The District Attorney — 18th Judicial District
  • Our Office
    • About Us
      • Meet the District Attorney
      • Mission Statement
      • Law Enforcement Partners
      • Unified Metropolitan Forensic Crime Lab
      • Forms and Brochures
      • Organization Chart
    • Contact Us
    • Employment
    • General Courts
      • District Court
      • Juvenile Court
      • County Court
    • Specialized Units
      • Conviction Integrity Unit
      • Cold Case
      • Appeals
      • Vehicular Homicide Unit
      • Diversion Counseling Program
      • Special Victims Unit (SVU)
      • Domestic Violence Unit
      • Human Trafficking Unit
      • Elder and at Risk Unit
      • Economic Crime Unit
      • Problem Solving Courts
    • Support Units
      • Finance Unit
      • Communications
      • Human Resources
      • Technology
      • Investigations
      • Victim Witness Unit
      • Central Services
      • Victim Compensation
  • Newsletter
    • Newsletter Archive
  • Victim Services
    • Victim Witness Unit
      • Victim Impact Statement and Restitution Information
    • Victim Rights
    • Victim Compensation
    • Domestic Violence
      • Domestic Violence Fast Track
    • Sexual Assault
    • Sex Offender Locator
  • Community Outreach
    • Newsletter
    • Consumer Fraud Protection
      • Community Presentations
      • Wage Theft
      • Fraud Alerts
      • Bad Check Restitution Program — DISCONTINUED
    • Outreach
    • Events
      • Senior Law & Safety Summit: May 21, 2022
      • Second Chances Warrant Clearance
      • Community Conversations
      • Citizen’s Academy
    • Volunteer
  • Reports
    • Data Dashboards
    • Financial Reports
    • Media
    • News Releases
    • Records Request
    • Officer-Involved Shootings
    • Peace Officer Credibility Disclosure Notification
  • Prosecution
    • Criminal Justice Glossary
    • Courtroom Diagram
    • Records Request
    • Docket Search
Charges filed against ex-Aurora police officer involved in...
Jury convicts Colorado Springs man in deadly DUI...
Sex offender who posed as Immigration Official and...
Report of October 25, 2022 officer-involved shooting in...
Report of December 1, 2022 officer-involved shooting in...
Ex-Aurora officer found guilty of failing to stop...
Report of November 30, 2022 officer-involved shooting
Bond increased to $750,000 for defendant charged in...
Two teens sentenced in 2021 shooting outside Hinkley...
Teenager charged with threats targeting targeting Colorado Springs...

The District Attorney — 18th Judicial District

  • Our Office
    • About Us
      • Meet the District Attorney
      • Mission Statement
      • Law Enforcement Partners
      • Unified Metropolitan Forensic Crime Lab
      • Forms and Brochures
      • Organization Chart
    • Contact Us
    • Employment
    • General Courts
      • District Court
      • Juvenile Court
      • County Court
    • Specialized Units
      • Conviction Integrity Unit
      • Cold Case
      • Appeals
      • Vehicular Homicide Unit
      • Diversion Counseling Program
      • Special Victims Unit (SVU)
      • Domestic Violence Unit
      • Human Trafficking Unit
      • Elder and at Risk Unit
      • Economic Crime Unit
      • Problem Solving Courts
    • Support Units
      • Finance Unit
      • Communications
      • Human Resources
      • Technology
      • Investigations
      • Victim Witness Unit
      • Central Services
      • Victim Compensation
  • Newsletter
    • Newsletter Archive
  • Victim Services
    • Victim Witness Unit
      • Victim Impact Statement and Restitution Information
    • Victim Rights
    • Victim Compensation
    • Domestic Violence
      • Domestic Violence Fast Track
    • Sexual Assault
    • Sex Offender Locator
  • Community Outreach
    • Newsletter
    • Consumer Fraud Protection
      • Community Presentations
      • Wage Theft
      • Fraud Alerts
      • Bad Check Restitution Program — DISCONTINUED
    • Outreach
    • Events
      • Senior Law & Safety Summit: May 21, 2022
      • Second Chances Warrant Clearance
      • Community Conversations
      • Citizen’s Academy
    • Volunteer
  • Reports
    • Data Dashboards
    • Financial Reports
    • Media
    • News Releases
    • Records Request
    • Officer-Involved Shootings
    • Peace Officer Credibility Disclosure Notification
  • Prosecution
    • Criminal Justice Glossary
    • Courtroom Diagram
    • Records Request
    • Docket Search
Tag

Helene Pruszynski

James Curtis Clanton

Murderer sentenced in 40-year-old Douglas County cold case

It took 40 years, but those who knew Helene Pruszynski say they feel a measure of justice now that her murderer has been sentenced to prison.

James Curtis Clanton

James Curtis Clanton

On July 1, Douglas County District Court Judge Theresa Slade sentenced James Curtis Clanton, 63, to life in prison. Due to laws governing life sentences when this crime was committed, the defendant is eligible for parole after serving 20 years of his sentence.

More than 80 people participated in the Webex sentencing hearing.

Clanton pleaded guilty to murdering Pruszynski on Jan. 16, 1980, when she was an intern at a radio station in Denver. Her body was found in a vacant Douglas County field in what is now Highlands Ranch. She was 21 years old.

“Helene was the baby of my family,” her sister told the court during the hearing. “She was the sunshine of our family. … I cannot find the words to express our anguish – every fiber of our family unit was destroyed, and we would never be the same.”

Friends from Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School and Wheaton College in Pruszynski’s home state of Massachusetts also spoke of how their lives were touched by Helene and her murder.

“When you were in the company of Helene, you knew that the world was good,” one told the court. “That was taken away from all of us with this man’s despicable acts.”

Chief Deputy District Attorney Chris Wilcox acknowledged that Clanton had quickly confessed when confronted by investigators, but that didn’t lessen the severity of the crime, he told the judge.

Clanton “kept telling her he would let her go,” Wilcox said in his sentencing argument. But “he stabbed her 9 separate times. He had a chance for this to be less horrible than it was, but he kept making it worse.”

It took 40 years of persistence by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and advances in technology to identity a suspect in Prusynski’s murder.

Investigators with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office utilized forensic genealogy and tracked Clanton, who had legally changed his name in the decades since the murder, to Lake Butler, Fla. They worked closely with the members of the Union County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI and other law enforcement partners, including the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Cold Case Unit of Chief Deputy District Attorney John Kellner and Wilcox. The partners worked hand-in-hand to bring Clanton to Colorado in December 2019 to face the charges he had evaded for decades.

Clanton pleaded guilty Feb, 21, 2020, to one count of first-degree murder after deliberation. This is a Class 1 felony that carries a sentence of life imprisonment in the Department of Corrections.

Judge Slade presided over the sentencing hearing.

“This was a very long-lived case but short-lived in the courts,” she said. “It took 40 years to get to this place. You have had the benefit of a life, a family – things you took away from Helene.”

Murderer sentenced in 40-year-old Douglas County cold case was last modified: July 7th, 2020 by Eric Ross
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

Defendant in 40-year-old murder pleads guilty

“Guilty.”

With that one word, the family and friends of a 21-year-old woman killed by a stranger ended 40 years of waiting.

On Friday, James Curtis Clanton, 62, pleaded guilty to murdering Helene Pruszynski on Jan. 16, 1980. Her body was found in a vacant Douglas County field in what is now Highlands Ranch.

It took 40 years of persistence by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and advances in technology to identity a suspect in the murder.

“Because of the unrelenting and outstanding efforts of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and United Data Connect, the resolution of a horrible sexual assault and murder in a desolate part of our county four decades ago ended within 15 minutes inside a courtroom this morning,” said District Attorney George Brauchler. “Coloradans should know that having the ability to consider the death penalty on this case helped lead to its resolution. The legislature should think again about taking this tool away from elected prosecutors.”

Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock was also satisfied with the outcome.

“While we were prepared to go forward at trial, we are pleased that Mr. Clanton made the decision to plead guilty. I am very proud of all the hard work and dedication that was put into solving this case,” Spurlock said. “We sincerely hope that this brings closure one step closer for Helene’s only surviving sibling as well as the many friends she had.”

Investigators with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office utilized forensic genealogy and tracked Clanton, who had legally changed his name in the decades since the murder, to Lake Butler, Fla. They worked closely with the members of the Union County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI and other law enforcement partners, including the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Cold Case Unit of Chief Deputy District Attorney John Kellner and Senior Deputy District Attorney Chris Wilcox. The partners worked hand-in-hand to bring Clanton to Colorado in December 2019 to face the charges he had evaded for decades.

Clanton pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder after deliberation. This is a Class 1 felony that carries a sentence of life imprisonment in the Department of Corrections. However, due to the laws in place in 1980, Clanton may apply for parole after serving a period of 20 calendar years of his sentence.

Sentencing is set for April 10 at 2 p.m.

Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock and District Attorney George Brauchler address the media at the Douglas County Justice Center on Feb. 21, 2020.

Defendant in 40-year-old murder pleads guilty was last modified: February 21st, 2020 by Eric Ross
0 Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest

Recent Posts

  • Charges filed against ex-Aurora police officer involved in on-duty fatal crash
  • Jury convicts Colorado Springs man in deadly DUI crash on I-25 frontage road
  • Sex offender who posed as Immigration Official and assaulted young girls sentenced to four decades in prison
  • Report of October 25, 2022 officer-involved shooting in Lone Tree
  • Report of December 1, 2022 officer-involved shooting in Greenwood Village
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
Footer Logo
  • Our Office
  • Victim Services
  • Community Outreach
  • Media
  • Employment
  • Contact Us
  • Prosecution
  • Disclaimer Policy

© 2022 - DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE 18 JUDICIAL DISTRICT