Arapahoe County – Three men who police say killed a murder witness and his fiancée and terrorized other witnesses into silence have been indicted on numerous charges, including first- degree murder, a capital offense.
The Arapahoe County grand jury on Wednesday indicted Robert Keith Ray, 20; Sir Mario Owens, 22; and Parish Ramon Carter, 24; in the June 20 deaths of Javad Marshall-Fields and Vivian Wolfe, both 22-year-old graduates of Colorado State University.
Marshall-Fields was killed a week before he was to testify against Ray in a murder trial involving a July 4, 2004, shooting that killed Gregory Vann, 20.
“Snitches don’t live long” is what Ray allegedly said before Marshall-Fields was killed, according to the indictment, released Thursday.
“When we have a witness murder, it affects the essence and the integrity of the criminal justice system,” said District Attorney Carol Chambers. “If we do not have witnesses, we cannot prove crime. We cannot bring people to justice. We cannot take them off the street so they are no longer a threat.”
The grand jury had heard testimony for three months from more than 50 witnesses and took just over a day to deliberate.
The mothers of the victims were relieved.
“When you think about what has been accomplished in eight or nine months, that is amazing,” said Rhonda Fields, Marshall- Fields’ mother. “Some parents who have children murdered, their cases may remain unsolved, so I’m very happy.”
Ray and Owens are being held on first-degree murder charges in Vann’s death. Marshall-Fields told police he saw Ray drive the getaway car with another man in it, later alleged to be Owens.
Carter is being held on bribery charges.
Attorneys for Ray and Owens didn’t return phone calls Thursday. Carter’s attorney in another matter refused to comment.
The 16-page indictment details the investigation by Aurora police that included hundreds of interviews with numerous witnesses – many of whom were petrified about testifying. Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said Thursday that Detective Gretchen Fronapfe will be nominated as the department’s police officer of the year for her efforts.
Without much physical evidence from the June 20 case – no weapons and no witnesses to the actual shooting – detectives relied on statements from friends, neighbors, inmates, girlfriends, wives, relatives and others to piece events together.
The names of witnesses were removed from the report released to the media, and several have been relocated for their safety, Chambers said.
One said she was threatened as late as Jan. 26 about testifying to the grand jury.
Here’s what the indictment alleges occurred after the July 4, 2004, shooting:
After Ray was charged with being an accessory, he began seeking a way to “take out” Marshall-Fields and other witnesses. He offered $10,000 to one man to kill key witnesses.
One witness said Ray told him to call Marshall-Fields and offer $10,000 not to testify.
Marshall-Fields said he was threatened at a bar the night before he and Wolfe were killed and was told to watch his back.
Police found a baseball cap at the scene of the June 20 shootings, analyzed the DNA on it and found a major component was consistent with Owens’ DNA profile.
Ray developed an alibi on the night of June 20 when he asked a neighbor to accompany him to a liquor store to buy beer at approximately the same time Marshall-Fields and Wolfe were killed.
A cellmate said Carter told him that he and Owens killed Marshall-Fields and Wolfe.
Owens was arrested a month after the double homicide on an unrelated charge, and police found five T-shirts featuring the saying “Stop Snitching.”
Witnesses linked Ray, Owens and Carter to the Chicago-based Gangster Disciple gang, and police say they were dealing drugs.
Both Ray and Owens are accused of telephoning witnesses from jail and threatening them into not testifying or talking with authorities.
The 23 charges in the indictment include second-degree murder, solicitation to commit murder, aggravated intimidation of a witness, retaliation against a witness, intimidating a witness and drug charges.
Aurora police also said they’re seeking Ray’s sister, Markeeta Ray, and an associate, Marc Ramsey, on perjury charges.
Chambers said her office hasn’t decided whether to seek the death penalty.
“I’ve been doing this for almost 25 years, and I can tell you that I have never been involved in an investigation that matches what has been done here,” said Chief Deputy District Attorney John Hower. “It has been incredibly difficult to get some witnesses to come forward to say what they saw because it is not accepted in their community to snitch … even in a case as horrendous as this.”
Staff writer Jeremy P. Meyer can be reached at 303-820-1175 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com.
