COLORADO SPRINGS — A man whose body was found Monday in Palmer Park was scheduled to go to trial Tuesday on accusations he sexually assaulting a teenager multiple times, The Gazette reports.
Jon R. Hazard, 43, was found with multiple gunshot wounds about a half-hour before he was due in court for a hearing on the sexual-assault charge. He lived in Colorado Springs and Grand Junction.
According to the arrest affidavit obtained by The Gazette, a 15-year-old girl told police she met Hazard when she was between the sixth and seventh grades. She was friends at the time with his sons.
The girl told investigators Hazard blackmailed her into the relationship using a video of her making out with a friend and threatened to show it to her mother if she didn’t send him explicit pictures of herself.
Hazard was arrested in December. Police have not said whether they believe his death is related to the sexual-assault charge.
