Victim: Officer Lyle Wohlers, 51
Ages at time of murder: 15
Crime date: November 4, 1992
Crime location: Near Georgetown
Weapon: .38 caliber handgun
Sentences: Fernandez– life without parole (LWOP) and then reduced to 46 years; White– 32 years
Incarceration status: White was released after 11 years while Fernandez is incarcerated at the Buena Vista Correctional Facility and has a parole hearing April 2032
Summary
Fernandez shot and killed Lyle during a traffic stop. He was sentenced to LWOP but later had his sentence reduced to 46 years. His accomplice White was sentenced 32 years and was released after 11 years.
Details
LYLE FREDRICK WOHLERS
Trooper Lyle Wohlers was shot during a traffic stop of two juveniles on I-70 near Georgetown. During the stop he requested backup but was shot by one of the suspects before backup arrived.
The two suspects were apprehended and tried as adults. The shooter was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole and the accomplice was sentenced to 32 years but was released after serving 11 years.
Trooper Wohlers had served with the Colorado State Patrol for 26 years. He is survived by his wife and son. His son became the chief of police in Idaho Springs, Colorado.
Man resentenced to reduced term for Colorado state trooper’s death
BRECKENRIDGE — A man convicted of killing a Colorado state trooper has been resentenced due to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
Summit Daily News reported that 41-year-old Marcus Fernandez was resentenced to 46 years in prison during a hearing Monday in Summit County Court in Breckenridge.
Fernandez was sentenced to life in prison without parole following his first-degree murder conviction for the 1992 shooting death of Colorado State Patrol Trooper Lyle Wohlers on Interstate 70 near Georgetown. Fernandez was 15 at the time.
The Supreme Court in 2012 struck down mandatory life imprisonment without parole for juvenile offenders. In 2016, Colorado passed a bill establishing a resentencing process to comply with the court’s decision.
Fernandez’s 46-year sentence will include 16 years for motor vehicle theft to be served concurrently.
