Judge upset that man accused of wife's death is not yet in state hospital

ALAMOSA — During a status hearing on Wednesday, District Judge Michael Gonzales said the fact murder suspect Elias “Lee” Gallegos had still not yet been sent to the state hospital was “unacceptable and inexcusable.”

The judge had ordered in October that Gallegos, 74, accused of killing his wife in July of 2018, be remanded to the state hospital. In a review on Wednesday regarding the placement of Gallegos at the state hospital, Judge Gallegos said he had received a letter from the Office of Behavioral Health indicating they had not yet taken Gallegos to the state hospital and asked for a review date after March 28, which he took to mean the office might have a report on Gallegos’ placement by that time.

Public Defender Jamie Keairns told the judge she would be filing a motion urging that that placement be made or a contempt citation issued since the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo (CMHIP) placement was well outside of a 2016 agreement with the Department of Human Services mandating restoration services within a certain time period. She said it has been 97 days since the judge’s order to send Gallegos to the state hospital.

She said in the alternative she would seek for Gallegos to be released to receive restoration services in the community.

The judge told Keairns to file her motions and arguments in writing by Friday, and he would give the district attorney’s office 10 days to respond to them.

Deputy District Attorney Kelsey Waldorf said, “We would object to community restoration at this point.”

She said she wanted the opportunity to look over the agreement Keairns was referring to and file something in writing.

Judge Gonzales said regardless of any Department of Human Services agreement, the delay in sending Gallegos to the state hospital was inappropriate “and quite frankly it’s inexcusable, it’s unacceptable … I find it inexcusable he’s still sitting in the county jail.”

Judge Gonzales said he was not in a position to grant community release because he did not believe there was a safe way to treat Gallegos in the community given the nature of this crime.

“The only appropriate placement for him would be in a secure facility at the state hospital,” Judge Gonzales said.

He urged the DA’s office to try to get that placement accomplished.

The judge added that there was obviously a reason he ordered Gallegos to be committed, and his crime was as serious “as we have in this state,” so it should be a priority for him to be taken to the state hospital.

Judge Gonzales scheduled the next court date for Gallegos for April 2.

Gallegos remains in custody at the Alamosa County Detention Center. He appeared in court on Wednesday with Keairns.

He is charged with murder in the stabbing death of his wife Lorraine, 71, at their rural Alamosa home on July 27, 2018. Lee Gallegos also had stab wounds that he told EMS personnel were self inflicted because he killed his wife but did not know why.

According to family members, Lee Gallegos was suffering from Frontal Lobe Dementia, which had become rapidly and aggressively worse in the months preceding the homicide. Frontal Lobe Dementia is an incurable degenerative condition involving the shrinking of the frontal lobe that can result in extreme personality changes.