Video: Judge, Employees Investigated In Escape Of Suspect In CU Slaying

Judge, Employees Investigated In Escape Of Suspect In CU Slaying
Suspect Escaped From Jail By Switching Clothes

POSTED: 4:45 pm MDT March 31, 2008
UPDATED: 7:46 pm MDT March 31, 2008

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico -- A Mexican judge, his secretary and two jail employees were under investigation Monday after a man accused of killing a University of Colorado student escaped from jail.

Local prosecutor Guillermo Martin Diaz said the four may have played an active role in helping Alfonso Ramirez walk out of a Puerto Vallarta jail early Friday.

Ramirez is accused of killing 21-year-old David Parrish during a robbery on Wednesday. Parrish, of Boulder, Colo., was on vacation in Mexico.

In a news conference Monday, Diaz said officials want to know why the judge and his secretary issued a release order and the two jail employees let Ramirez go, all before dawn Friday.

The two jail employees have been detained since Friday. Officials are looking for the judge and his secretary.

The city's public safety director has also been suspended without pay pending an investigation of the escape.

Local police initially said Ramirez tricked guards into releasing him by switching clothes with a cellmate who was being held for robbing a bottle of liquor.

U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Judith Bryan said the killing was the first fatal shooting of an American in Puerto Vallarta that the Embassy had on record. About 1 million Americans visit Puerto Vallarta each year.

She said U.S. officials were working with their Mexican counterparts to ensure that the suspect was detained again and anyone responsible for aiding the escape faced justice.

Friends Remember Slain Student

Parrish's mother, Janet Graaf, was reportedly with him at the time of the shooting and said that her son tried to stop the men from taking her purse. Graaf is an instructor at CU's business school.

The Chancelors office issued a statement on Monday that said students like Parrish are "the heart and the soul of the University."

Dennis Ahlburg, dean of the Leeds School of Business at CU, told 7NEWS, Parrish was a "wonderful young man."

Ahlburg said Parrish shared his mother's interest in developing countries. Graaf is from South Africa and chose to spend the week of Spring Break with her son, according to Ahlburg.

"That says a lot about her, about him, and about their relationship," Ahlburg continued. "They are a wonderful family."

Fellow CU students were just learning of Parrish's death Sunday as they returned to campus from their week-long break.

"It's horrible, trying to do something fun and having it end up so tragically," said Peter Eichar.

A family friend told 7NEWS funeral arrangements are still being made.

Parrish graduated from Boulder High in 2005 and was studying geography at CU, according to school records. He grew up in Boulder.


Previous Stories:
March 31, 2008: Suspect In CU Student Death Gets Out Of Jail
March 30, 2008: U.S. Embassy Says CU Student Killed In Robbery Attempt In Mexico

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