FORT COLLINS, Colo.—A 29-year-old man has been arrested and named a suspect in the sexual assault and strangling death of a 20-year-old woman whose body was left in her burning home.
Joseph Curl was being held at the Larimer County jail on suspicion of first-degree murder and sexual assault in the death of Linnea Dick.
Firefighters found Dick in her home Friday. The coroner’s office says she died of asphyxiation.
Dick’s body was found in an upstairs bedroom. One fire was burning in the bedroom and another in the basement. A cat died in the blaze.
Curl’s arrest followed dozens of interviews with friends, family and acquaintances. Dick’s father, Don Dick, told Denver station KDVR-TV that Curl was an acquaintance.
“She would give everyone the benefit of the doubt,” a tearful Andrea Gliva, Dick’s sister, said during an emotional news conference before Curl’s arrest was announced. “Very nonjudgmental and she would have trusted anyone.”
Police spokeswoman Rita Davis declined to release details about Curl or his alleged connection to the crime. There was no phone number listed for Curl and it was unclear whether he had retained an attorney.
“We followed up on leads and we were trying to understand who Linnea was through our interviews of family and friends,” Davis said. “Through that process Mr. Curl rose to the top.”
Davis said that Dick contacted police in November to report a man tried to enter her house under suspicious circumstances, though she declined to say whether that incident was related. A report was take for informational purposes and no criminal investigation was opened because Dick contacted police long after it happened, Davis said.
“Linnea was a vibrant, loving person,” Terry Snyder, her uncle, said during a news conference. “She had a strong family bond that made her a wonderful sister, daughter and friend.”
