METH-LAB DEATHS LEAD TO CHARGES

Manslaughter Case A First In Colorado

Two men whose alleged manufacture of methamphetamine is suspected of
causing an explosion that killed two women were ordered Tuesday to stand
trial for manslaughter, the first case of its kind in Colorado.

Following a day-long preliminary hearing, Denver County Judge Ray Satter
ordered Darryl Willis, 47, and James Campbell, 28, to face charges in the
deaths of Pamela English and Tammy Marie Campbell, both 33.

The women were killed about 9:40 p.m. Jan. 16 in the explosion of an
alleged methamphetamine lab in a duplex at 310 S. Lincoln St.

As meth labs proliferate across the U.S., prosecutors in states hard hit by
the illegal drug production have started filing murder and manslaughter
charges against meth operators when the labs explode.

Numerous murder cases against meth-lab operators have been successfully
prosecuted in California. And in Kansas, Attorney General Carla Stover won
a case last year against a meth lab operator whose meth partner was killed
in an explosion near Lyons.

According to testimony Tuesday, a huge fireball enveloped the basement of
the duplex where meth - commonly known as speed - was allegedly being
manufactured.

Denver police Detective Teri Hays, who said she has inspected or raided 75
meth labs in the last two years, testified that the labs are extremely
dangerous because of the volatile and flammable ingredients used in meth
manufacture.

"People take a real risk with not only their lives but the lives of others
when they manufacture methamphetamines," she said.

Leon Beesley, a veteran investigator for the Denver Fire Department,
testified that escape from such explosions is rare.

"It would be a very rapid fire, making escape about impossible," Beesley
said. "It looks like a fireball. It's a huge rolling fireball."

Both Willis and Campbell escaped, but with burns.

The two women were found in a dirt crawl space, where they scrambled when
vapor from a can of spilled Coleman lantern fuel - a key ingredient in
making meth - was ignited by what investigators believe was the pilot light
on a water heater.

The women died of smoke inhalation.

Campbell told investigators the can of Coleman fuel was accidentally
knocked over, a flash fire followed and a "fireball engulfed the basement,"
said police Detective Frank Rino.

Rino said that Campbell was upset during the interview and had been crying.

The two women were good friends of Campbell and Willis.