Man sentenced to 24 years in prison for 1976 murder

GEORGETOWN - It took 33 years, but David Andrews can finally say he knows exactly who killed his sister. His name is Ricky Lee Harnish.

On Monday, inside a Clear Creek County courthouse, Harnish shuffled to a podium and quietly told the judge that he was responsible for the death of 16-year-old Holly Marie Andrews.

"I blame only myself and whole-heartedly take responsibility for the horrible injustice I have caused," he said.

The judge then proceeded to sentence Harnish to 24 years in prison.

"I hope he dies in prison and nobody comes to get him," David Andrews said shortly after the hearing.

It's no guarantee. Harnish is 54 years old.

At least it's something, said Andrews.

For 33 long years, that's more than his family ever had.

It was in 1976 when a pair of cross-county skiers came upon the naked and battered body of Holly Andrews near the Clear Creek County town of Bakerville. Someone had raped her and stabbed her seven times.

There were no immediate suspects.

Infamous serial killer Henry Lee Lucas claimed at one time he killed the teenager. His claims were later found to be untrue.

Holly Andrews' mother went to her grave still thinking that Lucas was the killer.

David Andrews finally came to the conclusion that his sister's killer was likely never going to be caught.

"I thought whoever did this was likely dead," he said.

In 2008, everything changed.

Harnish, convicted on a drug charge, was required by the state to submit his DNA so it could be entered into the state's DNA database. In 2008, his DNA matched with DNA left behind at the Andrews' murder scene. He was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.

But there were issues with the case. Last year, a judge even went as far as to throw out all of the charges against him. Prosecutors continued on, and eventually got very close to bringing the case to trial.

They decided to offer Harnish a deal. They would agree to a 24-year sentence on a second-degree murder charge, if he would agree to give a detailed confession. Last month, over the course of two days, Harnish did exactly that.

"[The deal] was a very difficult decision. We talked to the family about it, and ultimately we decided we needed to find out what happened in this case," Clear Creek County District Attorney Mark Hurlbert said on Monday.

It wasn't a perfect solution for the family. They wanted more years for the crime. They did let out a few claps once the decision was made final on Monday.

"We all talked about it. We know we traded the 24 years for the truth.... The truth we were going after was this: Did he rape her? Did he kill her? He's now answered both," David Andrews said.