Two days before a double murder in Douglas County, Micah Woody bought an old gun from a former work buddy, Rob Morse said.
After taking $350 for his 1911 .45-caliber handgun last Monday, Morse asked Woody whether he already had another buyer lined up.
“No, not really,” Woody replied, according to Morse. “It just put five grand in my pocket.”
To Morse, 41, it was an odd statement that didn’t make any sense until after the bodies of Robert Rafferty Jr., 49, and Amara Wells, 39, were found in Rafferty’s posh home and Woody was among four men arrested in the case.
All four men arrested in the alleged double-murder plot had worked at one time or another at the same dealership where Morse once worked, Rocky Mountain Auto Brokers in Colorado Springs. That included Christopher B. Wells, 49, the estranged husband of Amara Wells, said Jason Oringer, the dealership’s general sales manager.
“Our hearts go out to the families,” Oringer said. “It’s very shocking to us.”
The four — Wells; Woody, 29; Josiah Sher, 26; and Matthew Plake, 26, — are being held without bail in connection with the killings. Sher, Woody and Plake were arrested over the weekend.
The bodies were found a week ago today early in the morning in Rafferty’s Keene Ranch subdivision home southwest of Castle Rock. As of Tuesday, authorities continued to collect evidence from the property.
“It’s a rather large house and a rather large piece of property,” said Sgt. Ron Hanavan, spokesman for the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. “We’re being very thorough.”
The four suspects have not been formally charged by the Douglas County district attorney’s office. Their next court appearance is Thursday.
Christopher Wells was in jail at the time of the killings, charged with violating bail conditions and a restraining order to stay away from Amara Wells. He and his wife were going through a divorce, and a trail of occasionally abusive text messages sent by Wells and filed in court records made clear it was contentious.
Oringer said he hired Christopher Wells as a finance manager last year. He was a very good employee at first, Oringer said.
Christopher Wells recommended that Rocky Mountain hire his friend and former work colleague Woody, he said.
Then, about eight months ago, Christopher Wells’ effort at work fell off dramatically, he said.
“He was distracted,” Oringer said. “His focus was just not 100 percent where we needed it. When he was at work, he was there physically; he wasn’t there mentally. He created issues.”
In midsummer, Oringer fired him.
About that same time, on Aug. 1, Christopher Wells was charged with felony criminal mischief in Douglas County. A close family friend said he tore up his wife’s clothes, piled the shreds in the front yard and urinated on the pile.
Four days later, Amara Wells filed for divorce and sought a restraining order against her estranged husband. She and the 6-year-old daughter she shared with Christopher moved in with Rafferty and his wife, who is Christopher Wells’ sister.
Plake bought a car at Rocky Mountain near the end of September and a few weeks later applied for a job, Oringer said. Plake said he had been in the Navy.
He recommended that Oringer hire an acquaintance, Sher, who is a member of the U.S. Army Reserve and is an “aircraft structural repairer.” A native of Texas, Sher enlisted in 2002, was on active duty and is now a sergeant in the Reserve.
Of the two new employees, Sher showed the most promise.
“Josiah had a gift. He was a likeable kid and a good salesman. He had charisma,” Oringer said. “He absorbed everything we taught.”
But one time, Oringer took Sher aside to reprimand him mildly for socializing with other salesmen during work hours.
“He and I were talking about the way to be successful in the business,” he said. “He gave me a look. There was rage there.”
The angry look was way out of line for the circumstance, Oringer said. He said from then on he changed his approach when he reprimanded Sher.
“I came to my own conclusion he suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome,” Oringer said. “There was something in him that was bothering him at times.”
Sher is being held in the case on two counts of suspicion of first-degree murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, one count of arson, one count of burglary and one count of assault/disfigurement.
The other three suspects face possible first-degree murder counts.
Oringer said that shortly after he hired Plake, it was apparent that he didn’t have what it took to be a good car salesman and they came to a mutual agreement that he resign.
After his friend left, Sher and Woody befriended each other, Oringer said.
“You’d hear them talk about their weekends,” he said. “Sher and Woody became close friends.” Woody also remained close to Wells.
In the days after the killings of Rafferty and Amara Wells, Woody and Sher acted strange, said Oringer, who added that he was unaware Sher had told another employee he was involved in murder.
“They both seemed distracted, worried, stressed,” he said. “You couldn’t put your finger on it, but you knew something wasn’t right.”
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
