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Accused in Vail pass remains case pleads guilty

STEVEN K. PAULSON
Associated Press Writer
Scott Kimball is brought in to the courtroom for the start of his hearing at the Boulder County Justice Center in Boulder, Colo. Thursday, Oct. 8, 2009. Kimball was charged in the death of his uncle, Terry Kimball, and three others _ Jennifer Marcum, LeAnn Emry and Kaysi McLeod. (AP Photo/Mark Leffingwell, Pool)
AP | POOL The Daily Camera

BOULDER, Colorado – A former FBI witness pleaded guilty Thursday in the deaths of four people and was sentenced to 70 years in prison.

Scott Lee Kimball was charged Tuesday with one count of second-degree murder in the death of his uncle, Terry Kimball, and another count in the deaths of Jennifer Marcum, LeAnn Emry and Kaysi McLeod.

Kimball has led authorities to the remains of Terry Kimball and Emry, but Marcum’s remains have not been found despite searches in eastern Utah. McLeod’s remains were found previously in northwest Colorado.



Terry Kimball’s remains were found on Vail Pass.

Kimball, who served as a cooperating witness for the FBI, has been serving a 48-year prison term for theft, and was sentenced in June to more than five years in prison on a weapons conviction.

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Kimball’s previous felony convictions include a 1989 criminal attempt to commit theft case out of Boulder County; issuing bad checks in Beaver Head and Missoula counties in Montana; forgery in Spokane County, Wash.; and theft and escape from Lewis and Clark County, Mont., according to court documents.

He was also convicted in 2003 on a federal charge of being in possession of counterfeit securities.

In July 2004, Adams County Sheriff and Louisville police investigated Kimball for attempted homicide after his 10-year-old son reported that he had been pushed out of a moving vehicle, according to court documents.

The affidavit said the Adams County District Attorney declined to file charges after a doctor said the boy’s statements were unreliable “due to his extensive head injury.”

Adams County District Attorney Don Quick did not immediately return a message Wednesday seeking comment.

Marcum was a potential witness in a drug case against Kimball’s former cellmate. Investigators said Kimball had told Marcum that he had arranged a job for her at a coffee shop in Seattle, where they were to meet up with Marcum’s parents in February 2003. Instead, Kimball told Marcum’s parents that she had left for New York.

He later told the FBI that she had been killed by an associate of his former cellmate because she was a witness to the case and that he had been asked to hide the body.

He later asked another cellmate whether serial numbers on breast implants can be traced.

Kimball is quoted in court documents talking about disguising a body’s identity.

“You cut off the feet, head and hands, and there’s no trace of it,” Kimball said.

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Associated Press Writer P. Solomon Banda also contributed to this report.


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