District Attorney Sentencing Release --- 12/05/2023

Today Victor Corwin was committed to the indefinite custody of the Colorado Department of Human Services for the murder of Christopher Johnson on July 19, 2021.

Mr. Corwin was officially found Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity – a legal determination which means the defendant did commit the crimes charged and would be found guilty but for the legal requirement to prove he was sane beyond a reasonable doubt and unanimous to a jury.

Fort Collins Police Services, the District Attorney’s Office, and other assisting agencies investigated the case for over two years since the murder and followed every thread searching for evidence of any connection between Mr. Corwin and Mr. Johnson or any motive in the murder. The totality of the evidence showed that Mr. Corwin had no previous connection to Larimer County or Mr. Johnson and chose to commit the murder spontaneously and at random due to paranoid delusions stemming from a diagnosis of unspecified schizophrenia.

Three experts, doctors in forensic psychology and psychiatry, evaluated Mr. Corwin, and all three determined that he was insane at the time of the commission of the crime – concluding he “suffered from a mental disease or defect that left him incapable of knowing the wrongfulness of his actions,” the legal standard for insanity. The District Attorney’s Office pursued every legal recourse available, including requesting a fourth doctor evaluate Mr. Corwin; however, that request was denied by the Court. Having exhausted all legal avenues, Colorado law requires a defendant, who has been found to be insane, be committed to the state hospital instead of the Department of Corrections. 

Mr. Corwin will therefore be held accountable to the fullest extent Colorado law allows by being committed, indefinitely, to the state hospital, a secure custodial facility. The Colorado Department of Human Services will determine when, and if, Mr. Corwin is ever eligible for release, and he may remain in custody for the remainder of his life.

“My heart breaks for the Johnson family,” said District Attorney Gordon McLaughlin at the sentencing hearing, “the randomness and senselessness of this case makes it incredibly difficult for them to find closure. While the right legal result was reached in this case, I share the family’s belief that the state hospital will need to maintain custody of Mr. Corwin for the remainder of his life to protect the community.”  

Several members of Mr. Johnson’s family made statements to the Court, remembering Mr. Johnson as “a son, a brother, and a father,” and as a veteran who “felt a duty to serve in the Army” after the attacks on September 11^th, 2001, and fought for his country during the war in Iraq.

Fort Collins Police Chief Jeff Swoboda, whose agency led the investigation, said, “I want to commend the work of our detectives and extend our deepest sympathies to the family. This senseless act underscores the critical need to build better mental health systems with earlier interventions so that crimes like this don’t happen.”