One Colorado Murder Gets The Spotlight While A Related One Is Forgotten, Says Family

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Nathan Leon
Nathan Leon in 2008 at Cave of the Winds in Manitou Springs.

The family of a man murdered four years ago says each year at this time they relive the days, weeks and months following the killing. Nathan Leon, a father and husband, was killed in March of 2013 by the same man who murdered Colorado corrections chief Tom Clements two days later.

Leon had been delivering pizzas when a recently released parolee, Evan Ebel, stole Leon's uniform and shot him. Ebel later used the uniform as a disguise when he went to Clements' home and killed him. Ebel was eventually killed in a shootout with police in Texas.

The Clements murder made national headlines but for the most part, Leon's murder became an afterthought, his family says. Part of it, they say, was the way the media continually referred to Leon as a "pizza delivery man," ignoring other aspects of his life.

Leon's wife Katie says she still has a lot of unanswered questions about the case which, according to the El Paso County sheriff's office remains open. For one, some investigators believe the double murder was part of a larger conspiracy orchestrated by a white supremacist prison gang. Leon thinks more could be done to investigate the gang's involvement.

Could A Prison Gang Be Behind Corrections Chief's Murder?

Katie Leon and her mother Bernadette Alness, who live in Commerce City, speak with Colorado Matters host Ryan Warner.