Penned up take pen pal search online

Edward Montour’s background is chilling even for the unusual pen pal site on which he’s seeking love and companionship.

In 1998, a jury found the Colorado Springs man guilty in the beating death of  his 11-week-old daughter. The coroner’s report stated the infant had broken ribs and detached retinas from being struck in the head at least six times.

While serving life without parole at the Limon Correctional Facility seven years ago today, Montour used a 9-pound, 4-foot-long soup ladle to beat 23-year-old prison worker Eric Autobee to death. The second killing earned Montour a trip to death row, although the sentence was later overturned by the state Supreme Court and another life sentence imposed.

On WriteAPrisioner.com, where prisoners post ads to encourage people to write them letters, the inmate has posted a photo of himself young, smiling and clean-shaven.

In his ad, Montour quotes the poet William Blake and talks about how his time behind bars has led to self-examination.

“I continue to struggle with purpose and ultimately myself,” he writes. “The duality of my human nature is a paradox I manage effectively on a daily basis.”

Like many online dating profiles, the photo isn’t exactly accurate. A current photo shows a much older man who has gained some weight, shaves his head and sports a goatee. It’s the photo of a double murderer who will never leave prison.

So far, he hasn’t had much luck finding a pen pal.

“Once responders of ads find out that prisoners have to use snail mail, their interest ceases,” he wrote in a letter to The Gazette.

That Montour can troll for friends from his cell outrages the mother of the slain prison worker.

 “That is so ridiculous. This is a man sitting in lockup with only one hour of sunlight and he’s looking for a friend? Come on,” said Dolores Autobee, who lives in Pueblo. “They get a lot of privileges. It’s just so unreal how the justice system works. It’s horrendous.”

Lawmakers in several states agree; Florida, Missouri, Montana, Indiana and Pennsylvania have outlawed it. If caught with an ad online, the prisoners are often punished by having some privileges taken away. But prisoners are fighting back and lawyers representing them have been challenging the restrictions in court.

Where it’s legal, it’s popular — hundreds of prisoners’ personal ads are displayed on sites such as WriteAPrisoner.com,  PrisonPenPals.com and Friendsbeyondthewall.com. In Colorado, prisoners with personal ads can be found in almost all of the prisons and jails including Supermax — the ultrahigh-security federal prison in Florence.

For prisoners, a pen pal provides connections to the outside world. Some find a companion, even love; others find religion.

Some find someone to exploit for money or contraband, a headache for prison officials.

Randall Berg Jr., a Florida lawyer who is leading the charge against restrictions in his state, said the rules against solicitation violate the rights of the inmates and the people who want to write to them.

“People who are in charge of the prisons seem to think they have a fundamental duty to protect the public from their own self-destructive urges to write prisoners,” Berg said. “If they want to write to prisoners, they should be allowed to do so. You know these people are not choir boys and girls. They are in prison.”

Katherine Sanguinetti, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Corrections, said the department decided against enacting similar restrictions a few years ago.

“Our attorney general a couple of years ago had looked at it, we did not feel like it was something constitutionally we could do,” she said. “People have the freedom to choose if they want to write to them. These Web sites are pretty clear where these people are and I would hate to have someone taken advantage of.” 

She said she did not know of any cases in Colorado in which prisoners took advantage of someone with whom they were corresponding.

She said prisoners are not allowed to enter contracts with the pen pal sites but get around the rules by having their friends or family members post the ad for them.

Stephano D’Andrea , who calls himself “Mr. Big” on his ads is currently at the Cheyenne Mountain Re-Entry Center just south of Colorado Springs and said a friend helped him get on the several pen pal sites he has ads with. He’s been in jail since a 1994 attempted murder in Colorado Springs and said in a letter to The Gazette that his pen pals have helped him get his life back on track.

“The original reason I put up a pen pal ad was because I missed life. I was feeling dead inside,” he wrote. “Back then I needed some moral support. I also wanted to have some female companionship. I was craving company and affection. Both of those things have been achieved through letters.”

He said he has had a mixed pen pal experience. He’s made friends and fallen in and out of love but also been told that all criminals need to be killed or that he’s going to hell.

“If I told you all of the disturbing sexual things some people have written me, you’d be amazed,” he wrote. “Long story short, I’ve had more good than bad experiences.”

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Call the writer at 636-0274.

WANT A PEN PAL?

Katherine Sanguinetti, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Corrections, has these tips for people who are thinking of getting a prison pen pal:
• Don’t sent money or stamps — stamps are considered contraband because they are often used to barter.
• Don’t expect privacy — letters can be opened going into and out of the prison.
• Contact the Department of Corrections immediately if you feel a prisoner is trying to take advantage of you.