Saturday, May 18, 2002 - CANON CITY - A convicted murderer mistakenly released from the Colorado State Penitentiary in March was arrested Friday in Philadelphia.

Clifton Blecha, 30, was arrested without incident at a residence by Philadelphia police and U.S. Marshals, Colorado Department of Corrections spokeswoman Heidi Hayes said. He was being held awaiting extradition to Colorado.

Officials mistakenly released Blecha on parole March 26 but the blunder wasn't discovered until May 1.

Blecha was serving a life sentence plus 24 years for the death of an inmate in 1994. He initially was sentenced to prison in 1988 for a burglary in Pueblo County.

The reasons for Blecha's release were still being investigated, Hayes said.

Denver Post

-- Anonymous, May 18, 2002