Though the Chaffee County coroner issued arrest warrants for two men in the murder of a Highlands Ranch woman, a prosecutor must still decide whether to file formal charges.
“We will determine whether there is enough evidence for a criminal prosecution,” District Attorney Thom LeDoux said.
On May 29, coroner Randy Amettis issued warrants for the arrest of Dan Mason, 53, and Efren Gallegos, 33, in connection with the May 30, 2004, death of Nancy Mason, 47, according to Chaffee County court records.
LeDoux said he will review testimony and evidence given at a recent coroner’s inquest conducted by Amettis and may ask deputies to do more investigative work before deciding whether to file formal murder charges.
“This is a very unique situation,” he said. No decision has been reached, he added.
If attorneys for Gallegos and Dan Mason wish to present evidence to him before he makes a decision, LeDoux said, he would be willing to receive it.
He said the coroner’s inquest requires a different level of proof than the state court, which requires the highest: beyond a reasonable doubt.
Amettis issued the arrest warrants after holding a rare inquest to determine whether Nancy Mason’s death was the result of a fishing accident, as originally determined, or a homicide.
Before he issued warrants, a six-member jury had to first determine that her death was a homicide and who was responsible, according to Undersheriff Keith Pinkston. He declined to confirm that is what happened at the inquest.
During the inquest, Pinkston said that if there was a crime, investigators thought it was financially motivated. Dan and Nancy Mason filed a new will for Nancy Mason weeks before her death that made Dan Mason her sole beneficiary, excluding her children, whose names were misspelled in the document.
She also made her new husband the sole beneficiary of two life-insurance policies totaling more than $200,000.
At the inquest, Pinkston detailed discrepancies in descriptions of Nancy Mason’s death by Dan Mason and his friend Gallegos, who lived with the couple and was present the day she died.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
Read Kirk Mitchell’s interview with Dan Mason at the .
