Glenwood Springs – An undocumented Mexican worker was identified Thursday as the suspect in the May 14 shooting death of a Qwest executive killed while turkey hunting in the mountains north of New Castle.
The suspect, who had used fraudulent immigration documents to obtain work at the Bear Wallow Ranch in March, is believed to have fled to Mexico immediately after shooting 37-year-old Jeff Rando Garrett, said Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario.
“We’re 90 percent confident that it was an accident,” Vallario said during a news conference with Garrett’s tearful widow, Charlotte Garrett, and several other relatives.
The suspect’s name was not released.
It was the second fatal Colorado shooting that week in which the suspect is an undocumented worker believed to have fled to Mexico.
Raul Gomez-Garcia was arrested June 4 in Culiacán, Mexico, in connection with the shooting death of Denver police Detective Donald “Donnie” Young. He is being held in a Mexico City jail while officials in Denver work to have him extradited to stand trial in the U.S.
Thursday’s news conference was originally scheduled as an opportunity for Garrett family members to plead for anyone with information to come forward.
Instead, it allowed investigators to spell out how – after conducting a second round of interviews with people in the Elk Creek area near New Castle in the past 48 hours – they had finally identified a suspect.
Law enforcement officials said they had yet to decide whether to seek extradition so he can be prosecuted in the U.S. or to have the case tried in Mexico.
Garfield County authorities are working with the Colorado attorney general’s office to make that decision after the two entities locate and question the suspect in Mexico.
Vallario said he is not at the point of being ready to issue an arrest warrant.
The suspect was clearing brush and repairing fences in a rugged area 6 miles north of New Castle with another worker when the shooting occurred, authorities said.
Garrett, an assistant vice president of Qwest based in Denver, was hunting with two friends who had dropped him off about 6:30 a.m. and had driven to a higher location. They reported him missing after he failed to show up later in the day.
“I heard a shot, and I just remember thinking, ‘I hope Jeff got one,”‘ said Ron Souser, who had hunted with Garrett for about 16 years.
Vallario said it’s possible the suspect heard Garrett’s turkey calls, saw movement in the oak brush and shot in the direction of the Aurora man, who was dressed in camouflage.
An investigator said they are still trying to determine the suspect’s real name. He had one name on a forged green card and Social Security card and reportedly used another name with acquaintances around Glenwood Springs.
Officials with the Bear Wallow Ranch could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Bill Middleton, chief investigator in the case, said interviews led them to the other ranch worker who was clearing brush with the suspect. He gave investigators enough information to implicate the suspect, although it is not believed he witnessed the actual shooting, authorities said.
The suspect had a .22-caliber rifle on an all-terrain vehicle when they were working, and Vallario speculates he used it to attempt some illegal hunting when he heard Garrett’s turkey calls.
The rifle had been issued for protection against bears by the management at Bear Wallow Ranch, where the suspect had been employed since March, Vallario said. It has been recovered and identified as the weapon used in the shooting.
Vallario said he does not know whether Garrett might have been saved if the suspect had notified anyone about the shooting. He said Garrett, whose body was found later that day, did not die instantly.
The suspect could face charges of manslaughter, negligent homicide or second-degree murder, authorities said.
If the suspect had come forward after the shooting, Vallario said, “it would have brought it down to a reckless negligent sort of thing.”
The witness, who has offered to take investigators to the suspect in Mexico, could face accessory charges for his failure to immediately report the shooting, Vallario said.
Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., issued a statement Thursday calling Garrett’s death “another unfortunate example of the real- life consequences of our lax border-security policies.”
Garrett’s widows made a brief statement thanking Garfield County authorities for finding her husband’s body and “bringing him home.”
With tears streaming down her face, she called him “a thoughtful husband, a proud father, a loving son and, to many people, a funny, caring friend.”
Staff writer Nancy Lofholm can be reached at 970-256-1957 or nlofholm@denverpost.com.
