Governor Hickenlooper is a coward. Rather than making a decision on whether to grant clemency to Chuck E. Cheese mass murderer Nathan Dunlap, Hickenlooper instead chose to issue an executive order for an “indefinite stay” of his execution.

In typical Hickenlooper fashion, he chose not to choose. But, unfortunately, for the cause of justice it means the cold-blooded killer gets to keep his life, even when he took four others.

Reports The Denver Post:

Gov. John Hickenlooper on Wednesday issued an executive order granting convicted killer Nathan Dunlap a “temporary reprieve” from an execution that had been just three months away.

In an executive order that provides an indefinite stay of execution, Hickenlooper writes that the decision has weighed heavily on him…

“I don’t know why anyone would vote for someone who would want to do away with the death penalty in this case,” [Marj] Crowell said before a planned conference call with Hickenlooper.

Marj Crowell is the mother of one of Dunlap’s victims, Sylvia Crowell. In issuing his cop-out clemency decision today, Hickenlooper is insulting both the victims and the jury who decided to sentence Dunlap to death.

This decision could also affect another key death penalty case — that of Aurora shooter James Holmes. When DA George Brauchler seeks the death penalty against the human scum who committed one of the worst massacres in American history, will the jury wonder whether their decision will be respected by a future governor?

The silver lining to this decision is that if Republicans take back the governor’s mansion in 2014, a new Republican governor could issue their own executive order, allowing justice to take place and Nathan Dunlap to die for his crimes against humanity.

UPDATE: District Attorney George Brauchler responds: