Eliseo Madrid doesn’t know why someone wanted to kill his family over nothing.
But now he has an idea of who the killer might be.
Eagle County sheriff’s deputies Monday arrested a transient, believed to have been living out of his pickup and camper, in the cold-blooded killing of Madrid’s wife, Maria, on Friday night.
He was identified as Charles Anthony Gross, 55, according to Capt. Bill Kaufman of the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office. Gross was being held in Eagle County Jail on a charge of second-degree murder, with additional charges possible, Kaufman said. Bail was set at $1 million.
Maria Madrid was shot as the family was leaving a campsite on Coffee Pot Road in Dotsero. Eliseo Madrid said a man approached their truck and asked them whether they left trash behind.
“So my wife pulled the window down, and he asked if I cleaned everything, and I said: ‘Yes, sir. We already cleaned everything.’ Then he got the gun from his belt and started shooting at us,” Madrid said Monday.
The Madrids, from Gypsum, had spent a few hours at the campsite planning their 14-year-old son’s upcoming birthday.
“We don’t know him. … He wanted to kill all of us,” Madrid said.
Maria Madrid, 38, was shot in the head and chest, but her husband said he thinks the first shot killed her.
Eliseo Madrid, 41, sped away to a nearby home, where he called for help.
He was taken to Valley View Hospital for treatment of gunshot wounds and sent home. His son was not injured.
Kaufman called the shooting senseless.
“From my understanding, it was over something very trivial that most people would just have a discussion or walk away upset over,” he said. “But nothing that would lead to any type of physical confrontation.”
About 3:15 p.m. Monday, deputies responded to a call by an area resident of a suspicious person walking along Colorado River Road. The caller said the man matched the description of the shooter, Kaufman said.
The deputies contacted Gross and found probable cause to arrest him in connection with the murder, he said.
The arrest “eases the tension in the community,” Kaufman said. “And it’s good to know he’s not in some neighboring state or further than that.”
Staff writer Felisa Cardona can be reached at 303-820-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com.
Staff writer Jim Kirksey can be reached at 303-820-1448 or jkirksey@denverpost.com.
