Parolee, Saudi National Eyed as Possible Suspects in Colorado Shooting
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Colorado Department of Corrections(MONUMENT, Colo.) — Law enforcement authorities in two states are investigating whether a parolee who was gravely wounded Thursday after a high-speed car chase in Texas is connected to Tuesday night’s shooting death of Colorado prison chief Tom Clements.
The 28-year-old suspect, Evan Ebel, served time in Colorado and was reportedly a member of the Brotherhood of Aryan Alliance. He was driving a vehicle that matched a similar description of a dark “boxy” car that was spotted in Clements’ neighborhood in Monument, Colo. at the time of the shooting.
According to Texas police, the suspect led them on a high-speed chase through two counties after being stopped in Montague and seriously wounding a deputy. The chase ended in Decatur, 100 miles outside of Dallas, when his Cadillac was struck by an 18-wheeler. After the suspect exited his car, he continued shooting and was hit by bullets when cops returned fire.
Doctors later said that the suspect was brain dead and is being kept on life support to potentially harvest his organs.
Days before he was shot dead at his home, Clements denied the request of a Saudi national convicted of false imprisonment and sexual assault to serve out the remainder of his prison sentence in Saudi Arabia.
Detectives investigating the murder were also investigating that as a possible lead as the manhunt for the 58-year-old’s killer continued on Friday.
Just a week before being gunned down, Clements wrote a letter to convicted Saudi national Homaidan al-Turki, stating that he was denying his request to complete his sentence in his home country.
Al-Turki, whose company Al-Basheer Publications & Translations sold CDs of speeches by Islamic militant Anwar al-Awlaki, had complained during his trial that the prosecution was the result of a government conspiracy. Al-Awlaki was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen in 2011.
In his letter to al-Turki, Clements cited the convict’s refusal to participate in sex offender rehabilitation programs due to conflicts with his Islamic faith. As a result, Clements denied the requested transfer to Saudi Arabia.
Al-Turki was convicted in 2006 of the sexual assault of his Indonesian housekeeper. According to an affidavit, al-Turki and his wife kept their housekeeper as a virtual slave, allegedly paying her $2 per day and forcing her to sleep on a mattress in his basement.
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