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Father Of Slain Corrections Officer Protests Death Penalty At Trial

CASTLE ROCK, Colo. (CBS4) - Jury selection continues in a death penalty case in Douglas County as the father of the victim protests against that punishment.

Edward Montour is charged with murdering corrections officer Eric Autobee more than a decade ago at the Limon Correctional Facility. At the time he was serving a life prison sentence for the murder of his 11-week-old daughter.

Limon
Edward Montour and Eric Autobee (credit: CBS)

Montour had originally pleaded guilty, but through a series of legal findings he was allowed to change his plea.

Now the victim's father, Bob Autobee, has been greeting the hundreds of potential jurors in the case. He's showing them his son's picture as he protests against the death penalty.

Autobee met Montour in December, saying after carrying hate for a decade he needed to forgive.

"So after 10 years it finally it dawned on me that to make my son happy I had to get out from under this weight that was dragging me down," Autobee said.

Autobee says he told the district attorney he was not in favor of the death penalty. He was also involved in hearings about abolishing the state's death penalty last year.

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