DENVER — A man who was serving a life sentence for the 1982 murders of two young women near Breckenridge has died.
Alan Phillips was found guilty of first-degree murder and kidnapping in the January 1982 shooting deaths of Annette Schnee, 21, and Barbara Oberholtzer, 29.
Phillips, who was working as a semi-retired mechanic in Clear Creek County when he was arrested during a traffic stop in 2021, was linked to the murders by DNA evidence and genetic genealogy, where DNA samples from crime scenes are specially sequenced and uploaded to public DNA databases for comparison with the hope of finding a possible relative of the suspect.
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He was convicted in September 2022 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in November.
The Crowley County coroner said Phillips died earlier this week in the Arkansas Valley Correctional Facility in Ordway. Foul play is not suspected.
Phillips was 72.
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