Richard Ruelas

The Republic | azcentral.com

William Macumber first entered prison as a man pushing 40, sentenced to a life term for a brutal double murder in Scottsdale he insisted he didn’t commit. He was released 37 years later, having lost the time but seemingly regaining his good name. Books, documentaries and news stories chronicled what appeared to be the righting of a decades-long wrong.

After less than a year of freedom, Macumber entered prison again. This time, he was a man in his late 70s, accused of a sex crime involving children. He would not be a free man again.

Macumber died Oct. 10 at the Colorado prison where he had been held since his 2014 conviction, officials confirmed Tuesday. He was 81.

At the time of his death, he was at the Denver Reception and Diagnostic Center, said Laurie Kilpatrick, the public information officer for the Colorado Department of Corrections.

The Republic asked about Macumber's status this week after he did not turn up in a routine search of the system's inmate directory.

Larry Hammond, an attorney who worked to free Macumber from Arizona's prison system, said Macumber, a habitual smoker, died of emphysema.

Half a life behind bars

Macumber ended up spending more than half of his life behind bars. He was 39 when he was arrested and accused of killing a Scottsdale couple. He was a husband and father of two boys who had a good-paying job at an engineering firm. He had not had so much as a speeding ticket when he was charged with murder.

The murders took place in 1962, but the case had gone cold. Macumber’s wife, who worked at the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, went to her superiors with a revelation in 1974. Her husband had suddenly confessed to the murders. She said he did so because the two were having marital problems. He thought telling her about the killings would keep her in the marriage.

Detectives delved back into the evidence files. A part from the murdered couple’s vehicle had a finger and palm print that matched Macumber. That evidence, authorities said, must have been missed before.

Macumber’s attorneys, in arguing for his release decades later, accused Macmber’s ex-wife of planting the prints on the evidence. They said her job allowed her access to that evidence.

She denied the allegations.

Macumber maintained his innocence, but was convicted of the crime and sentenced to a life term in prison. In later interviews, he said he resolved that he would not be content to rot away. He wanted to be productive somehow, even behind bars.

It began what would be a highly unusual stint in state custody. Macumber would earn wide latitude from those assigned to keep him behind bars.

He became president of a Jaycee’s branch in the prison. The chapter would become one of the most successful in the state, raising more money than some chapters located in cities and not composed of convicted felons. Macumber was given a pass to attend the ceremony when he was named the Man of the Year by the Jaycees.

Macumber was moved into medium security and was allowed to drive himself in prison vehicles out of the yard and to various jobs across the state. He was driven to one speech in Yuma by a corrections officer. As Macumber told the story, the officer got lost and crossed the border into California, out of Arizona jurisdiction. Macumber said he sat silently until the officer realized his mistake and asked directions.

“I don’t know about you,” Macumber told him, “but I’m getting out and getting some lunch.”

New evidence, then freedom

Macumber filed for early release. His paperwork at the time included laudatory notes from deputy wardens and officers. His prison file included a commendation from the director of the system.

But at each hearing, he was told he would need to admit guilt in order to be released. Macumber refused and was returned to prison.

He filed an appeal to the state’s clemency board, a last ditch effort to free himself. Attorneys from the Arizona Justice Project presented his case to board members. Among the evidence they presented was a fact the jury never heard: Another man had confessed to the murders.

JUSTICE DELAYED: Convicted, sentenced to life, released

That man confessed to his attorney, who kept it confidential. But after his client’s death, the attorney, who had later become a Superior Court judge, agreed to testify on Macumber’s behalf.

The board voted to commute Macumber’s sentence. But then-Gov. Jan Brewer refused to sign the recommendation.

Justice Project attorneys took the case to Superior Court and argued that Macumber deserved a retrial. A judge ruled there appeared to be enough questions to hold hearings on the matter.

Faced with the prospect of a retrial in a decades-old case, where much of the evidence had been disposed of as a matter of routine purging, the county attorney’s office offered a deal. Macumber would plead no contest to the charges and be sentenced to the time he had already served.

Macumber walked out of prison, greeted by his son, some relatives and attorneys. He moved to a ranch in New Mexico with his cousin, then later lived with his son in suburban Denver.

Another crime, another prison

The tale of Macumber’s murder conviction and his decades behind bars had been the subject of national media attention, both before and after his November 2012 release from prison.

A book, “Manifest Injustice: The True Story of a Convicted Murderer and the Lawyers Who Fought For His Freedom,” detailed his convictions and the court machinations that resulted in his release. His tale was also the subject of an edition of “Dateline NBC.”

The Republic published a five-part series that chronicled Macumber’s life behind bars and his time outside of prison, adjusting to life in Colorado.

But his freedom was short-lived. Relatives of Macumber accused him of touching them inappropriately.

Freed Arizona convict convicted of child sex abuse in Colorado

Macumber was arrested in Colorado on Oct. 7, 2013. He was charged with one count of sexual assault of a child and held on a $200,000 bond. A jury found him guilty in 2014.

The arrest cost Macumber the relationship he was building with his son, Ronald.

“It makes me angry to no end, for the 12 years I spent to get him out of jail to do what he did,” Ronald Macumber told TheRepublic following his father’s arrest. “When he’s found guilty, he can rot in prison. He’s lost everything as far as I’m concerned.”

Ronald Macumber said he still thought his father was not responsible for the 1962 slaying.

“I believe he’s still innocent of the murders,” Ronald Macumber said, “But I know for a fact he’s not the man I thought he was.”

Hammond said Macumber had appealed his conviction in Colorado. Under Colorado law, a person who dies while a case is under appeal has the conviction set aside. An order from the court setting aside Macumber's conviction was filed days ago, Hammond said.

"His name stands on his own, (with) his accomplishments as an inmate in Arizona and what he endured with that wrongful conviction," Hammond said. "It was obviously very important to him that he have his name cleared again."