Colorado Cannibal Seeks Release

October 8, 2003
By ERIN SMITH
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

Photo: The former Carolyn Blanton changed her name to Jane Lynn Woodry in 1999. She has been at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo since 1994 when she was found innocent by reason of insanity in the slaying of Alamosa artist Peter Michael Green.

ALAMOSA - Carolyn Gloria Blanton, who has been in custody since 1994 for the slaying of artist Peter Michael Green, is seeking release from the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo.

Green, 51, was last seen alive on Nov. 11, 1993. His mutilated body was found at his home east of town on Jan. 16, 1994. He had been shot several times.

Two days later, Green's severed legs were found in a dumpster near Blanton's Alamosa apartment. A cooking pot at the woman's apartment tested positive for human remains.

On Jan. 19, 1994, Blanton was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder. She was found innocent by reason of insanity in the case in February 1995 and committed to CMHIP.

Eunice Wolther, CMHIP spokeswoman, said she could not comment on any aspect of the case due to federal regulations regarding patient confidentiality.

District Judge Patti Swift said that in a letter dated Aug. 29, state hospital officials wrote that they wanted to release Blanton from custody in 30 days.

Deputy District Attorney Mike Gonzales said he filed an objection to Blanton’s release immediately upon hearing about it. Gonzales told Swift he would inform the CMHIP that a hearing on the case will be conducted before her on Oct. 21.

Gonzales also said he wants an independent psychiatric evaluation of Blanton.

Two months after Blanton's arrest, her sister, Chris Newman of Los Molinos, Calif., said her family had "fought for years" to get Blanton, 50, institutionalized.

In a 1994 interview, Newman told The Pueblo Chieftain that her sister was an artistic person with "good values and a wonderful sense of justice and fairness. She is not a monster, just an incredibly sick person" diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia after showing signs of mental illness in her 20s. The evaluation was borne out in February 2001 when psychiatrist Elissa Ball, who had treated Blanton since July 1997, testified on a request to grant her unsupervised off-campus privileges.

Ball said treatment required Blanton to acknowledge the murder of Green and cannibalism. She said that Blanton never exhibited anger when others referred to her as a "cannibal," but she has wept over such references.

At the time of the request for the off-campus privileges for Blanton, Ball said that, if granted, the next step would be to release her into the community.

Former District Judge Robert Ogburn approved the request in February 2001.

Blanton, who legally changed her name to Jane Lynn Woodry in Pueblo on Sept. 30, 1999, wants to live in Pueblo should she be released.

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