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05-08-2005, 01:11 AM
Teen Tells Victim's Family To Drop Lawsuit Or Lose Souls
Teen In Jail For Slitting Best Friend's Throat
POSTED: 10:51 am MDT May 7, 2005
UPDATED: 11:10 am MDT May 7, 2005
DENVER -- A teenager in prison for slitting his best friend's throat has
told the victim's family to drop their lawsuit against him or risk
losing their souls.
"You're in a perilous position spiritually," Isaac Grimes, 19, wrote to
Charles Dutcher in a letter postmarked March 22. "I just don't want you
to continue hurting yourself and shutting yourself out of the kingdom of
heaven."
Dutcher filed a wrongful death lawsuit, scheduled to go to trial June 6,
against Grimes and two former Palmer High School classmates who were
convicted in the New Year's Day 2001 killings of Dutcher's son and parents.
Tony Dutcher, 15, and his grandparents, Carl and JoAnna Dutcher, were
found slain at the grandparents' home, Dutcher's throat cut, and his
grandparents shot with a high-powered rifle.
Grimes, who was sentenced to 50 years in prison, wrote in his letter
that Charles Dutcher should read Bible verses about forgiveness. Grimes
said Dutcher is "talking the talk" of Christianity, but not "walking the
walk."
Dutcher was enraged by the letter.
"It upsets me tremendously for him to try to preach at me and scold me,"
Dutcher said. "I'm not the one who killed three people. He killed my son
and he set up my parents. None of this would have happened without Isaac."
Dutcher, who still lives on the property where his son and parents were
killed, said Grimes' still doesn't understand the pain he caused.
"I'm sitting here in my dad's chair, looking at bullet holes in the
wall," he said. "I'm the one who buried them up here. I'm the one who
cleaned up the bloody crime scene. I walk the walk. I walk it everyday,
and I sleep it every night."
In his letter to Dutcher, Grimes wrote: "I will value your forgiveness
greatly should you choose to give it. If you don't, however, it won't
bother me in terms of how I feel about me -- but it is painful to see
you and your brothers harboring unforgiveness because of how much you
hurt yourselves by doing so. (God has forgiven me, and if someone's
opinion of me differs from His, whose should I value more?)"
"Let's start with the topic of the civil suit. Whether I 'win' or 'lose'
is quite irrelevant to me. I have no assets and no income ...but rest
assured that your attorney fees will be paid, quite likely by you in the
event that you can't find someone with assets to sue."
Teen In Jail For Slitting Best Friend's Throat
POSTED: 10:51 am MDT May 7, 2005
UPDATED: 11:10 am MDT May 7, 2005
DENVER -- A teenager in prison for slitting his best friend's throat has
told the victim's family to drop their lawsuit against him or risk
losing their souls.
"You're in a perilous position spiritually," Isaac Grimes, 19, wrote to
Charles Dutcher in a letter postmarked March 22. "I just don't want you
to continue hurting yourself and shutting yourself out of the kingdom of
heaven."
Dutcher filed a wrongful death lawsuit, scheduled to go to trial June 6,
against Grimes and two former Palmer High School classmates who were
convicted in the New Year's Day 2001 killings of Dutcher's son and parents.
Tony Dutcher, 15, and his grandparents, Carl and JoAnna Dutcher, were
found slain at the grandparents' home, Dutcher's throat cut, and his
grandparents shot with a high-powered rifle.
Grimes, who was sentenced to 50 years in prison, wrote in his letter
that Charles Dutcher should read Bible verses about forgiveness. Grimes
said Dutcher is "talking the talk" of Christianity, but not "walking the
walk."
Dutcher was enraged by the letter.
"It upsets me tremendously for him to try to preach at me and scold me,"
Dutcher said. "I'm not the one who killed three people. He killed my son
and he set up my parents. None of this would have happened without Isaac."
Dutcher, who still lives on the property where his son and parents were
killed, said Grimes' still doesn't understand the pain he caused.
"I'm sitting here in my dad's chair, looking at bullet holes in the
wall," he said. "I'm the one who buried them up here. I'm the one who
cleaned up the bloody crime scene. I walk the walk. I walk it everyday,
and I sleep it every night."
In his letter to Dutcher, Grimes wrote: "I will value your forgiveness
greatly should you choose to give it. If you don't, however, it won't
bother me in terms of how I feel about me -- but it is painful to see
you and your brothers harboring unforgiveness because of how much you
hurt yourselves by doing so. (God has forgiven me, and if someone's
opinion of me differs from His, whose should I value more?)"
"Let's start with the topic of the civil suit. Whether I 'win' or 'lose'
is quite irrelevant to me. I have no assets and no income ...but rest
assured that your attorney fees will be paid, quite likely by you in the
event that you can't find someone with assets to sue."
