The 1st Judicial District Attorney’s Office has dropped accessory charges against one of three people thought to be involved in the July 2003 slaying and cover up of 30-year-old mother-of-two Heather DeWild.
Authorities believe DeWild and her then-estranged husband, Daniel DeWild, were in the midst of a contentious divorce when he turned to his twin brother for help in killing her and concealing the crime.
Originally, authorities believed the twin’s wife, Mary DeWild, had been an accessory to murder. A witness in 2003 saw three people standing around what turned out to be Heather DeWild’s shallow grave in Wheat Ridge shortly after the killing.
Prosecutors are ethically bound to dismiss cases they don’t believe they can prove beyond a reasonable doubt, said DA’s office spokeswoman Pam Russell.
She declined to provide further information, citing concerns over pre-trial publicity.
Daniel DeWild, indicted for first-degree murder in his wife’s death, heads to trial Nov. 5.
He, his twin brother David DeWild and Mary DeWild were all arrested in December.
David DeWild pleaded guilty in August to second-degree murder, a Class 3 felony. He faces a minimum of 10 years in state prison when he is sentenced.
According to the indictment, Daniel DeWild tried to patch things up with his estranged wife two days before her death, but she spurned him.
The and then, along with his twin and his sister-in-law, “subdued” her and dumped her body along with her Nissan Sentra near a Wheat Ridge greenbelt.
It’s been more than nine years since Heather DeWild disappeared a week before her final divorce hearing.
Her children were ages 3 and 5 at the time of her death and for years up to their father’s indictment had weekly visits with him, according to family members.
At the time the DeWild trio was arrested for her death, prosecutors said they had circled back over the years to what was a cold case until they could compile enough evidence against the DeWild brothers.
Jessica Fender: 303-954-1244 , jfender@denverpost.com or twitter.com/oh_fender
