Cops looking into officer's handling of threat before woman was slain

Police are reviewing how an officer and her supervisor handled the death threat a Colorado Springs woman reported two days before she was slain.

But they don't intend to release the results or whether the officer or her superior is disciplined, a spokesman said Tuesday.

Colleen Dwyer called police March 17 to report that her estranged husband warned her to get ready to "take a bullet" as the two sparred over taxes in a heated phone conversation that afternoon.

The officer who took the report determined there wasn't sufficient grounds to arrest Russell Dwyer.

On March 19, the 39-year-old Iraq war veteran made good on his threat, police say, fatally shooting the mother of four outside their former home at 2918 Flintridge Square before turning the weapon on himself.

Police are looking into whether officer Dedra Phillips could have done more to prevent the murder-suicide that marked the seventh homicide in Colorado Springs this year. The supervisor who signed off on her report, Sgt. Dennis Dougan, is also under review.

"It's not coming out right upfront and saying that we did something wrong,'" said police spokesman Lt. Skip Arms, adding the review was ordered by Deputy Chief Ron Gibson. "He said, ‘We need to take a look at this and make sure we did things right and, if not, we will deal with it.'"

Supervisors in the Stetson Hills patrol division will handle the review. It will be completed within 30 days.

Arms said police do not intend to tell the public whether either officer is disciplined, saying state law mandates that such reviews remain confidential to protect the privacy of government employees.

The Gazette has previously challenged that interpretation. In February, a 4th Judicial District Court judge ordered police to turn over the results of one Internal Affairs investigation on the grounds the public has an interest in knowing how law enforcement officers behave.

Colleen Dwyer, who had a turbulent history with her husband, said her husband told her, "I hope you are ready to take a bullet" before hanging up the telephone March 17.

In her report, Phillips said she "did not believe at this time this incident was harassment," saying the pair continued to talk on the phone after the threat.

Phillips said the woman seemed unsure how to interpret the comment, saying that it could have been his "normal temper" before concluding, "I kind of took it as a threat."

"Further, I heard the victim talking about another topic and used the phrase, ‘I thought I might have to take a bullet on that one,' in a casual manner which may be consistent with their pattern of speech," she wrote.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0366 or lance.benzel@gazette.com