By Sue Lindsay
Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer

Gun seller gets 6 years in prison

Some of them came for vengeance. Some came to mourn.

All of them said they came to see justice done.

Most family members of Columbine victims who attended Mark Manes' sentencing Friday said they were satisfied that justice was done with his six-year sentence.

"I'm happy that he was sentenced to prison," said Brian Rohrbough, whose son Daniel was killed.

"I feel justice was done. I was not here out of anger. We came here because a crime was committed and we wanted to see the person punished."

Dozens of family members packed four rows of the Jefferson County courtroom where Manes, 22, was sentenced for providing a handgun to a minor and possessing a sawed-off shotgun.

Ten family members spoke at the emotionally charged sentencing hearing. The judge's clerk placed boxes of tissues on each side of the courtroom where family members sat and at the podium where they addressed the court.

Videotaped eulogies of slain students Lauren Townsend and Matthew Kechter were shown to the judge.

Linda Sanders, wife of slain teacher Dave Sanders, stood weeping against the wall as her two daughters told the judge about their father.

"Mark Manes may not have pulled the trigger that killed my dad, but he provided the tools to make it happen," said Sanders' daughter Carly.

Bruce Beck, stepfather of Townsend, asked the judge to impose a year of prison for each person killed at Columbine.

"When you're selling a semi-automatic weapon to children, you better think," he said. "When you go shooting with murderers you better know. If you don't think or know, you better prepared to pay the consequences."

Prosecutor Steve Jensen read a statement by Townsend's mother saying that six of her daughter's 11 wounds were caused by the TEC-DC9 that Manes sold Klebold.

In a statement read on their behalf, Vonda and Michael Shoels, whose son Isaiah was killed, asked the judge to impose a long sentence as a deterrent to others.

"If we had our way the defendant would never be allowed on the streets again," they said.

Ralph Gansemer, whose grandson, Daniel Rohrbough, was killed by the TEC-DC9, said he wanted Manes to spend as many years in prison as possible.

"He couldn't have been any more guilty than if he'd been there to pull the trigger himself," he said. "This is something you never heal from. You never get over it. You just learn to live with it."

Rohrbough's mother, Sue Petrone, said she believed justice was done.

"We're not here on a witch-hunt or to set an example," she said. "Mark Manes made an adult decision and should be held accountable."

Additional reporting by staff writer Karen Abbott.