GREELEY, Colo.—A former Weld County sheriff’s deputy was arrested Tuesday on charges of helping her friend plot the murder of a romantic rival, the latest twist in a love triangle that left one person dead and three people facing criminal charges.
An arrest warrant affidavit accuses Michelle Dawn Moore of helping former sheriff’s dispatcher Shawna Nelson plan the Jan. 23 shooting death of Heather Garraus.
Nelson’s family members say Nelson had an affair with Garraus’ husband, Greeley police officer Ignacio Garraus, and had a son by him before the relationship ended.
Nelson was arrested shortly after the shooting and is charged with first-degree murder.
Nelson’s husband Ken, a former Weld County sheriff’s investigator, was arrested in July on a charge of tampering with evidence in his wife’s case. He has pleaded not guilty.
Moore was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.
The arrest warrant affidavit alleges Moore and Shawna Nelson discussed how Heather Garraus would be killed and how Nelson would make her getaway.
The affidavit alleges Moore advised Nelson to wear gloves and a disguise and possibly leave someone else’s DNA at the scene. Moore also advised Nelson to “muzzle the gunshots and pick up her shell casings,” the affidavit said.
The affidavit also alleges the two women discussed drugging Ken Nelson to keep him asleep at home at the time of the shooting, but said that plan was foiled.
The affidavit says that shortly after Garraus was killed, Moore gave police an alibi for Shawna Nelson, saying Nelson was bathing at Moore’s house at the time of the shooting.
Heather Garraus was shot to death as she left her job at the Colorado State Employees Credit Union in Greeley. Witnesses said a woman wearing black clothes and a black mask told Garraus, “You ruined my life. Get on the ground.”
Garraus knelt, and the woman in black fired two shots and fled, the witnesses said. Shawna Nelson was arrested a short distance away.
Ken Nelson resigned from the sheriff’s department, but was later arrested for allegedly possessing a gun that may have been used in the shooting.
An affidavit in Ken Nelson’s case said he had heard over law-enforcement radio shortly after the shooting that his wife was a suspect. The affidavit said he was rushing home when he saw his wife’s pickup and stopped to talk to her and may have reached into her truck.
Authorities say he later turned in the gun.
Shawna Nelson is being held without bail and is scheduled to go on trial on Nov. 29
Ken Nelson has pleaded not guilty. His trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 7.
Moore’s bail was set at $50,000.
