Ex-metro cop in fatal DUI likely to die in prison

Ellen Miller, Special to the Rocky

Published September 21, 2007 at midnight

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GRAND JUNCTION — A former Lafayette cop who admitted killing two Mesa State College students while driving drunk will plead guilty to additional charges today designed to ensure he'll die in prison, attorneys said.

Patrick Strawmatt, 42, pleaded guilty last month to two counts of vehicular homicide and one count of vehicular eluding in the March 22 deaths of Jacob Brock, 19, of Eagle, and Jennifer Koos, 19, of Brighton. Those charges carry a maximum sentence of 72 years in prison.

But District Attorney Pete Hautzinger, who initially charged Strawmatt with two counts of first-degree murder and numerous other counts, pressed for additional guilty pleas to make sure Strawmatt serves at least 75 percent of his sentence before he can become eligible for parole.

Strawmatt could plead to counts today that carry crime-of-violence charges, which are sentence enhancers to delay parole eligibility. His attorney, public defender Dave Eisner, has said Strawmatt has major health problems and will die in prison.

Strawmatt's blood-alcohol content was 0.29 percent, nearly four times the legal limit, when he sped away from state troopers on Interstate 70 near Clifton and allegedly "flipped them off" on his way by.

At the time, he was free on $15,000 bond from Park County, where he allegedly sped away from authorities and punched Sheriff Fred Wegener in the jaw when the lawman tried to remove him from his vehicle. That case is pending.

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