The Source of the National Enquirer Leak

I was thinking about the leaked photos that the National Enquirer got a hold of. I recall that Danny R.s dad was showing them around town, and that's where the press got them. Do you think it would be possible to track down any remaining hard copy photos?

Is there any leads on who gave him the photos? I know they were sneaked out of the evidence boxes, but I don't recall if they had any theories on who did it.

Oddly enough, the JEFFCO Sheriff's office was the target of a hacking attack back in 2013 or so. It was to protest police violence or Islam or something. It made me wonder if the hacker might have found any photos : )

I have to think that this stuff and a lot more is floating around out there. I have to think a lot of the parents got or made copies of it but are sitting on it.

True. It's too bad that Columbine happened right in that margin where we had the internet, but were still mostly using celluloid film. i imagine that there are more than a few freelance photojournalists that have rolls sitting in boxes somewhere, not to mention all of the video footage.

My thinking is that retired law enforcement will be the biggest source of new found media. A lot of the folks who worked the case are retired now, and might still have valuable, but not really sensitive or inflammatory, pictures or footage. The SWAT footage inside the school strikes me as a fairly benign piece of film that really could help researchers or archivists.

Are you talking about the victim crime scene photos? The families all had a chance to look at them (helps with the grieving process). The common belief on the old forum was that they were leaked by Brian Rohrbough in an attempt to 'avenge' the published photo of his dead son in the newspaper, on the morning after the shooting. I think National Enquirer was only given the images of Eric and Dylan.

Juicy Jazzy wrote:

Are you talking about the victim crime scene photos? The families all had a chance to look at them (helps with the grieving process). The common belief on the old forum was that they were leaked by Brian Rohrbough in an attempt to 'avenge' the published photo of his dead son in the newspaper, on the morning after the shooting. I think National Enquirer was only given the images of Eric and Dylan.

Just to be clear, you're saying that law enforcement gave every victims' family a chance to look at all of the pictures of the deceased victims in their original position in the library?

Wasn't it 'Time' magazine that leaked the suicide photos? Or are we talking about something else? In reference to Dylan and Eric, that is.

It might have been. I was remembering an article in the Denver Post, or one of the other Co. news outlets that were covering Columbine. The article talked about the Enquirer publishing the death photos of Eric and Dylan. But, it mentioned that the source of those photos also gave many others of the crime scene. Apparently, Dan R's dad was showing them around town with little regard for repercussions.

The article also mentioned that they locked down the evidence room pretty tight after that.

lasttrain wrote:

Just to be clear, you're saying that law enforcement gave every victims' family a chance to look at all of the pictures of the deceased victims in their original position in the library?

I don't know if it was law enforcement, a parent who was given the images or someone within the department who leaked them.

I'm not sure either. I saw your post where the families were allowed to see crime scene photos for the sake of closure. It makes me wonder if that viewing was a little more lax on security then they thought it would be.

I know a lot of money was greasing the wheels of the leaks. From what I remember, Nate Dykeman sold the "going to Columbine" video to ABC for a lot of money(16 grand). I found this regarding another payout:

''Good Morning America'' was the second news outlet to pay a fee for such material supplied by Mr. Dykeman, a Columbine senior. Mr. Dykeman has been widely sought for in-depth interviews by numerous news organizations because of his friendship with Dylan Klebold, one of the two gunmen. Mr. Dykeman had previously received $10,000 from the tabloid newspaper, The National Enquirer, for much of the same material and had turned down other interviews while he said he was under contract to that newspaper.

News executives from competing networks also criticized ABC's decision to pay Mr. Dykeman on the grounds that it was helping someone tangentially connected to the case make a profit from a tragedy and for the sheer amount of money ABC paid.

It makes me wonder if some of the news outlets ended up buying other images that weren't so TV friendly? We already know how crooked JEFFCO is.

I'm pretty sure it was a family member of one of the victims, or one of the wounded victims. I'm not sure who, could be Roughborough, could be someone else.

I imagine it was an attempt to get back at E&D or the Harris and Klebold families in general.

If it was an attempt to get back at E&D, then someone did a very poor job. I know if I was in E&D's shoes and with a similar mindset, I wouldn't mind it at all if photos of my dead body got leaked. I'm sure E&D would be thrilled by their dead body photos being public, it just added to their fame/infamy rating.

Quote :

Tallman said many of the 34 law enforcement agencies involved in the Columbine investigation had access to crime scene photos.

The Rocky Mountain News reported Tuesday that it and some families of the 1999 shootings at Columbine had obtained the photos but did not say how.

Rohrbough declined to say how he got the photos. "I certainly didn't steal them," he said.

Sounds weird to me that the families were so outraged about these pictures being leaked but they didn't want to say who gave the photos to them… I mean, if they would have received an anonymous package with the pictures I guess they would have say it, right? :/ So it seems more like they were trying to protect the source.

It does seem weird. But, there was a sort of memorabilia madness surrounding Columbine that still exists today. According to articles at the time, the evidence/photo viewing area at JEFFCO was pretty much wide open. After the leaks, and Brian R. showing the photos around town, they locked it down pretty tight.

Brian got away with a lot of stuff right after the shooting, because he was the perfect portrayal of an angry, grieving parent. I don't blame him either.

I seem to remember reading on another forum that after 4/20 the pic of the library were all over Littleton and just asking the right person you could have copies of them.... I need to dig that up.

Right, there was an article in the Denver Post, I think, that indicated Danny R's dad was showing around the pics as well. He never indicated where they came from, but the speculation was that it was the media. IN the early days after the shooting, they had easier access to the evidence and photos.

I've tried contacting other journalists that were there. One of them told me that the RMN pictures and negs of the shooting all ended up at the Denver public library. I have a contact name there as well, if anyone in the area wanted to check it out and maybe get some new pics.

Rohrbough himself has copies of many unauthorized photos.

This speaks volumes. I think a deputy was probably paid off for the pics, but we'll never know.

Good post Gonz

Jenn wrote:

Wasn't it 'Time' magazine that leaked the suicide photos? Or are we talking about something else? In reference to Dylan and Eric, that is.

Time leaked the info about the Basement Tapes. National Enquirer leaked the suicide photos.

I honestly believe there's copies of the BT out there in the hands of retired police too. JeffCo has gone to great links to keep them hidden so it may be simple fear keeping them from leaking.

I agree. I know some folks from LE. You would be surprised how laid back they are about some evidence photos.

I think whatever is out there would have to be very anonymously leaked, though.

I've heard rumors---but that's just what they are, rumors----that the crime scene photos in the library are floating around the deep web somewhere.

If it is true, I would think there would be a backlash of some kind from the families, especially Brian. And understandably so. That's what makes me doubt they are released on the net, surface or deep. But then again, they could be tucked away somewhere.

I've heard the same. I don't think it would be on the deep web, so much as it would just be sitting on a FTP server or publicly accessible drive of some kind. Eventually, the "hiding in plain sight" thing will play through. It just takes time. I would bet money that jefffco even left something somewhere.