FORT COLLINS — A Loveland man suspected of fatally bludgeoning and stabbing a process server was strangling his children in their home when deputies found him, the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office said.
James Scott Whitler, 45, is being held at the Larimer County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder, according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies were called at about 8 p.m. Wednesday to Whitler’s home in the 4900 block of Otero Avenue and found a man in the home who was “severely” injured, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Eloise Campanella in a press release.
Deputies rushed the injured man, Stephen D. Allen, 57, to paramedics, but he died at the scene of his injuries.
Deputies found Whitler in the home “in the act of strangling his two children, and both were unconscious,” Campanella said.
Whitler was Tasered by deputies who arrested him.
The children, a 10-year-old boy and a girl, 12, were taken to Medical Center of the Rockies, where they remain hospitalized, officials said.
Whitler’s wife, Lisa, suffered minor injuries
Earlier Wednesday, Lisa Whitler had filed for divorce in Larimer County District Court, and a temporary restraining order was granted against James Whitler, according to court documents.
Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden said today at a news conference that Allen and Lisa Whitler had been to the house earlier in the day and removed a “long gun.”
Witnesses told investigators James Whitler left a room at the home to gather personal property but returned with a baseball bat and attacked the process server, also stabbing him, the sheriff’s office said.
During the attack, Lisa Whitler fled the home and called 911.
James Whitler has an advisement hearing at 1:30 p.m. today in district court in Fort Collins, said Linda Jensen, a spokeswoman with the Larimer County District Attorney’s Office.
On May 17, Lisa Whitler called the sheriff’s office about voice messages being left on her phone by her husband, but investigators found that no crime was committed, Campanella said.
On Sunday, James Whitler told sheriff’s deputies that “his wife was out of control and that the children did not want to go with her,” the press release said. Deputies called child-protection services, but no crime was committed, and no charges were filed at that time, Campanella said.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com
