Los Angeles Times: Paper Sheds Light on Columbine Parents

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-columbine-harrises0114jan14.story?coll=sns%2Dap%2Dnation%2Dheadlines

Paper Sheds Light on Columbine Parents
By Associated Press

January 14 2002, 8:57 AM PST

GOLDEN, Colo. -- Letters from a prosecutor indicate the parents of Columbine
gunman Eric Harris wanted a guarantee their statements wouldn't be used against
them before they would agree to be interviewed, the Rocky Mountain News
reported.

Jefferson County District Attorney Dave Thomas said in one of the letters, which
the newspaper sought under the Colorado Open Records Act, that he did not have
enough evidence to suggest that Wayne and Kathy Harris could be criminally
prosecuted.

Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, killed a teacher and 12 students at
Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, before killing themselves.

Their families have never talked publicly, but videos and writings the boys made
before the attack show they planned the rampage under their parents' noses.

In his letters to the Harrises' attorneys, Thomas asked if Wayne Harris
detonated a pipe bomb he found that was made by his son, as one of his son's
friends claimed.

He also asked if the Harrises were aware of their son's violent rantings on the
Internet and in his diary, or of the gunmen's anger toward their classmates.
Dozens of students have said Harris was tormented at Columbine.

The Harrises' attorney, Benjamin Colkitt III, did not return calls Monday.

In one undated letter to the Harrises' attorneys, Thomas wrote: "It is our
position that I am not in a position to make any promises or concessions with
respect to statements made by your clients."

A second letter, dated Feb. 21, 2001, asked: "What benefit do I and this office
derive from an agreement that no statements by Wayne or Kathy Harris would ever
be used against them in a criminal case?"

Wayne and Kathy Harris met briefly with sheriff's detectives after the
shootings, but have not been interviewed since Thomas sent the letters.

Thomas refused twice last year to release the letters. In a letter last week, he
explained that he initially balked because discussions were still underway about
the possibility of interviews with the Harrises.

-- continue --

"However, at this time, there are no further discussions about additional
interviews, and I do not contemplate the resumption of any such discussions," he
wrote last week.

Thomas said he did not write to the attorneys for Tom and Sue Klebold.

Most families of Columbine victims who sued the gunmen's parents have settled
out of court, but some refused to settle until the parents talk.

Copyright 2002 Associated Press

So what does it matter what these idiot parents say now? "We were too stupid/lazy/ignorant to realize anything could/would happen?" Granted it might make a difference to the parents of the kids who got killed, but it darn sure won't change anything. They must be as tormented as the victim's parents by that horror.