Is 91-year-old fit for sex-assault trial? Nope, he's dead
By Gary Harmon and Amy Hamilton , The Daily Sentinel
Published March 20, 2008 at 12:30 a.m.
Updated March 20, 2008 at 3:12 p.m.
Ridenour, 91, died Feb. 22 at a Veterans Affairs hospital.
Attorneys in the case of a 91-year-old Palisade man accused of sexual assault spent Wednesday morning in court trying to determine whether the aging man was fit to stand trial.
It turns out he wasn't. He died nearly a month ago and has been cremated, according to a relative who contacted The Daily Sentinel.
Ralph Ridenour died Feb. 22 at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, said Jim Snell of Snell-McLean Funeral Home in Palisade, which handled arrangements for Ridenour.
VA officials said they couldn't comment.
Attorneys at a hearing Wednesday apparently were unaware Ridenour was dead, however.
Public Defender Steve Colvin told Mesa County District Judge Brian Flynn that despite repeated requests, VA doctors had not produced written verification that Ridenour was healthy enough to stand trial - or that he had died.
Ridenour, a convicted sex offender, was arrested Oct. 21 after a nurse at the Palisade nursing home where he lived said he threatened to rape her, pulled her pants down and held onto her when she tried to escape.
Ridenour's health deteriorated soon after the arrest to the point that doctors said he was too ill to complete an examination to determine whether he was competent to stand trial, attorneys have said.
During Wednesday's hearing, Deputy District Attorney Drew Lauer said prosecutors still needed written proof that Ridenour was too ill to stand trial if charges are to be dropped.
Reached late Wednesday, Lauer said he had not heard that Ridenour had died.
The next court hearing for Ridenour was set for April 14.
For complete Sentinel story, click here.
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March 20, 2008
7:25 a.m.
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DahmersCookbook writes:
God will really sock it to him, right? Be A fool to think it.
March 20, 2008
8:04 a.m.
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blondiearvada writes:
I don't think he will be visiting God anytime soon. I think he took the detour on the way up.
March 20, 2008
8:07 a.m.
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fishtanksamurai writes:
Can't have those conviction rates slip can we? Don't let it go, convict him and then scatter his ashes all over the exercise yard at the prison.
March 20, 2008
8:10 a.m.
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RS writes:
Too bad. Now those prosecutors will go back to molesting innocent people.
March 20, 2008
8:19 a.m.
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Scott writes:
The whole circus of the People's Prostitute (DA), the Scum's Prostitute (public defender) and the robed Prostitute (judge) not being able to go down to the county health department and obtain a certified copy of this rapist's death certificate defies all common logic. Even worse the Scum's Prostitute claims it had no idea that the scum had died! So much for representation. But hey, if you make your money by convicting the innocent (DA), getting off the scum (public defender) and sitting on your butt for life (judge) then who am I to complain about a waste of tax dollars ... NOT!
Prostitutes (lawyers), the profession where lazy pathological liars can make a comfortable living.
Scott
Lawyers are prostitutes. Both will assume any position ... for a price.
March 20, 2008
8:51 a.m.
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HolierThanThou writes:
That nurse was giving the old fart a hard time.
When he finally got it up, he couldn't remember where to put it.
But then the old man with the stiff became the stiff.
March 20, 2008
8:54 a.m.
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Roxie writes:
I wonder if this guy knew Lori Koehler. Heh!
March 20, 2008
9:02 a.m.
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Theoldguy writes:
Is 91-year-old fit for sex-assault trial?
What's this? Assault with a dead weapon? Ralphie was probably too frail to continue his assault....I keep getting a visual of the nurse running down a hallway with Ralphie holding on to her leg while madly humping her foot like a crazed poodle. All the while the oxygen bottle in tow is bouncing crazily off the walls. The effort spent was too much for this veteran and one last charge up Beaver Hill eventually led to his demise. He lives on in memory, for those not afflicted with Alzheimers. The nurses are more aware of the male patients taking Viagra and many have stopped giving sponge baths.
March 20, 2008
9:10 a.m.
blacksho89 writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
March 20, 2008
9:34 a.m.
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Roxie writes:
Hey dont worry about them MarineGrunt. If this nurse looked anything like lori then Im sure he didnt get off at all!
March 20, 2008
10:25 a.m.
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wow writes:
Oldguy---
You rock. That is precisely what I was thinking!! One last charge, lolol! I'm giggling so hard I can barely type.
Dirty old men...nothing worse for a woman than being groped by a guy so old he won't remember ever doing it.
March 20, 2008
10:54 a.m.
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wow writes:
I dunno about that Fro. I bet some geezers would grope a potted palm. Some would hump anything that stands still long enough! :)
March 20, 2008
11:05 a.m.
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Nimrod writes:
There should be an investigation into why his health "deteriorated soon after the arrest." I think they stopped giving the poor little horndog his meds!
March 20, 2008
11:22 a.m.
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Theoldguy writes:
wow
Thanks for the compliment. Hopefully the old "groper" will be fondly remembered by the "gropee".
I still get a kick out of complimenting good looking women. It won't lead to anything, but still it's nice to keep in practice and build a woman's ego so a young buck will have trouble getting over the hurdle I've created.
March 20, 2008
11:26 a.m.
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Heidi writes:
TheOldGuy,
Good for you. I feel that no matter how old you are on the outside, you are always the same person with the same feelings inside. How do you stop the aging process????
March 20, 2008
11:51 a.m.
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Scott writes:
TheOldGuy,
Same here on stroking the egos of the young ladies. I try not to slobber too much as I'm complementing them. ;-) The young studs need to understand that us guys HAVE to be nice to the ladies. Then it's incredible how nice they are back to us. ;-)
Young Bull: Let's run down the hill and get us one of them heifers!
Old Bull: Let's walk down the hill and get 'em all.
Scott
March 20, 2008
12:05 p.m.
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Theoldguy writes:
Heidi and Scott
I'm in complete denial and Scandinavian with great genes. I still look good. I've raised two beautiful daughters and have had many thank you's from their husbands.
Old Bull= best choice and when retired can take all day.
March 20, 2008
12:54 p.m.
Suggest removal
infidel91 writes:
Scott --
re: prostitute this and prostitute that -- what's the matter? Still bitter about being rejected for law school? You were obviously meant to have been born into an earlier era, before there were all these law whores to interfere with the progress of such worthy exercises as 'trial by combat,' witch hunts, and the Inquisition.
As for the rest of you, no flames, just amazement at how much support you're all expressing for a REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER(meaning he perped on someone before this nurse). This, on a site where people are usually advocating new and grisly ways to execute them (a mental exercise I've engaged in myself).
March 20, 2008
1:10 p.m.
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Heidi writes:
infidel,
Don't be silly. No one is actually expressing support for this old pervert!
March 20, 2008
1:27 p.m.
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infidel91 writes:
I hate it when I'm silly without even trying . . .
I think it would have been more accurate for me to have said that people are expressing "nonchalance" rather than "support."
March 20, 2008
1:31 p.m.
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Heidi writes:
ok, I guess it is different because this guy is already dead. My first was reaction was that this guy was disgusting. I was only responding to Theoldguy that no matter what age you are, (polite)compliments are nice. Groping certainly isn't!
March 20, 2008
1:32 p.m.
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Heidi writes:
GWM is supposed to be the proper one, listen to him now!
March 20, 2008
1:50 p.m.
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wow writes:
GWM is a gentleman.
But maybe that's only because he doesn't know how to grope through the keyboard. ;)
March 20, 2008
1:52 p.m.
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clyde writes:
Did they change the charges to "Assault With A Dead Weapon"?
March 20, 2008
1:54 p.m.
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Heidi writes:
wow, I have a feeling that he actually could. Be he practices self control.
March 20, 2008
2:43 p.m.
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Heidi writes:
So you can't let your hair down for your wife at home? I feel for ya.
March 20, 2008
2:53 p.m.
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Scott writes:
infidel91,
Yes ALL lawyers are prostitutes! Take a look at what the two prostitutes did to Mr. Masters. Take a look a what the Boulder prostitutes have NOT done for the child murder cases. Take a look a the land robbery committed by two robed prostitutes in Boulder (all under the guise of "The LAW"). Take a look at what the prostitutes did in getting the United Bank murder off....
Yes, lawyer are prostitutes because they will assume ANY position for a price.
Nope, I didn't get rejected by a law school. I failed their first criteria, my parents are married. I'm an engineer by training and profession. If we lie, we get caught. For prostitutes, lying is a way of life. What's a matter, you practice law or do you sleep with a prostitute?
Scott
March 20, 2008
3:48 p.m.
Suggest removal
infidel91 writes:
"He died nearly a month ago and has been cremated, according to a relative . . ."
When they started cremating him, did he become a hunka hunka burnin' love?
March 20, 2008
4:32 p.m.
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Heidi writes:
How funny, infidel! He's probably still burning....in hell!
March 20, 2008
5:13 p.m.
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Theoldguy writes:
Heidi
My wonder is that at 91 he can still remember what it is that drives men wild. Imagine....at least one functioning testosterone hormone at 91! There is still hope. True, a pervert, but still after it. WOW!
March 20, 2008
5:49 p.m.
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Heidi writes:
I believe there were no hormones left. He was a creature of habit. Sorry to burst your bubble, oldguy.
March 20, 2008
9:30 p.m.
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happymike44 writes:
Well at least the old boy save us the exspense of the trial.Hope he has more fun where he is going next.Also he could have simply been out of his mind.As you get older you act a lot different then when you did at 35.He simply could have had his train slip the track.
March 20, 2008
11:53 p.m.
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arby writes:
Ha, ha, ha This is the funniest blog I've read in a long time. I agree a nurse should have been able to get around a 91 year old pervert. It's in the training manual. She was just looking for a few free $$$, I was going to say bucks but then I thought better of it. The old guy messed up her plan by dying on her. If he was in the VA he was broke anyway. Give him good grades for effort.
March 21, 2008
7:51 a.m.
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Theoldguy writes:
The last few entries make it sound like he was suffering (enjoying) dementia. I think happymike44 may have nailed it. Arby is on to something too.
March 21, 2008
8:03 a.m.
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Heidi writes:
Theoldguy, maybe he was suffering from dementia, but he was a convicted sex offender. Once a pervert, always a pervert. Don't get your hopes up too high.