A man facing a first-degree murder charge cried on the witness stand Friday in Denver as he described a series of events in his desperate attempt to commit suicide by cop.
Daniel Abeyta, 33, faces several counts stemming from the Aug. 16, 2013, incident in which he admits to killing a neighbor and shooting his wife in the ankle.
Abeyta was in the chest and shoulder in front of his southwest Denver home. Armed with two rifles, Abeyta was standing in front of the home on South Irving Street screaming at neighbors and shooting at propane tanks when police arrived.
Abeyta testified Friday that he deliberately shot his now estranged wife, Autume Estrada, inside the home they shared. He said he accidentally shot a neighbor, Sandra Roskilly, 46, with a handgun when he turned around after hearing a noise behind him outside. Abeyta told the court that about a month before the incident, he was fired after 13 years as a Denver city employee for using city equipment on side jobs.
Abeyta said he found another job two weeks later with a contractor and was working long hours, up to 16 hours a day, in Greeley. The job was to pay, in part, on commission and after insurance claims were reimbursed. He had not received a check. Losing his long-time job, long hours away from home in the new job, and no money coming resulted in Estrada lashing out at him, Abeyta said.
Estrada accused him of “having another family in Greeley” when Abeyta got home sometime after 2 a.m. on Aug. 16, he said.
According to Abeyta, Estrada said, “Dogs don’t sleep in the bed.”
Abeyta said he slept on the floor. Waking up late, he quickly left the house and was driving away when Estrada called and told him , he said, putting his clothes out on the street. Abeyta said he turned around and drove home to find Estrada emptying his house.
“What do I have to do to make you happy?” Abeyta said he asked his wife.
“Kill yourself,” was the response, he said.
He couldn’t kill himself, he said, but he thought that police might, if he could “scare” them. That’s why, Abeyta said, he went into the street with two rifles and a handgun and fired at propane tanks. Under cross examination, Deputy District Attorney Allison Rocker asked Abeyta why, if he wanted police to shoot him, he didn’t point the gun at them.
“I didn’t want no one else to be hurt,” he said.
Closing arguments are set for Monday morning.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822, knicholson@denverpost.com or twitter.com/kierannicholson
