Triple murder suspect pleads guilty after initial murder conviction overturned in Colorado

A triple murder suspect pleaded guilty in a Boulder County courtroom on Thursday after his initial murder conviction had been overturned. Garrett Matthew Coughlin had been convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in 2019 before that case was overturned. 

The triple murder happened in April 2017 at a home in Coal Creek Canyon where all the victims had been shot in the head. An illegal marijuana grow with more than 100 plants was found by investigators inside the home. Drugs were investigated as a possible motive for the triple murder.

Lance and Kelly White were found dead on their home on Divide View in Coal Creek Canyon on April 15.

Emory Fraker, described as a caretaker for the Whites, was murdered at the same time as the couple.

Coughlin's conviction and life in prison without the possibility of parole sentence were called into question after his attorneys filed an appeal based on a juror who lied or misled the court about her family's criminal history. Coughlin was granted a new trial after a judge granted the appeal. 

On Thursday, Coughlin pleaded guilty to the 2017 triple murder and was sentenced to 42 years in the Department of Corrections with credit for time served. 

Twentieth Judicial District Attorney Michael Dougherty stated, "For the loved ones of those killed by the defendant, it has been a tortured and painful journey to today's guilty plea and the sentence to 42 years in state prison. In 2019, this case was proven at trial largely through circumstantial evidence; meaning, there was no video, no eyewitness, and no confession. After the trial, it came to light that two of the trial jurors had been less than truthful during the jury selection process. As a result, the conviction was overturned. In November of 2023, as we prepared for a second trial, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation disclosed that the DNA analyst who worked on this case had engaged in serious misconduct on this case and hundreds of others. Her conduct, as well as that of the ballistics expert from CBI, significantly impacted the evidence that could be presented at a second trial. Based on those circumstances, the guilty plea and sentence is appropriate. It will bring this criminal case and the painful litigation to a close for the victims' families. But, when these families needed the justice system the most, parts of that system failed to live up to the responsibility entrusted to them."