Cop Killer Joined Lethal 211 Crew After Life Spared

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Vernon Wayne Templeman, an escaped murderer from Kentucky, robbed a bank in Boulder in 1982 and then traveled south to Colorado Springs, where he gunned down a police officer, Mark Layne Dabling, with a sawed-off rifle. Templeman was tried in 1983, but a jury spared him from Colorado's gas chamber. While imprisoned, he joined the 211 Crew, a white supremacist gang accused of conspiracy in the murder of a state corrections chief in 2013. Templeman was later transferred to a prison in West Virginia after Colorado authorities broke up the gang.

Why it matters

This case highlights the ongoing challenges of the criminal justice system in dealing with repeat, violent offenders and the potential for incarcerated individuals to become further radicalized and involved in organized crime while behind bars.

The details

In 1982, Vernon Wayne Templeman robbed a bank in Boulder, Colorado and then traveled south to Colorado Springs, where he fatally shot police officer Mark Layne Dabling with a sawed-off rifle. Templeman was tried and convicted, but a jury spared him from Colorado's gas chamber. While imprisoned, he joined the 211 Crew, a white supremacist gang that was later accused of conspiracy in the murder of a state corrections chief in 2013. Templeman was eventually transferred to a prison in West Virginia after Colorado authorities cracked down on the 211 Crew.

• On December 6, 1982, Templeman robbed a bank in Boulder.
• Later that same day, Templeman traveled to Colorado Springs and fatally shot police officer Mark Layne Dabling.
• In 1983, Templeman was tried and convicted for the murder of Officer Dabling.
• Templeman joined the 211 Crew while incarcerated in a Colorado prison.
• In 2013, the 211 Crew was accused of conspiracy in the murder of a state corrections chief.