Three Colorado State Patrol communications officers have been placed on paid leave while authorities investigate a nine-minute delay in sending a trooper to a crash last week on Interstate 25.

The first crash was followed about 13 minutes later by another one in which a woman was killed and a passenger severely injured in a rollover.

Preliminary results of the investigation into the delay found at least one dispatcher was distracted “watching a Christmas movie,” state patrol Chief Jim Wolfinbarger told reporters at a news conference Monday afternoon.

Wolfinbarger said it’s unknown whether the fatal crash might have been averted if troopers had been sent immediately to the first one. He said his department’s internal affairs unit is conducting the investigation with help from the 4th and 10th Judicial District Attorneys’ offices.

Here’s what the Colorado State Patrol says happened:

At 1:37 a.m. Thursday, someone called the state patrol to report a Mazda traveling south on I-25 near Fountain hit a dear and stalled in the right-hand lane. A call-taker at the state patrol’s Pueblo dispatch center entered the information into the agency’s computer-aided dispatch system. A trooper was not dispatched to the scene until nine minutes later.

About 1:50 a.m., a Ford Explorer driven by 20-year-old Heather Clinton of San Manuel, Ariz., was headed south on the highway and swerved to avoid the Mazda. Clinton ended up on the median, and she swerved again to get back on the highway, which caused the Explorer to roll twice. Clinton and a passenger, 22-year-old Earl Clinton, were thrown from the vehicle.

Heather Clinton died at the scene. Earl Clinton was taken to Memorial Hospital, where he was listed in fair condition Monday evening.

Wolfinbarger said he’s implemented new policies at the state patrol’s five regional dispatch centers to ensure distraction doesn’t lead to delayed responses. He declined to identify the communications officers who were put on leave, but he said they will be named after the investigation is complete.

Wilfinbarger said he met with the Clinton family Monday, and that they had asked for no contact from news reporters.

“Obviously, the family’s grief is beyond description,” he said.

Kim Ebner, a design consultant, has a ventless fireplace between the kitchen and dining room. Photo by Jill Toyoshiba, Kansas City Star