A Westcliffe man convicted of killing three neighbors during a long-running dispute over a driveway boundary was sentenced to three consecutive life terms in prison, plus decades more, for a 2023 shooting that also seriously wounded a fourth person.
The sentence closes one major part of a case that shook a quiet mountain neighborhood in Custer County and drew intense attention because the conflict involved a property line, repeated calls for help, and a rapid burst of gunfire during what was supposed to be a routine land survey. Prosecutors said the victims arranged for witnesses to be present because they feared violence. The defense argued investigators rushed to judgment and failed to lock down key physical evidence. Even with the sentencing, the broader fallout is not over: a woman who fled the area with the gunman after the shooting still faces separate criminal allegations, and civil lawsuits tied to the killings remain active.
The shootings unfolded on Nov. 20, 2023, along Rocky Ridge Road in a remote area northeast of Westcliffe, an area of wooded hills, scattered homes, and long gravel drives. Prosecutors said Robert Geers and his wife, Beth Wade Geers, asked a surveyor to measure the boundary near their driveway and invited neighbors James and Patty Daulton to stand by as witnesses. The surveyor, William Bechaver, later told the court a man came out from the trees and argued about trespassing before gunfire broke out. Patty Daulton, the only surviving shooting victim, testified that after the first shot the gunman fired quickly at the group. “He just shot us like we were tin cans,” she said, describing a rapid series of blasts that left people falling to the ground as she tried to get help.
Deputies arriving at the scene found three people dead and Patty Daulton wounded, investigators said. Authorities identified the dead as Beth Wade Geers, 73; Robert Geers, 63; and James Daulton, 58. Records and testimony described the location as hard to reach, with first responders traveling long stretches of rural roads. The sheriff’s office issued alerts and told nearby residents to stay inside as law enforcement searched the woods and roadways for the shooter, who had slipped away. Investigators said the suspect left the area in a pickup truck with a woman who lived with him. The search spread beyond county lines, with law enforcement watching for the vehicle in other parts of central Colorado before the pair were stopped and taken into custody in New Mexico the next day.
At trial this month, prosecutors built their case around eyewitness accounts, recordings from earlier law enforcement contacts, and a timeline they said showed the shooter approached with intent during the survey. Prosecutors told jurors the dispute centered on a strip of land tied to the Geers’ driveway and access along an informal road used in the neighborhood. In video and audio recordings shown in court, Robert Geers described fear that the conflict could turn deadly and said he believed authorities would not stop the harassment until, as he put it, his “cold, dead body” was found. Prosecutors also said Robert Geers had been recording on his phone during the confrontation, though court testimony described the phone as missing after the shooting. Deputy District Attorney Stacey Turner urged jurors not to look for a mystery gunman, telling them the evidence pointed to one person. “It wasn’t a ghost shooter,” Turner said during closing arguments. “It was Hanme Clark.”
Defense attorneys challenged the investigation and argued the state failed to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, pointing to what they described as gaps in the physical evidence and steps they said detectives did not take. They questioned how investigators tied the suspect to the shooting when the weapon was not recovered and when key pieces of evidence were disputed in court. The defense also argued that Clark and the woman with him had their own fears, and that they believed neighbors were firing guns near their property to intimidate them. A friend testified he was on the phone with the woman at about the time prosecutors said the shooting occurred and heard popping sounds before hearing Clark say someone was shooting at him. Prosecutors countered that eyewitness testimony and the overall timeline matched the state’s theory of what happened on Rocky Ridge Road.
District Court Judge Lauren Swan imposed the sentence after a jury found Clark, 47, guilty of three counts of first-degree murder and other charges tied to the attack. The judge ordered the life terms to run consecutively and added a 48-year prison sentence tied to the attempted murder of Patty Daulton. Court summaries also described additional time connected to felony menacing with a firearm and an assault count, with some portions set to run consecutively. Under Colorado law, first-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole. Clark remains in custody after the sentencing, and the case record now shifts toward expected appeals and any remaining court hearings tied to related defendants and civil claims.
Family members and friends described the victims as people who expected a quiet life in the mountains, not a deadly confrontation over boundary lines. Relatives told the court they still struggle with the loss and with the idea that a routine plan to measure property ended in gunfire. In earlier interviews and courtroom accounts, Carl Geers, the brother of Robert Geers, said his brother moved to the area preparing for retirement and quickly found himself trapped in a conflict he did not anticipate. “He walked into a hornets nest,” he said. Patty Daulton’s survival, and her account of the shooting, remained central to the prosecution’s case, giving jurors a firsthand description of the attack and the minutes that followed as she called for help in a remote neighborhood.
Authorities have said they are not looking for additional suspects in the killings. The next criminal milestone is expected in April, when proceedings are scheduled for Nancy Medina-Kochis, 52, who faces separate counts as an alleged accessory to a crime connected to the shooting and the flight from Colorado. For the Rocky Ridge Road neighborhood, the case stands in a new phase: the convicted shooter has been sentenced, but court calendars and lawsuits will keep the dispute’s aftermath in public view for months to come.
Author note: Last updated February 27, 2026.