BOULDER, Colo. -- For the first time, a Boulder couple criticized over what's been called "The Boulder Land Grab" is telling their side of the story.

Dick McLean and Edie Stevens said they have received threatening mail and watched protestors on their property since the judge's ruling in October, granting them more than 30 percent of the vacant lot next door.

They have used the land for 25 years to get around a retaining wall and access their back yard. So when the property owners, Don and Susie Kirlin, started to build a fence blocking that access, they said they had to take action.

Both sides say they tried mediation, but didn't come close to a resolution before the trial.

"When they heard, I think, that we were going to start building something, they panicked. They were trying to figure out a way to stop that," said Susie Kirlin.

McLean and Stevens, a former attorney, filed an adverse-possession land case, arguing they had used a section of property without challenge for at least 18 years.

They said, ultimately, the judge awarded them more than they had asked for in mediation.

"We can understand why some people are concerned about the use of adverse-possession, but it is a very commonly used claim, and it is very difficult to prove," said Stevens.

She said they proved it, and in spite of claims from vocal opponents who've staged protests and written columns, she said the dispute has nothing to do with trying to block a house from blocking their view.

In fact, she said, they have known since they bought their property that a house would be built on one of the vacant lots, and that they designed their house with a northwest view so it would not be obstructed by new construction.

McLean, a former judge, said the ruling had nothing to do with connections, but was about the law.

He said allegations that they colluded with the judge are pure fabrications.

"We never knew the judge. We'd never talked to the judge. I'd never met him. He was appointed by Gov. Owens, a Republican," he said.

The Kirlins plan to appeal the judge's ruling.