An apparent murder-suicide in a remote Colorado mountain town has left a family questioning everything after deputies missed a body and the case remained open for nine months. Read more from Investigative Reporter JennKovaleski:
Denver7 Investigates spent months looking into the murder on County Road 243 and discovered a Colorado Bureau of Investigation forensic testing backlog is largely to blame for the stalled case, but that’s only the beginning of the story.
The handwritten suicide note is now all Ali, and her family, can grapple with since the death of their loved one. A Garfield County deputy picked up Bill at the grocery store and drove him back to his house. During the drive, the deputy wrote in his case report that Bill couldn’t explain why he didn’t use the landline but said there was no cell service.“It was immediately ruled a suicide," Ali said.
Julie said she spent the time debating how and why her mom would kill Tanner, describing it as tormenting. Denver7 Investigates learned the nine-month timeline was caused by a lag in evidence processing by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. CBI currently has an up-to-year backlog for firearm ballistic testing, and the agency said it processes this evidence based on the urgency of a case.
Denver7 Investigates took the 70-page case report to retired Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock. He reviewed the files and was asked to provide his unbiased opinion, based on his 43-year tenure in law enforcement. Spurlock addressed records showing Garfield County deputies never got a formal statement from Bill. They also never collected his clothes the first day, despite a search warrant dated April 11, 2022, detailing them as items of interest the following day when the case became a homicide investigation.
Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario said he does not believe his agency needs a death investigation policy. “It really didn't lend to us to do an extensive search, nor do we have the legal authority to do an extensive search,” Vallario said. “Particularly on a response to a suicide, which isn't a crime in Colorado.”
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