October 21, 1998 - JT Colfax Letters from Boulder County Jail
The full unedited text of letters from J.T.Colfax
Posted on the Boulder News Forum

J.T.Colfax talks about how a private investigator named Jennifer Gedde was aware of the fire at the Ramsey house prior to Colfax himself alerting the Boulder police but she never reported it to the police herself. If Colfax had went to trial on the arson charge this information would have come out and would not have looked good for the Ramey attorneys. As it was Tripp DeMuth and Lou Smit worked on the plea deal. J.T.Colfax got a two year jail sentence and two year probation (partially during time served) for the theft of the morgue log only and did not get sentenced for the arson charge. Somebody did not want Colfax to go to trial on the arson charge.

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Colfax Diary; October 21, 1998
1colfax - 07:17pm Oct 23, 1998 MST
James Thompson at Boulder County Jail

AFTER THE FIRE.

Now get this. The ultimate insult to injury. TWELVE HOURS AFTER THE FIRE (in which I left various objects with MY name on them a semi charred state on the floor under the mail slot) I couldn't stand wandering around any more assuming the police were looking for me around noon I called Det. Ron Gosage. When he came on the line he was first concerned with the horrific noise in the background. Tied to a meter there stood a dog who was actually completely calm but was whining at the top of his lungs for his owner, who was in Lolitas market. Gosage couldn't help but think I was torturing some thing or somebody. No luck, I tell you!

So I explained that and then I asked if anyone had been at the Ramsey house this morning, Gosage answered by saying that HE had not. "WHY?" Then I told him I started a fire at the Ramsey house the previous night, he said "OH YOU WHAT?" He then asked where I was and I described the businesses on the corners and he said to wait and he'd come. I'd attemped to call him from the SAME pay phone the night before, I lit a cigarette and waited. Feeling awful, listless.

Cont........

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1colfax - 07:31pm Oct 23, 1998 MST (#1 of 5)
James Thompson at Boulder County Jail

In moments Det. Gosage and Thomas showed up in their unmarked car, along with a set of regular officers in a regular police car. Gosage patted me down. I wouldn't really tell him much. He said at that point they knew nothing about the fire but they were placing me in protective custody. I was handcuffed and put in the patrol car. We drove behind the detectives. I thought we were going to the PD Headquarters or the jail, but we went straight to the Ramsey house.

We parked on the street right in front of the R house. I never left the car. I sweltered in it handcuffed for at least 45 minutes while I watched the questioning of neightbors and the arrival of various other offices and fire people.

The police DID NOT want to make any mistakes about entering the house. (The exact reason why this was a good place for me to lash out about being asked about ANY MURDER AND THE R MURDER). This was a big problem for the cops. They were trying to get a hold of Ramsey lawyers to gain entrance. They never did actually enter the house the whole time I was stopped there. I was finally driven to the jail after the cops had been determined by looking thru the windows and mail slots that there had indeed been a bit of a fire.

Later, as can be seen in the reports, a private investigator named Jennifer Gedde showed up and let the cops in but its apparent from one of the reports that as the detectives were examining the fire damage after being in the house, they filled me in on a strange thing. THAT is that on the inside of the ramsey house the mail slot is covered with a soot about one foot high, so all this fire gloop on the floor, ashes, lighters, various possible things but the little door is SHUT.

Cont....

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1colfax - 07:46pm Oct 23, 1998 MST (#2 of 5)
James Thompson at Boulder County Jail

So lets back up to me placing things thru the slot. I didn't KNOW there was a shute AND DOOR on the OTHER side when I put stuff in. But at one point I put a bunch of envelopes thru and I could feel and hear the door open. Now the stuff I threw went direct on the marble floor. I threw several lighters in to make it look SOMETHING like serious and eventually I left. The problem is, I DIDN'T and COULDN'T close that inside door from outside. So here's the Ramsey law people Geddes and Hale and the Detective....and the Detectives make the REALIZATON about how someone IN the house had to have closed the door. THEN, AND ONLY THEN did they admit that they had been in the house that morning and discovered the damage. They said they closed the door with a towel to prevent evidence from blowing away. And now of course everything is good and burned, apparently not readable the way I left it. It stinks. Why didn't they just call the COPS when THEY discovered it? INSTEAD they hunkered with the Ramseys on the phone.

MY CASE is over and done and I did what I did, yeah, yeah, but it won't be fair if these "legal professionals" NEVER have to account for what happened that morning. And yes, I clearly want to say that if they screwed around with this stuff what will they do for the Ramseys on their big problems?

Further....Yes, of course it as a wedge in plea negotations. I alluded to it in strange letters to random Boulderites KNOWING FULL WELL they would turn them over and THEY DID. It was obvious that the DA's office did not want anything to happen that would change the nature of the Ramsey lawyer team. If they didn't come up with an acceptable plea deal they KNEW I would go to trial, fire my lousy liar Public Defender, Cary Lacklen, and do nothing at trial but go straight to tainted evidence and THAT could have got loud enough that Morgan might have had to leave the case for the Ramseys, possibly amongst others. This posibility was averted by re arranging my charges.

Cont.......

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1colfax - 08:01pm Oct 23, 1998 MST (#3 of 5)
James Thompson at Boulder County Jail

I told Tripp DeMuth, Lou Smit and lousy Lacklin that I would NOT take any deal with lengthy strings. They gave me the thing I had to have in order to plead guilty, which is that the probation is ticking with my time. They'd have give me MUCH more time in prison with no chance for input or demands from ME if it hadn't been for their ridiculous need to AVOID having discussion of Ramsey attorney activities at the R house with my evidence discussed in court.

And so I plead guilty in January of 98 (postponed throughout December because of the publicity element of the anniversary). I got back from court so late, that the deputy parked the van out in the jails parking lot and walked me in because he couldn't drive me in the covered garage full of vehicles parked for the night.

There was NO ONE in court but me, Judge Dellipanni, One Deputy, Lou Smit, Tripp DeMuth and Cary Lacklen, my public defender. I've so OFTEN never went to court as scheduled, but more by "surprise" to me, thanks to having a "cell out" for a lawyer. I'd see Lacklen leave court appearances with Tripp DeMuth.

Tripp DeMuth - kinda arrogant I must say. Weird alligator boots. Afterwards I wrote him a couple of times of things I'd heard and I think I implied that I wouldn't bring up this subject but I was high on dropping the case from my hair. Now I've SAT here all year watching the spin spin spin. I'm not saying anything in THIS atmosphere that I wouldn't testify to. DISCUSS (and all with Ramsey agent Smit sitting in).

The End for now
JT Colfax
jtcolfax@hotmail.com

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Additional Information Gennifer Gedde failure to report fire.

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