A Stranger Took A Life, And Justice Took Its Time

Louis Hansen: Manuel Montez walked with a Colorado sheriff's deputy into a small room.

Two Norfolk detectives entered and closed the door.

Montez, a weathered man in his mid-50s, sat in a chair, unshackled, wearing prison clothes.

"I know exactly why you're here," Montez said. He added to himself, What took you so long?

Detective Rick Malbon took the lead. The investigator had worked more than 100 cases, tracking killers for weeks, months, even years. But never had he pulled a case like this one.

Malbon handed Montez a waiver of rights – a written Miranda warning – and went over it line by line. Montez reached the part about giving up his right to an attorney. The inmate looked up. "Am I going…