committed to the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo until she was eligible for release.

She was later sentenced to 10 years in prison for the separate Jefferson County assault after a June 3, 2008 guilty plea.