Berry receives 3 years

Man gets prison for killing father who sexually abused him
Steve Grazier
Journal Staff Writer

A Montezuma County man who pleaded guilty to felony counts of manslaughter and menacing after admitting to killing his father and decapitating and dismembering the body was sentenced Friday.

Jeremiah Raymond Berry was sentenced to three years in a Colorado Department of Corrections facility followed by 10 years of "intense supervised" probation. He appeared Friday afternoon before 22nd Judicial District Judge Douglas Walker, who accepted a plea deal reached between the district attorney and Berry's public defender.

"You killed your father, you shot him and you destroyed evidence," Walker said in announcing the sentence. "You were (also) sexually abused by your father ... and have suffered from mental abuse."

In July 2008, Berry pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity after being charged with second-degree murder, a count that was dismissed as part of his plea agreement in August with the district attorney.

Berry, 22, admitted to killing his father, Jack Berry, who was 42. He told Montezuma County sheriff detectives he shot his father in the back of the head after he was raped by the man, then decapitated and dismembered the body and fed flesh to coyotes in February 2008, according to court documents in the case.

According to police reports, sheriff's office detectives found body parts, including a skull, hands and feet, thought to be those of Jack Berry in buckets hardened with cement in a storage room of a Montezuma County dog kennel.

The judge's three-year prison sentence includes credit for 443 days served and was the maximum term recommended under a plea deal reached with prosecutors and the defense. Berry's manslaughter count had a 10-year probation cap following any prison time he might serve.

"Some incarceration is needed. I can't sentence you without (it)," said Walker, who noted that Berry's sentence will begin immediately.

A handful of friends and family members spoke on Jeremiah Berry's behalf during the sentencing proceeding. His mother, Rita Gallegos, said her son was robbed of a normal childhood because of years of physical and sexual abuse from Jack Berry.

"Jeremiah stopped a cycle of abuse. He's not a cold-blooded killer," Gallegos said. "His father was a monster, and Jeremiah was a victim."

One of Berry's sisters, Rebecca Lopez, agreed.

"Our father took (Jeremiah's) strength and ambition ... and his (right) to know he was a man," she said. "Since Jeremiah was born, he has been in prison."

Jeremiah Berry was immediately ordered back into custody of the Montezuma County Sheriff's Office and will soon be transported to a state corrections facility in Denver. However, following Friday's hearing, the judge awarded Berry a few minutes to meet with family members in a private court chamber to say goodbye.

Public defender Chris Trimble, counsel for Jeremiah Berry, called his client's sentence a "just outcome."

"It's sad to see him suffer after a generation of abuse that he was forced to end. Jack Berry was a sadistic monster, and Jeremiah Berry has been a hero," said Trimble, who noted that on numerous occasions, Berry "self mutilated" his body while in jail and made several attempts of suicide.

Two mental evaluations over the course of Berry's case suggested he was competent enough to stand trial; however, Kathy Vetter, a sheriff's department nurse, said he was in serious need of mental health care.

During his remarks to the judge, District Attorney Jim Wilson summed up the plea agreement and potential sentence as a "combined effort" between the defense and prosecution. He said the deal balances the community's needs with those of Jeremiah Berry.

"We need to give him what he needs to be a constructive member of society," Wilson said. "He is a victim just like he is a defendant. He's a troubled young man."

Walker allowed the Cortez Journal to take still photographs of the sentencing hearing under various conditions to not impede the proceeding. Cameras normally aren't allowed during district court proceedings.