Richard Paul Matsch

Background

Matsch was born in Burlington, Iowa, on June 8, 1930. He graduated from Burlington High School. He earned his Artium Baccalaureus degree from the University of Michigan in 1951, and his Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School in 1953. He was admitted to the Iowa bar in July 1953.

He served in the United States Army from 1953 to 1955, where he performed counterintelligence duties in Korea after hostilities ended. In June 1955, he was a private first class.

Career

He was an attorney in private practice in Denver, Colorado from 1956 to 1959. He was an Assistant United States Attorney of the District of Colorado from 1959 to 1961. He was a deputy city attorney of City and County of Denver, Colorado from 1961 to 1963. He was in private practice in Denver from 1963 to 1965. He was a Referee in Bankruptcy for the District of Colorado from 1965 to 1973, and thereafter served as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Colorado from 1973 to 1974.

Federal judicial service

Matsch was nominated by President Richard Nixon on January 31, 1974, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Colorado vacated by Judge Olin Hatfield Chilson. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 1, 1974, and received his commission on March 8, 1974. He served as Chief Judge from 1994 to 2000. He assumed senior status on July 1, 2003.

Notable cases

In 1987, Matsch presided over the trials of two members of The Order, neo-Nazi terrorists who assassinated radio host Alan Berg in 1984. He handed down 150-year sentences to both defendants.

Matsch presided over the trials of Oklahoma City bombing defendants Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. The case was moved to Colorado from Oklahoma after a change of venue.

Matsch was also the judge in a lawsuit (Phillips et al. vs. Lucky Gunner) in Denver where Sandy and Lonnie Phillips, whose daughter, Jessica Ghawi, was one of 12 people killed in the 2012 Aurora, Colorado, shooting. Matsch dismissed the case and ordered that Sandy and Lonnie Phillips pay $220,000 in legal costs.

Personal life

In 1958, Matsch married Elizabeth Murdock (1930–2017), an educator; the couple had four daughters and a son. In 1992, one of their daughters died after falling into a fumarole at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.

In 1989, Matsch and his wife moved from the Denver area to a ranch in Boulder County, Colorado.

Richard Matsch died in Louisville, Colorado, on May 26, 2019, at the age of 88.

References

Sources

• Honorable Richard P. Matsch District of Colorado
• "Program Celebrating the Life and Career of US District Judge Richard P. Matsch (1930-2019)"

References

1. Roberts, Sam. (May 30, 2019). "Judge Richard Matsch, 88; Kept ‘Theater’ Out of Court In Oklahoma Bombing Trials". The New York Times.
2. "Archived copy".
3. [https://www.newspaperarchive.com/us/iowa/burlington/burlington-hawk-eye-gazette/1955/06-24/page-26/ "Pvt. Richard Matsch Due In U.S. Sunday"], ''[[Hawk-Eye Gazette]]'', Burlington, Iowa, volume 118, number 295, June 24, 1955, page 13. {{subscription required
4. {{FJC Bio. 1504
5. "Phillips et al v. LuckyGunner, LLC et al, No. 1:2014cv02822 - Document 45 (D. Colo. 2015)".
6. "Parents lost daughter to mass shooter, now owe $220,000 to his suppliers".
7. (October 29, 2017). "Elizabeth Murdock Matsch". [[The Denver Post]].
8. Romano, Lois. (May 12, 1997). "Richard Matsch Has a Firm Grip on His Gavel in the Oklahoma City Bombing Trial". Washington Post.