An Imperfect Union brings together two people on opposite sides of an issue to work on a project in their community. Watch full episodes on Facebook Watch every Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.
PUEBLO, CO. – Bob Autobee and Jim Stotler are bound together by a similar kinship that neither of them wanted.
Both lost their children to brutal murder. Both sought what they believed was justice for their families.
Currently, Colorado, where they both live, has three murderers on death row.
BOB AUTOBEE
Eric Autobee, Bob’s son, was 23. He followed in his dad’s footsteps of working for the Colorado Department of Corrections. He was a sergeant working in a prison kitchen when an inmate beat him to death in October 2002.
“If they would’ve given [the killer] to me, I would’ve strangled him myself,” Autobee said. “I realized after 11 years, my son came back and told me, ‘Get over it, Pa.’”
Autobee said he initially supported the death penalty after his son’s murder.
In 2003, a judge sentenced the killer to death. But the Colorado Supreme Court overturned that decision, saying a jury should sentence someone to death.
In 2014, the man who killed Autobee's son was sentenced to life in prison.
Bob said he has forgiven the man, and over time, he has changed his stance on capital punishment.
“We have no right to take another man’s life,” Autobee said. “The law is just on paper. It don’t mean that it’s right. Look at slavery, look at prohibition. All that stuff that we’ve allowed to happen because somebody tells us this has gotta happen.”
JIM STOTLER
“I don’t think you ever get over it. Once you start thinking they’re gone, you think about how bad it had to be for the last part of their life when they were tortured and murdered,” Stotler said.
In 2014, Stotler’s daughter, Mandy Folsom, and his two grandkids, Marissa, 9, and Mason, 5, were murdered by someone Folsom knew.
The killer pleaded guilty and is serving a life sentence.
“In the extremely violent cases, I believe the death penalty is warranted,” Stotler said. “For several reasons. The biggest reason: they don’t stop their violence.”
“You’d be amazed at how many first degree murderers wind up not going to trial because the death penalty is on the books,” Stotler added. “Otherwise the families would be drug clear through the whole process. A majority of those cases are settled out of court with a plea bargain of life without parole, that would never happen if the death penalty wasn’t in the court system as an option.”
Watch Jim and Bob’s meeting and discussion on this episode of An Imperfect Union.