DENVER (DP) - A Colorado prison inmate who has been the subject of intense media interest since the shooting death of Department of Corrections Executive Director Tom Clements has been moved into an isolation cell for his own protection, officials said Thursday.
"This is because of the increased attention in the media," said Alison Morgan, spokeswoman for the DOC. "He is not being punished. He was removed from population for his own safety."
Clements' shooting death at his Monument home occurred a week after he denied a request by the inmate, Homaidan al-Turki, to serve out the remainder of a Colorado prison sentence in his native Saudi Arabia. Clements had cited the offender's refusal to undergo sex-offender treatment.
Al-Turki, a well-known member of Denver's Muslim community, was convicted in 2006 of charges including unlawful sexual contact by use of force and sentenced to 28 years to life in prison. Prosecutors said al-Turki kept a housekeeper a virtual slave for four years in his home and sexually assaulted her. A judge reduced the sentence to eight years to life. Al-Turki insisted the case was politically motivated.
Al-Turki's conviction angered Saudi officials and prompted the U.S. State Department to send Colorado Attorney General John Suthers to Saudi Arabia to meet with King Abdullah, Crown Prince Sultan and al-Turki's family.
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