Police have arrested a suspect in a woman’s shooting death at a Westminster self-storage facility, where the victim worked. The victim was dating the suspect’s husband, according to an arrest affidavit.
At about 10:30 a.m. Friday, police responded to the 8390 Church Ranch Boulevard, Storage Etc., on a shooting. Officers found a dead woman at the scene and opened a homicide investigation.
A suspect, who is known to the victim, was identified and an arrest was made on Saturday afternoon, police said in a .
Sheryl Salzbrenner, 44, is being held at the Jefferson County Jail on investigation of first-degree murder, police said. The victim, according to an arrest affidavit, is 47-year-old Tanya Scowden.
Based on surveillance images at the business, a female suspect entered and approached the Scowden, the manager, who was on the phone. The suspect was described as wearing a dark-colored wig. Scowden grabbed the suspect and was then shot, according to the arrest affidavit. The suspect fled the scene.
Investigators interviewed John Patterson, 53, who was at the scene in a separate private residence on the property when the shooting happened. Patterson and Scowden were in a relationship, according to the affidavit.
Patterson told investigators that he believed Salzbrenner shot the victim. Patterson and Salzbrenner have been married for 18 years, but separated the last two years, the affidavit said. Patterson has been dating Scowden for the last two years.
Salzbrenner and Scowden had a “physical altercation” at the storage facility about a year ago, Patterson told investigators. The altercation was over his relationship with Scowden.
During the homicide investigation police found a substance believed to be methamphetamine inside the residence, according to the affidavit. Patterson, who was released from jail on Thursday, had been living at the residence with Scowden and another couple.
