A Grand Junction man charged in the of three who was missing until her remains were found in 2012 will face trial, a judge has ruled.
Lester Ralph Jones, 63, who was long suspected of killing Paige Birgfeld, in the case. Court records show a judge ruled Monday there is sufficient evidence to move forward in the case.
The evidence will go before a jury in 2016. A trial is expected to last four to eight weeks, .
Jones of first-degree murder, second-degree murder and second-degree kidnapping. Mesa County Sheriff Matt Lewis last year said that although there is a “very circumstantial basis to this case,” he believes authorities have sufficient evidence showing .
“We believe, at this point, we have crossed off the list all the things we needed to do to make an arrest,” he said in November. “There’s not a significant event as much as this is an exhaustive process we’ve been going through.”
Birgfeld was reported missing in July 2007, and her car was found torched just days later, her personal items strewn near U.S. 50.
Birgfeld’s remains were found south of there March 6, 2012, by a hiker who spotted them in the Wells Gulch area in Delta County.
According to court records, investigators were suspicious of Jones because the torched car was across the street from where Jones worked and a forensic dog indicated Jones’ scent was on the passenger seat in her car.
A gas can also was found next to Jones’ work station, which he denied purchasing, records show, and he could not explain why it was there.
Investigators also say phone and computer data linked Jones to Birgfeld.
