A 27-year-old Colorado sex offender accused of killing a woman in Adams County has taken a plea deal, according to court records.
Jacob Schadler, 27, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and driving under the influence during a Friday disposition hearing, according to court records. The plea deal dropped charges of first-degree murder, motor vehicle theft, criminal mischief and theft from his case.
Schadler was arrested in July 2023 after he fled the scene of a murder in the 15000 block of Iola Street near Brighton, leaving behind the body of 26-year-old Dominica Quesada, and crashed his car in Castle Rock.
Police arrested Schadler on suspicion of murder just days before he was supposed to turn himself into jail to serve time in an unrelated, sexual assault case, according to court documents.
Schadler was arrested in connection to the sexual assault case in late 2020 and — after more than two years of continuations, delays and hearings — pleaded guilty in February 2023 to sexual contact with no consent. The plea deal dropped a felony charge of sexual assault from his case.
The now 27-year-old was sentenced to 45 days in jail and 18 months of supervised probation in May 2023, according to court records.
After the judge denied a motion filed by the defense in June to reconsider Schadler’s sentence, Schadler was supposed to turn himself into Adams County jail by Aug. 2. Less than a week before that deadline, he was arrested.
Schadler’s jury trial for the Adams County murder was set to begin on Dec. 6, but all jury trial dates have been vacated, according to court records. His sentencing date has not yet been set.
