FRANKTOWN, Colo. — A parolee was legally drunk and had methamphetamine in his system when he lost control of a stolen car, causing a wreck that ended in five deaths, according to documents obtained by 9NEWS Investigates.

An assessment done before his release rated Walter Huling III as a “high” risk to commit new crimes. Then, after being released in September 2023, he missed multiple drug tests and meetings with his parole officers, according to Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC) records.

“Considering this individual’s prior history, the fact that he was high on meth and under the influence of alcohol should not come as a surprise to anyone,” said 9NEWS legal analyst Scott Robinson.

Huling, 31, is suspected in a carjacking at an RTD station in Aurora the afternoon of Nov. 24 – then losing control of the stolen Toyota Matrix about an hour later on Colorado Highway 83 near Franktown. The Toyota rolled over into oncoming traffic, smashing head-on into a Ford Fusion. Four of the six people in the Fusion died: Alvin Corado, 35; MaKenlee Corado, 12; Toretto Corado, 8; and Jase Green, 12. Two other children suffered life-threatening injuries.

Court records obtained by 9NEWS Investigates show that Huling was arrested more than a dozen times in a little over a decade and twice spent time in prison. The most recent prison term came after he was convicted of assaulting a man, a woman and a responding Denver police officer near 15th and Market streets in Denver in 2019. A judge sentenced him to six years in prison followed by a state-mandated three years on parole.

Documents show he had served about three and a half years of that sentence when the state parole board approved his release.

Records obtained by 9NEWS show that an assessment of the risk he posed – looking at everything from prior convictions and age to juvenile crimes and prior problems – rated him as “high” with a score of 157 on a scale that went up to 186.

Once on parole, Huling had numerous issues.

He missed at least three scheduled meetings with his parole officer. On another occasion, his parole officer could not locate him and could not reach him by phone.

At least six times he missed drug tests, and once when he did take a test, it came back positive. In another instance, he admitted to using marijuana, according to Department of Corrections records.

Other documents obtained by 9NEWS Investigates show that Longmont Police arrested Huling in March 2024 after a disturbance at a party.

Huling, by his own admission, had consumed mushrooms and “drank a half bottle of tequila.”

Both were violations of a court order issued when he was sentenced in the Denver case. It prohibited him from possessing or using alcohol and drugs.

He violated the conditions of his parole by not self-reporting the arrest.

Other notes in his records show that he failed to complete required treatment and stopped seeing a therapist. As a result, his parole officer refused a request to discharge him early.

Any one of those incidents could have led his parole officer to seek a revocation order that had the potential to send him back to prison. Robinson said he was surprised that never happened.

“There weren’t just warning signs,” Robinson said. “This was like Vegas, the Strip – with lights flashing. It’s unbelievable that the parole officers supervising this individual did not seek to revoke his parole.”

On Sept. 17, the records show that Huling’s parole officer met with him for the last time.

There are no more entries on his chronological record provided by the Department of Corrections. It’s not clear why. according to DOC guidelines, his risk assessment score called for a “face-to-face” meeting at least once a month.

Those guidelines note that “there is no substitute for the face-to-face contact standards”

But the records show no more entries in Huling’s record between that September meeting and his death on Nov. 24.