Evan Ebel's Ankle Bracelet Failed Days Before Colorado Killings
Revelation comes after officials admit Ebel was released four years early.
April 2, 2013— -- An ankle bracelet monitoring the whereabouts of parolee Evan Ebel stopped working three days before he allegedly murdered a Denver pizza delivery man, and five days before Colorado prisons chief Tom Clements was gunned down at the front door of his home, according to court documents released today.
Ebel, who died in a shootout with Texas cops, is suspected of carrying out both murders.
The revelation about the failure of the bracelet came a day after prison officials admitted that Ebel was inadvertently released from prison four years early.
The bracelet stopped working March 14, but it wasn't until March 19 that a parole officer went to Ebel's home to try to locate him, the documents state.
From the day he was released on Jan. 28, 2013 until the morning of March 14, Ebel checked in daily with corrections officials by phone, according to the documents. On the afternoon of March 14, a "tamper alert" was received for Ebel's ankle bracelet. Ebel did not return any messages left for him and failed to check in over the next few days.
Domino's Pizza driver Nathan Leon was found murdered on March 17 near Golden, just outside Denver. Clements was shot to death at his Monument, Colo., home on March 19.
On that same day—but before Ebel's connection to either murder had been established by investigators—a parole officer visited Ebel's residence and determined that the "Parolee was likely an absconder."
A warrant was issued for Ebel's arrest on March 20. The next day, Ebel was shot and killed by police in Texas.