Basement Tapes Destroyed

Recently Jefferson County elected a new sheriff. Therefore, I filed a public records request on the basement tapes to see if they would finally release them and got this

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The Majority of it we already know, the courts said they could release them but the sheriff decided not to. However, the last page is of interest because it says "(the office) Destroyed the remaining evidence from the Columbine High School shootings."

Looks like we'll never see them.

Wow, that sucks. I wonder if that is true or just something they are telling people so they will stop asking? Why would they destroy evidence? I have never heard of that happening before.

Actually, after all the shitty work it's been done at Jeffco Sheriff's Office "losing" files, hiding documents and stuff like that, I wouldn't be surprised at all if turns out that they have destroyed the tapes…

I hope that to be just a fake statement, but who knows…

Destroyed or not, there was no chance of them ever being released after so long. Would have liked to see and hear what they boys had to say in the lead up to the shooting, what a shame.

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The final report of the investigation task force will be made public in the next few weeks and forwarded to Gov. Bill Owens' Columbine Commission. That panel will review the investigation and the response to the disaster at Columbine.

But the criminal case will be left open indefinitely. There is no statute of limitations on murder.

Investigators had hoped to keep sealed some of the most gruesome and shocking evidence, including crime scene photographs and the Harris-Klebold videotapes.

Leaving the case open, investigators had hoped, also would allow investigators to keep sealed some of the most gruesome and shocking evidence, including crime scene photographs and the Harris-Klebold videotapes.

Their reasoning was simple.

First, they wanted to protect the integrity of the evidence in the event anyone comes forward with new information.

Second, they didn't want to do anything to hurt the families of those injured and killed at Columbine -- families the investigators had come to know well and care about.

But now the Sheriff's Department has made the videotapes public, and it's unclear what impact that will have on the disclosure of remaining evidence.

No matter how exhaustive, the official report will never tell the entire story or measure the deep scars this tragedy left on the victims and the community.

It won't say that Coroner Nancy Bodelson still struggles to retain her composure when she thinks about the kids on the floor of the Columbine library.

Or that John Kiekbusch, commander of the investigation, worries that the community may yet face the same phenomenon that played out after the Oklahoma City bombing: suicides among police officers, paramedics and firefighters who rushed to the scene.

Or record the chill investigators still feel when they consider that the cafeteria bombs could have killed hundreds of children.

Or show the look on District Attorney Dave Thomas' face when he recalls the eyes of a broken-hearted father, just informed his son was dead.

Or explain why Sgt. Rich Webb and others wonder when -- not if -- someone will try to outdo Harris and Klebold.

Or finally answer the one question that remains on everyone's lips:

Why?

"I think I know why they did it," the FBI's Fuselier says. "It was because they were so filled with hate. But the real question is why they had so much hate inside them."

IDK... I don't think they would destroy them without the public knowing. To me it seems to not be accurate, there would have been some kind of release in the news about it.

There must be alternate sources, even if it is all gone. The thirty seconds of leaked audio floating around the internet, what is the original source?

sororityalpha wrote:

But the criminal case will be left open indefinitely. There is no statute of limitations on murder.

Fair to say I was confused by this as well. If you don't believe the upload you can send a Colorado Public Records request (I used a form letter from ifoia.org) to [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Took them 12 days including weekends to respond.

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According to their evidence return policy unless the property is illegal, hazardous, etc, an officer is supposed to release the evidence to its owner (the boys' parents).

I'll try getting an answer to if/when murder cases can be closed in Colorado.

The Basement Tapes are 3 hours 1 minute & 55 seconds long:

Item #265 - March 15 to March 18

Item #298 2 Tapes - Tape #1 "Reb's Tape" April 11 to April 12 is part of the Basement Tapes
                                  Tape #2 is the Radioactive Clothing video & NOT part of the Basement Tapes

Item #333 - "Top Secret Rampart" Late March to April 20


**Copies were made of these items ... surely there MUST still be copies in existence.

I'm not doubting you LMNOP.... I just doubt THEM... I think it's a lie/ BS.... Too bad someone can't contact Randy Brown... I'm sure he will kick up a shit storm if they were.

As people above has said, I find it hard to believe that they destroyed these tapes without the public's knowledge, and that there were no copies made. And as deathmedic said, it's not that I disbelieve you, LMNOP. It's that whole fucking department that I disbelieve.

"I just personally spoke on the phone to Jacki Kelley, Public Information Director for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. She said that ALL evidence has been destroyed, including computers that had been shot, ammunition, guns, bloody carpet, clothing, and the Basement Tapes. She said there was no reason to keep the evidence in their vault because there are no suspects in custody, no open court cases, etc. I pointed out that the recent 11-page letter regarding the Basement Tapes referred only to “documents” being destroyed and NOT evidence or specifically the Basement Tapes. Jacki Kelley said that letter wasn't penned by them and she thought the message was conveyed that EVERYTHING was destroyed.

She said it over and over again, “The Basement Tapes have been destroyed.” I told her I was shocked since a lot of people believed they were sealed by a judge and may (hopefully) be released someday. Nope. They are gone forever. :*****((

Those of you who figured out this depressing news from the letter are smarter than me. Maybe I wanted to believe that when they said “documents” they really meant “documents” and that they wouldn't destroy the Basement Tapes when they KNEW that people wanted to see them and that one day a judge might rule in favor of releasing them."

There goes all the evidence. Rip in peace.

WTF.... Bullshit... Well I may have just lost interest in this if this is true.... Still wouldn't shock me if it wasn't

gasolinechild wrote:

There must be alternate sources, even if it is all gone.  The thirty seconds of leaked audio floating around the internet, what is the original source?

Rachel Scott's dad brought along a voice recorder to one of the basement tape viewings. He used that recorded thirty seconds to try and prove that Rachel had been targeted by Eric and Dylan, even though the 'Rachel' spoken about in the clip was a different Rachel.

[deleted post]

Wideawake wrote:

As people above has said, I find it hard to believe that they destroyed these tapes without the public's knowledge, and that there were no copies made. And as deathmedic said, it's not that I disbelieve you, LMNOP. It's that whole fucking department that I disbelieve.

Randy is aware of it, just had some correspondence through from him. He obviously sounded very disappointed by this and at Jeffco in general for how they handled the whole thing from the start and how his family were treated.

They were destroyed sometime in February 2011.

philosopher_king wrote:

They were destroyed sometime in February 2011.

How did you find that out? This is extremely upsetting. It makes no sense for them to destroy evidence from a big case like that. So I guess all we're left with is that 30 second audio Rachel Scott's Father recorded.

Jenn wrote:

philosopher_king wrote:

They were destroyed sometime in February 2011.

How did you find that out? This is extremely upsetting. It makes no sense for them to destroy evidence from a big case like that. So I guess all we're left with is that 30 second audio Rachel Scott's Father recorded.

I received that information from a YouTube video posted yesterday. Someone contacted Jefferson county police to ask about a status update on the tapes and she was told the tapes were destroyed in February 2011.

Idk--I have a very hard time believing *anything* that comes out of Jeffco. Cya has always been their motto. If E&D hadn't died on scene the tapes would certainly have been used at trial without all the ridiculous hemming and hawing about "copycats" and such. I also have a pretty low opinion of some *officials* and can't seem to shake the thought of the "nyah nyah-look what I have and you don't" mentality.....Me? Cynical? Naaaaaa

philosopher_king wrote:

Jenn wrote:

philosopher_king wrote:

They were destroyed sometime in February 2011.

How did you find that out? This is extremely upsetting. It makes no sense for them to destroy evidence from a big case like that. So I guess all we're left with is that 30 second audio Rachel Scott's Father recorded.

I received that information from a YouTube video posted yesterday.

Link?

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So Jeffco decides to destroy the real evidences but they keep selling copies of it like some kind of Columbine merchandising…

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The statutes of limitations never run out on murder.  (They shouldn't on rape either.)


So, the case is still open and they can't just destroy evidence.

They are telling lies.   Also, there are copies. Someone needs to "leak" them onto the net.

The basement tapes are set to be released 2026.  Which is suspicious.  The tapes should have been released by now.


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Wasn't there a request made after 2011? I seem to remember someone doing that and they didn't say they were gone... Oh well. Time to move on I guess. Shows over nothing more to see here

deathmedic wrote:

Wasn't there a request made after 2011? I seem to remember someone doing that and they didn't say they were gone... Oh well. Time to move on I guess. Shows over nothing more to see here

Many people probably make requests every year.

We are supposed to have freedom of information.

These corrupt people need to realize this.

Hopefully someone leaks the tapes soon.

deathmedic wrote:

Wasn't there a request made after 2011? I seem to remember someone doing that and they didn't say they were gone... Oh well. Time to move on I guess. Shows over nothing more to see here

There was someone, I believe in June 2012, who did that on scmrpg. He hired a lawyer and was denied access to the tapes for privacy reasons I believe. There was no mention that the tapes were destroyed.

Jefferson County Records Management & Archives
3500 Illinois St., Suite 2350
Golden, CO 80401

(303) 271-8448

E-mail: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Website: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office provided a copy of its Final Report on CD to the Archives when it was released in 2000, and a set of the JCSO 911 and Dispatch Audio CDs was given in 2004.

A complete set of all CDs was provided to the Archives in July, 2011.

Paper documents were converted to CD by the Sheriff’s Office Records Unit to provide a user-friendly format.

*It is possible/probable that the Basement Tapes (Item #265, Item #298, Item #333) or copies of them were Archived in July 2011 & thus still accessible at some time.

*Also, copies of the Basement Tapes were made by JCSO Deputy Cheryl Zimmerman & FBI Agent John Elvig. The originals were placed in the Evidence Vault & the copies were separately locked in her desk drawer - Item #333 pg 010377, Item #265 pg 010381, Item #298 pg 010383

** FBI Agent Jeff Diehl was given a copy of Item #333 to transport to the Command Post.

sororityalpha wrote:

Jefferson County Records Management & Archives
3500 Illinois St., Suite 2350
Golden, CO 80401

(303) 271-8448

E-mail: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Website: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office provided a copy of its Final Report on CD to the Archives when it was released in 2000, and a set of the JCSO 911 and Dispatch Audio CDs was given in 2004.

A complete set of all CDs was provided to the Archives in July, 2011.

Paper documents were converted to CD by the Sheriff’s Office Records Unit to provide a user-friendly format.

*It is possible/probable that the Basement Tapes (Item #265, Item #298, Item #333) or copies of them were Archived in July 2011 & thus still accessible at some time.

*Also, copies of the Basement Tapes were made by JCSO Deputy Cheryl Zimmerman & FBI Agent John Elvig. The originals were placed in the Evidence Vault & the copies were separately locked in her desk drawer - Item #333 pg 010377, Item #265 pg 010381, Item #298 pg 010383

** FBI Agent Jeff Diehl was given a copy of Item #333 to transport to the Command Post.

So the FBI just might have a copy. Will send an FOIA can't hurt at this point.

Here is another thread where we've been discussing this.

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If they were never going to release them, we are no worse off if they have been destroyed. I have doubts this rumor is true though. If it is, I wonder if there are extra copies floating around out there somewhere?

Still think theyre lying.

I always thought that the justice sytem in my country is a piece of shit now I can see that the same things happens all around the world. I hope that some copies of the tapes still exist tough.

oups..ok..

Thank you for posting the link to the article. Good read. Like many of the others I am not completely convinced that the tapes have actually been destroyed and if they were I have a feeling that someone has made a copy over the past 15 years.

If the case is open they would not be able to destroy such evidence. It's no doubt as a result of the constant nagging of tumblrettes, and morons on the internet spamming the police station with phone calls and emails about the status of these tapes.

This is appalling. But I have a sneaky suspicion that someone, somewhere, has a copy.

It's a shame Dave Cullen never got to see them. (That's right - the World's Greatest Columbine Author(R) has never watched them. Go figure.)

Does this mean that with the evidence no longer existing there would be no repercussions if someone with a copy outside of Jeffco were to release it?

Verse wrote:

Does this mean that with the evidence no longer existing there would be no repercussions if someone with a copy outside of Jeffco were to release it?

There is nobody outside of Jeffco who has it to be released. That's the point.

Ivan wrote:

Verse wrote:

Does this mean that with the evidence no longer existing there would be no repercussions if someone with a copy outside of Jeffco were to release it?

There is nobody outside of Jeffco who has it to be released. That's the point.

Does this apply to every piece of written or otherwise evidence that has been withheld from the public? This is all a little hard for me to believe
You'd think it would at least make a news article when they decided to dispose of the materials.

I have only been into columbine, for a 2 years and a bit and I kind of understand why they would destroy the shells,carpet so fourth, but the but the tapes that's just plain stupid. In my humble opinion of course!! And also wondering if they made something similar to the Port Arthur police training video?

There is a video of inside the library showing the blood splattered carpet and so on but the bodies had been removed. I think it's called fire dept. training video.

A quick question too if I may. A few years ago I read something online from a guy who claims he was shown round the library. He was quite descriptive in what he saw. He wasn't there himself on 20th April. I think he said his mum was a teacher there or something. Anyone recall this and have a link to it?

Sorry, found it easier that I thought. See below... Taken from documenting reality.com

The disc also contained a document written by a son of a Columbine survivor who toured the library after the shootings. He wrote the following testimony about what he saw and as far as I know it is one of the best descriptions available on the web of what the library looked like after Eric and Dylan's deadly shooting:

"Here's the skinny. My beloved mother works at Columbine highschool (where I graduated in '87). On 20 Apr 99 at approximately 11:15am she went into the library to look for her boss (an un-named computer teaher). Hell broke loose. She hid in a magazine locker adjasent (sp) to the library. Four hours later, the SWAT team led her to safety.

Now click ahead... My beloved mom is going through some serious fucking counseling. Complete with lots of cool drugs (that I steal on a regular basis!) Her trauma counselor thinks that it might be a good idea if someone in the family visits the site where everything happened.

My father declines. It is a little too much for him. My mom asks me. "Sure, I'll go!" I answer, not knowing what's in store fore me.

Here we go.

Enter Columbine HS at the north entrance -by the old auto shop building. Sign in -me, my mom and brother, her counselor, three firefighters, six admin officials, and two cops. (we had to sign our names so they knew we
were there).

Walk down the halls. Cop lets us know where everyone met the wrath of Eric and Dylan. There are bullet holes in the hall thresholds. Pretty fuckin cool I think. I touch them. 9mm slugs leave a nice sized hole.

We go into the library. This is really fuckin strange. All the interior windows have black butcher-block paper covering them. Can't see in or out.. Enter the room. Gotta sign a statement saying we won't go to the media etc... (This, I thought was pretty cool. Aimee Sporer* would cum in her panties to be in this room. I got to go in simply cuz I was a sprog of a survivor. )*Aimee Sporer is the extremely cute albeit married and motherly newscaster of our local channel four news.

Enter the room. First thing that grabs my attention is the carpet. It looks like its burned in spots. Closer examination realizes that its not burned. Its blood. Nine mm rifles and shotguns do a fucking good job of draining bodies. It was all underneath tables. Most of the kids died as they were hiding under tables. Granted, it had been 6+ weeks since the massacre, the blood was still very visable. (I guess bloood doesn't evaporate). Here's the wierd part: The blood was so thick that you could scrape it up with a putty knife. It was like dried up clay on the carpet (Sorry secret santa wishers, I didn't grab any samples). One kid who died had his *brains* blown onto the carpet. This nearly caused me to lose my lunch. But as a good A.T'er, I held it in. Picture a spot about as large as a frisbee. Turn it greyish-brown. Add cracks due to drying. Fucking brains. But what really had me was the presence of a fucking *turd* on the floor. I pointed it out to the investigator and asked, "what is that???" He replied, "Feces" Apparently, one girl shit on the floor as Eric and Dylan went about their mayhem.

Good ole' Cassie (she said yes) Bernall was reading the fucking newspaper when she bought it. It was opened up to page 16 and had her blood on it. Actually, there was blood everywhere. It was on the books, floor, periodicles, etc...

Go to the east part of the library. Eric and Dylan wisely decided to end it here. OK, most of the investigators believe Eric shot Dylan. When the report comes out, this claim will likely be substatiated. Now I have shot many high powered rifles in my age. I never knew that ballistics can be so messy. Eric put a gun to his mouth and literally blew his brains all over the ceiling. I mean *all over* there is a spot where him and Dylan died. Above that spot is a streak of blood that coats the white, styrafoam ceiling panels where they died.

Spent an hour and 1/2 in the library with the cops. Saw shit I never hope to see again. When I went into work later that day, I was in a fuck of a bad mood.

p.s. Collected some broken glass from the library. Put it in jar and took it to the local watering hole. Man, some fuckers have no sence of humor..."

The closest thing I can think of to the Port Arthur training video would be the after-shooting library tour video. I suppose they might also use graphic crime scene photos or footage for this purpose as well. Personally, I only agree with the decision to destroy the bio-hazard material, but I hold the belief that everything else should be preserved in some form, and perhaps some of the less controversial objects given the opportunity to be auctioned off to historically interested parties like myself.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]: very interesting. thank you for posting!

lostmedia a old wikia has two

em81 wrote:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]: very interesting. thank you for posting!

Hmm... you sure its real? Cause there is no info there which you cannot find in the "fire department" video of the inside of columbine after the killings.

I don't know where to ask this, but I'm getting confused about when the Time article on the basement tapes was first released…

If you search in Time.com the issue is dated Dec 20, 1999. But if you read news article on it from 1999, all of them are dated around Dec 13, 1999, setting the article release on Dec 12, 1999.

Does anyone knows? I've never seen any Time issue, but maybe it has some section in the end summarizing what articles are going to be part of the next issue… or something, I dunno.


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