KKTV 11 News (Colorado Springs): 11 News has learned that all of the documents surrounding the case against a man facing murder charges for a decades-old cold case are hidden from the public.

The case is currently suppressed in Colorado, which means all of the information surrounding it is only available to the parties involved and the judge.

Authorities announced the arrest on Thursday for the murder of Mary Lynn Renkel Vialpando. On June 5, 1988, she was found dead in the alley north of the 2600 block of West Colorado Avenue. She was 24 at the time she died of blunt-force trauma injuries.

When 11 News tried to request Papol’s arrest papers Tuesday, our reporter was told that by the records department that in their computer system it is like the case does not even exist. Under normal circumstances, an arrest affidavit is a public document. That’s when 11 News learned that the case had been suppressed.

Investigators say that DNA evidence links Papol to the crime, but arrest papers would reveal more about what happened.

11 News reached out to the State Court administrator, Christopher Ryan, who assists the chief justice of the Colorado Supreme Court to ask why cases are suppressed in Colorado. Typically, either of the parties involved in the case will ask the judge to suppress it. It’s up to the judge to then make a decision on whether to grant that motion and suppress the case.

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