CASTLE ROCK, Colo. (CBS4) – Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock says the death of Harold Henthorn’s first wife, Lynn, in 1995 was not an accident, despite his department reaching that conclusion 20 years ago.
“Based upon the information I’ve been briefed on up to this date … I do not think it’s an accident,” Spurlock told CBS4 Investigator Brian Maass in an exclusive interview.
“I don’t think it was an accident and I think it’s very suspicious,” said Spurlock, who was sworn in as the Douglas County sheriff last month.
Harold Henthorn has been criminally charged with first-degree murder for the death of his second wife, Dr. Toni Henthorn, who died in September 2012 when she fell from a cliff in Rocky Mountain National Park during an anniversary hike with her husband. Harold Henthorn told investigators his wife slipped and fell, but prosecutors didn’t buy his explanation and charged him with murder last November. He has pleaded not guilty and faces trial in May.
That case then focused attention on the death of Henthorn’s first wife, Lynn, who also died in a remote location with her husband as the only witness. In that case, Harold Henthorn said he and his wife went for a drive on Highway 67 in Douglas County on May 6, 1995 bound for Deckers. Harold Henthorn told investigators that one of his tires felt “spongy,” and he stopped two or three times during the drive to check the tire.
Lynn Henthorn (credit: CBS)
Later in the evening, he stopped in a remote area known as “Casey’s Curve” to change the tire on the couple’s Jeep because it was soft — not flat. During the change he said his wife crawled under the Jeep, apparently to retrieve a lug nut or flashlight, when he said a jack gave way or slipped and the Jeep fell on his wife, crushing her.
Harold Henthorn collected nearly $500,000 in life insurance proceeds from his wife’s death.
The Douglas County coroner wrote “this is an accidental death” on May 9, two days after Lynn Henthorn died. Three days later, on May 12, six days after the death, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department followed suit, closing the case as an accidental death and ruling no criminal charges should be filed.
Harold and Toni Henthorn (courtesy to CBS)
But Spurlock’s new pronouncement is a dramatic about face. He declined to specify what information leads him to now believe Lynn Henthorn’s death was not an accident. Douglas County investigators reopened the Lynn Henthorn death case two weeks after the death of Toni Henthorn in 2012. They say they have done 40 interviews in the past 27 months and continue to diligently work the case.
