CANON CITY, Colo.—The trial of a man accused of fatally shooting a Salida man last summer will remain in Canon (KAN’-yen) City after a judge denied a request from the defense to move it.
Daniel Zettler, an attorney for 23-year-old Andrew Tanner, had argued that most of the citizen witnesses in the case live in Chaffee County, and a trial in Salida (suh-LY’-duh) would be more convenient for them.
Zettler acknowledged that a majority of the law enforcement witnesses are based in Fremont County. But he noted they would be reimbursed for travel by their departments.
District Attorney Thom LeDoux said the departments would be hard-pressed to pay for all the officers’ travel to Salida.
District Judge Julie Marshall denied Zettler’s request.
Tanner and 29-year-old Brian Folsom face first-degree murder, kidnapping and other charges in the July 2008 shooting death of James Durgan.
Durgan’s wife, Kristin Durgan, pleaded guilty last month to second-degree murder and kidnapping, and agreed to testify against the two. She is to be sentenced on July 10, the one-year anniversary of her husband’s slaying.
Prosecutors say Kristen Durgan told her husband her car had broken down and that she was with the couple’s children, ages 12 and 10, at the Lone Pine recreation area 30 miles west of Canon City.
When James Durgan arrived, Folsom kidnapped him, drove him to a remote spot near Cotopaxi, 25 miles from Canon City, and handcuffed him to a tree, prosecutors said.
Tanner went to the area after he got off work and shot Durgan three times in the head, prosecutors allege.
Tanner’s trial is set to begin Aug. 13. Folsom’s is scheduled for Aug. 31.
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Information from: Canon City Daily Record,
