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Killer's DVD confession sold on Net, angers DA
White's father marketing 2 volumes for $39.95 each
By Sarah Langbein, Rocky Mountain News
April 5, 2005
Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey is appalled that a serial killer's lurid, videotaped confession to police is being sold on the Internet by the man's father. Randolph "Duke" White, father of self-professed serial killer Richard Paul White, is marketing two volumes of his son's confession at $39.95 apiece.
The DVDs detail White's brutal murders of Annaletia Maria Gonzales and Victoria Turpin, whose bodies were buried in the back yard of his former Park Hill home, and of his friend Jason Reichardt.
"I personally find it disgusting and offensive," Morrissey said.
Gonzales' father, Larry, said he was deeply angered by the DVDs. "It just brings back the wounds, the memories, the hurt," he said.
But there is no evidence that the younger White is receiving money from the transactions, said Morrissey, whose office investigated the DVD sales late last year. That would have subjected the elder White to the "Son of Sam" laws, which prevent convicted felons from making money off of their crimes.
The law was named after New York serial killer David Berkowitz, known as the "Son of Sam," who attempted to sell his story.
But Morrissey said the existence of the White DVDs for commercial purposes could mean it's time to revisit the law.
"Maybe it's time for legislators to look into these issues with the current state of how information is disseminated," Morrissey said.
He initially hesitated to comment on the DVDs, saying he "didn't want to be part of fueling the fire. I think it just draws attention to it."
The Web site advertising the recorded confession says some of the proceeds will go to the families of Whites' victims. But the families of Gonzales and Turpin knew nothing about it."As far as I'm concerned, he's just exploiting my daughter and the other victims," said Larry Gonzales, from his home in Vermont. "That DVD shouldn't be out there."
He said he had heard that the rest of the profits will go to White's nieces and nephews.
"Who is going to pay for my granddaughter's education when she grows up," he said of Annaletia Gonzales' 10-year-old daughter.
It's not clear how Randolph White obtained the taped confession.
White was sentenced to three life sentences for killing Gonzales, Turpin and Reichardt.
He also confessed to killing prostitutes he picked up on Colfax Avenue, one of whom was found in a shallow grave in Costilla County.
The first volume of White's confession is available for sale, and the second is scheduled to be released this summer. The Web site promises "an excellent example of professional police interrogators at work."
"Denver serial killer R.P. White's confession is brutal and disturbing and parents are strongly cautioned that it should not be watched by young children," the Web site states. "There is a big difference between fiction and the real thing and this is not fiction."
RockyMoutainNews.com
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White's father marketing 2 volumes for $39.95 each
By Sarah Langbein, Rocky Mountain News
April 5, 2005
Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey is appalled that a serial killer's lurid, videotaped confession to police is being sold on the Internet by the man's father. Randolph "Duke" White, father of self-professed serial killer Richard Paul White, is marketing two volumes of his son's confession at $39.95 apiece.
The DVDs detail White's brutal murders of Annaletia Maria Gonzales and Victoria Turpin, whose bodies were buried in the back yard of his former Park Hill home, and of his friend Jason Reichardt.
"I personally find it disgusting and offensive," Morrissey said.
Gonzales' father, Larry, said he was deeply angered by the DVDs. "It just brings back the wounds, the memories, the hurt," he said.
But there is no evidence that the younger White is receiving money from the transactions, said Morrissey, whose office investigated the DVD sales late last year. That would have subjected the elder White to the "Son of Sam" laws, which prevent convicted felons from making money off of their crimes.
The law was named after New York serial killer David Berkowitz, known as the "Son of Sam," who attempted to sell his story.
But Morrissey said the existence of the White DVDs for commercial purposes could mean it's time to revisit the law.
"Maybe it's time for legislators to look into these issues with the current state of how information is disseminated," Morrissey said.
He initially hesitated to comment on the DVDs, saying he "didn't want to be part of fueling the fire. I think it just draws attention to it."
The Web site advertising the recorded confession says some of the proceeds will go to the families of Whites' victims. But the families of Gonzales and Turpin knew nothing about it."As far as I'm concerned, he's just exploiting my daughter and the other victims," said Larry Gonzales, from his home in Vermont. "That DVD shouldn't be out there."
He said he had heard that the rest of the profits will go to White's nieces and nephews.
"Who is going to pay for my granddaughter's education when she grows up," he said of Annaletia Gonzales' 10-year-old daughter.
It's not clear how Randolph White obtained the taped confession.
White was sentenced to three life sentences for killing Gonzales, Turpin and Reichardt.
He also confessed to killing prostitutes he picked up on Colfax Avenue, one of whom was found in a shallow grave in Costilla County.
The first volume of White's confession is available for sale, and the second is scheduled to be released this summer. The Web site promises "an excellent example of professional police interrogators at work."
"Denver serial killer R.P. White's confession is brutal and disturbing and parents are strongly cautioned that it should not be watched by young children," the Web site states. "There is a big difference between fiction and the real thing and this is not fiction."
RockyMoutainNews.com
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