Brian Maass sets half-hour on Henthorn case

[Colorado Media Newsroom]

From The Denver Post:



KCNC-Channel 4 is clearing a half-hour of its schedule for a special, "Inside the Investigation: Harold Henthorn," Friday at 6:30 p.m. Investigative reporter Brian Maass promises new information and new interviews.

Maass has filed dozens of reports on the case over the last two and a half years. In this half-hour he frames the central question this way: “Was Henthorn a victim of very bad luck or is he a Black Widow husband?”

With footage from the CBS News program “48 Hours,” on which Maass appeared in April to discuss the case, Maass talks the audience through his journalistic efforts, from the anonymous email that tipped him to the suspicious nature of the death of Henthorne’s first wife, 17 years earlier, through his attempts to interview Henthorn in Highlands Ranch. “No comment” reactions, as Henthorn waves off the reporter from inside his car, are juxtaposed with interviews with forever grieving family members.

The Henthorn case has been widely covered locally and nationally. Henthorn, 58, is charged with first-degree murder in the 2012 death of his wife, Toni Henthorn. The new trial date has been set for Sept. 14.

Sure, this half-hour is strategically slated for the May sweeps, and yes, the topic has a certain tabloid appeal, but give credit to the station to devoting this much time to a local news story. Raising questions about the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department’s handling of an inquiry into the first wife’s death, Maass cites numerous “red flags” in the case file. They seemed to “miss or not follow up on a number of clues,” he reports. Law enforcement doesn’t come out looking good.

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