Background: News footage of the scene of the Westcliffe, Colo., shooting in November 2023 (KKTV). Inset (left): Hamne Clark (Custer County Sheriff”s Office). Insets (right and far right): Beth and Robert Geers (Shrine of Remembrance Funeral Home).
A Colorado resident, involved in a deadly shooting over a driveway dispute, has been sentenced to life in prison. The incident resulted in the death of three neighbors.
Hamne Clark, aged 47, received three consecutive life sentences on February 20 for the murders of Beth Geers, 73, her husband Robert Geers, 63, and their friend James Daulton, 58. This tragic event, which also left Daulton’s wife, Patty, injured, occurred on November 20, 2023, escalating from a long-standing disagreement over the land ownership where the Geers had their driveway.
As detailed by The Denver Gazette, the Geers had engaged a land surveyor to accurately define property boundaries. This surveyor later became a key witness, testifying to witnessing Clark’s violent actions against the Geers and the Daultons.
Prosecutors revealed that the surveyor, William Bechaver, was present to conduct an assessment on the day of the attack. The Daultons were also present to serve as witnesses after a deputy who was supposed to be there was unexpectedly called away. The Geers had requested witnesses in anticipation of a possible confrontation with Clark.
In a video presented in court, Robert Geers expressed his fear of Clark, recounting that Clark had threatened them by saying they had “targets” on their backs. The ongoing friction between the neighbors primarily revolved around the location of the driveway, which Clark asserted encroached on his property.
Robert Geers had confided in authorities that he feared no action would be taken against Clark’s threats until it was too late, noting grimly that it might not happen until his “cold, dead body” was discovered.
Clark and 52-year-old Nancy Medina-Kochis, the woman he lived with at the time, had fears of their own, Clark’s defense attorney argued. A friend of the couple, Doug Nelson, testified that they told him their neighbors were firing guns at their property to scare them off. Nelson said he was on the phone with Medina-Kochis at 12:59 p.m., the time the shooting was believed to take place, and heard “popping sounds.” He said he heard Clark open the door and say, “Someone is shooting at me.” Nelson told the couple to run.
Bechaver told a slightly different story. While he was assessing the property with the Geers, with the Daultons by the side, Bechaver said a man came through the trees. After a conversation, the man started to walk away, and Robert Geers told the man not to trespass on his property while he was hunting. The man, whom Bechaver identified as Clark, told Robert Geers, “I only hunt lying sons of b—es,” then shot him in the chest.
Patty Daulton testified that Clark then fired “rapidly” at everyone else present, telling the court, “He just shot us like we were tin cans.”
Minutes after the shooting, Clark and Medina-Kochis were seen leaving their property. They were both apprehended in New Mexico, where another friend who lived in that state testified that the couple were planning to visit her there for Thanksgiving.
In the minutes after the shooting, Patty Daulton called 911. She later testified that she and her husband, who also lived in the neighborhood, had avoided Clark and Medina-Kochis after meeting them in 2020. Patty Daulton said Clark was carrying a rifle when they met.
When police arrived, they found the bullet-ridden bodies of the Geers and the Daultons. Patty Daulton was the only survivor.
On Feb. 19, Clark was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder, one count of assault with serious bodily injury, and one count of menacing with a firearm. He was handed three consecutive life sentences plus 48 years.
Medina-Kochis was charged with five counts of being an accessory to a crime. Her trial is scheduled for April.
