Background: News footage of the scene of the Westcliffe, Colo., shooting in November 2023 (KKTV). Inset (left): Hamne Clark (Custer County Sheriff's Office). Insets (right and far right): Beth and Robert Geers (Shrine of Remembrance Funeral Home).
A Colorado man who shot four of his neighbors, three fatally, over a land dispute involving their driveway will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Hamne Clark, 47, was sentenced to three life sentences on Feb. 20, more than two years after the triple murders of Beth Geers, 73, her husband Robert Geers, 63, and their friend James Daulton, 58. The three victims, as well as Daulton's wife Patty Daulton, were all shot by Clark on the afternoon of Nov. 20, 2023, following a prolonged feud over the rightful owner of the land on which the Geers had a driveway.
According to courtroom reporting by The Denver Gazette, the Geers hired a land surveyor to establish the correct property lines. The land surveyor ended up being a witness who testified that he saw Clark gun down the Geers and Daultons.
Prosecutors said that land surveyor William Bechaver was at the property to assess it on the day of the shooting. The Daultons were there to serve as witnesses after a deputy who had agreed to come was called away. According to The Denver Gazette's reporting, the Geers wanted witnesses on-site in case Clark showed up.
According to prosecutors, Robert Geers told another deputy in a video shown to the court that he feared Clark, and told the deputy that Clark told the Geers they had "targets" on their backs. While the neighbors had a number of disputes, their primary source of contention was the Geers' driveway, which Clark claimed was on part of his property.
Robert Geers told authorities that he was afraid they would not do anything about the purported threats until his "cold, dead body" was found.
Clark and 52-year-old Nancy Medina-Kochis, the woman he lived with at the time, had fears of their own, Clark's defense attorney argued. A friend of the couple, Doug Nelson, testified that they told him their neighbors were firing guns at their property to scare them off. Nelson said he was on the phone with Medina-Kochis at 12:59 p.m., the time the shooting was believed to take place, and heard "popping sounds." He said he heard Clark open the door and say, "Someone is shooting at me." Nelson told the couple to run.
Bechaver told a slightly different story. While he was assessing the property with the Geers, with the Daultons by the side, Bechaver said a man came through the trees. After a conversation, the man started to walk away, and Robert Geers told the man not to trespass on his property while he was hunting. The man, whom Bechaver identified as Clark, told Robert Geers, "I only hunt lying sons of b—es," then shot him in the chest.
Patty Daulton testified that Clark then fired "rapidly" at everyone else present, telling the court, "He just shot us like we were tin cans."
Minutes after the shooting, Clark and Medina-Kochis were seen leaving their property. They were both apprehended in New Mexico, where another friend who lived in that state testified that the couple were planning to visit her there for Thanksgiving.
In the minutes after the shooting, Patty Daulton called 911. She later testified that she and her husband, who also lived in the neighborhood, had avoided Clark and Medina-Kochis after meeting them in 2020. Patty Daulton said Clark was carrying a rifle when they met.
When police arrived, they found the bullet-ridden bodies of the Geers and the Daultons. Patty Daulton was the only survivor.
On Feb. 19, Clark was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder, one count of assault with serious bodily injury, and one count of menacing with a firearm. He was handed three consecutive life sentences plus 48 years.
Medina-Kochis was charged with five counts of being an accessory to a crime. Her trial is scheduled for April.