A third suspect has been charged in connection to the death of a Greeley man whose body was set on fire in the Poudre Canyon west of Fort Collins this past month, as a recently unsealed affidavit reveals more details surrounding the killing.
Police arrested 37-year-old Monica Lopez-Silva on April 24 after they allege she attempted to buy cleaning supplies and removed potential evidence from a Fort Collins hotel room in the first-degree murder case of 49-year old Gerardo Hernandez Lucio. She faces charges of accessory to a crime and tampering with physical evidence, according to Colorado court records.
Lopez-Silva told officers she was in a romantic relationship with 32-year-old Isaac Valdez-Salvador, who police believe to have carried out the killing April 7 between LaSalle and Milliken before setting Hernandez Lucio’s body on fire April 11 at a picnic area 45 minutes west of Fort Collins. Police believe Valdez-Salvador was also in a relationship with 37-year-old Juana Espino, who was formerly married to Hernandez Lucio, according to three recently unsealed affidavits for their arrests.
It is unknown whether Lopez-Silva and Espino knew each other.
Valdez-Salvador faces charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, tampering with a deceased body, second-degree motor vehicle theft, vehicular eluding and tampering with physical evidence. Espino faces charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, unlawful purchase of a firearm and tampering with physical evidence, according to a news release from the Weld County district attorney’s office.
Since the murder is alleged to have happened in Weld County, all court proceedings will take place in Weld district court.
Just before 5 a.m. April 11, the Poudre Canyon Volunteer Fire Department responded to a report of a fire under the bridge at Steven’s Gulch Picnic Site, off Poudre Canyon Road west of Fort Collins. Police said, when crews arrived, they found a body on fire under the bridge.
The Larimer County coroner’s office identified the man as Hernandez Lucio, of Greeley. With the help of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the office also determined Hernandez Lucio had been killed by a gunshot before the blaze, according to the Larimer County sheriff’s office.
While identifying Hernandez Lucio, police learned he was previously married to Espino. Evans police later informed detectives that Valdez-Salvador was Espino’s current boyfriend, according to the affidavit.
Police said initial investigators on scene at the fire noticed what appeared to be broken glass from a vehicle window and blood streaks on the concrete outside the bridge’s guardrails, as well as a box of matches near the corner of the bridge closest to Poudre Canyon Road. Investigators also saw burn marks leading from where the body was found to what appeared to be a melted gas can just off the bridge, according to the affidavit.
Using data from automatic license plate readers and security camera footage, police said they placed a black SUV belonging to Espino within four miles of the crime scene less than an hour before first responders arrived.
On April 9, a GMC pickup with a broken rear window was reported abandoned in rural Weld County, but the affidavit did not specify where. A Weld deputy found several spent shell casings near the pickup — which was registered to Espino but was later discovered to be Hernandez Lucio’s primary vehicle, according to the affidavit.
Just before 9:30 p.m. April 7, an automatic license plate reader photographed the pickup at 11th Avenue and 26th Street in Greeley with the rear window intact, according to the affidavit. Police said at 7:45 a.m. the next day, an automatic license plate reader in the Hill-N-Park neighborhood south of Greeley photographed the pickup and that the window had been broken and blood was visible on the driver’s side running board.
On April 14, Larimer County deputies tried to contact Valdez-Salvador at a Dollar Tree near Rocky Mountain Avenue and U.S. 34 in Loveland, but he fled when deputies initiated the traffic stop. Police said he reached speeds of more than 100 mph, passing vehicles on the shoulder and hitting traffic cones in construction areas before pulling over on Interstate-25 near Mead and fleeing on foot with a handgun.
Valdez-Salvador began to cross the interstate on foot and was struck by a northbound vehicle after jumping over the center median, the Larimer sheriff’s office said. He was taken to a Loveland hospital with serious injuries.
Police said deputies surveilling Valdez-Salvador in an unmarked vehicle saw him drop off a woman at the Dollar Tree just before he fled from police. Store employees said the woman was about to purchase rubber gloves but set them down and walked out of the store when she saw Valdez-Salvador leave in the pickup, police said. The woman was later identified as Lopez-Silva.
Using data from Valdez-Salvador’s phone, police located Espino and contacted her April 12 after following her to her Evans home, according to the affidavit. Police said a deputy noticed what appeared to be dried blood on the kitchen floor after being invited inside.
Police said Espino told the deputy Valdez-Salvador had admitted to shooting Hernandez Lucio in the back, using a gun registered to Espino that she said her and Valdez-Salvador had purchased together in March.
Espino detailed how Valdez-Salvador had her send Hernandez Lucio a time and location to meet, to which Hernandez Lucio agreed, according to the affidavit. At the meeting, Valdez-Salvador shot him and put his body in the GMC pickup, Espino told police.
Valdez-Salvador then asked Espino to pick him up from the location — which she said was between LaSalle and Milliken, according to the affidavit.
Espino said she did not know Valdez-Salvador was going to kill Hernandez Lucio when she set the meeting up, according to police. She told the deputy he only informed her once she picked him up from the location.
Valdez-Salvador asked Espino for a black trash bag, some gloves and a gas can, Espino said. She provided the items but told the deputy she did not know what they were for at the time, according to the affidavit. Valdez-Salvador later told her he was going to burn Hernandez Lucio’s body but would not provide her any further details, saying she “did not need to know,” Espino told the deputy.
Police said, at 1 a.m. April 15,they located the GMC pickup at a hotel in the 3800 block of East Mulberry Street in Fort Collins, later learning Valdez-Salvador had rented a room at the hotel. Police noticed bullet holes in a door of the pickup, as well as what appeared to be blood inside, according to the affidavit.
Police later received a warrant to search the pickup and, according to the affidavit, found:
Suspected dried blood on the driver’s side running boards near both the front and rear doors. A suspected blood smear on the driver’s side of the truck bed. A small piece of black plastic attached to a fire extinguisher mounting bracket, matching a piece of black plastic recovered from the scene of the fire. A red storage tote in the bed with apparent blood stains inside. A box for a fire extinguisher matching the one Valdez-Salvador was seen purchasing at Home Depot. Inside were paper towels that looked as if they had been used to clean blood.Police collected several items from Valdez-Salvador’s hotel room but said they left the key to the GMC pickup because they didn’t know it belonged to Hernandez Lucio’s vehicle at the time. After refreshing the search warrant, police returned later in the day on April 15 to recover the key, but all Valdez-Salvador’s items had already been removed, according to the affidavit.
Hotel staff told police that a woman had come that morning to retrieve things from the room and showed officers security camera footage confirming she removed the items, according to the affidavit.
That same day, police say they received a call from one of Valdez-Salvador’s family members, who told an investigator that a woman named Monica had told him that Valdez-Salvador had been injured. He had been following the case and said the woman told him information that hadn’t yet been released to the public, according to the affidavit.
Through further investigation, police learned that Valdez-Salvador had recently purchased a lighter and a fire extinguisher from Home Depot.
They also viewed security camera footage and transaction records from a Greeley gun shop that showed Valdez-Salvador and Espino purchasing the gun on March 25. Shortly after the pair left the shop, Espino returned to purchase two boxes of ammunition matching the firearm found with Valdez-Salvador.
On April 16, police recovered Dollar Tree security camera footage from the night Valdez-Salvador fled from police. It showed Lopez-Silva inside the store holding rubber gloves and several bottles of cleaning solution, according to the affidavit.
Police said, when officers tried to contact Valdez-Salvador outside in the pickup, Lopez-Silva set all the items down and began pacing inside the store for several minutes before leaving. Police described her behavior as “paranoid,” saying she was constantly scanning the area as she walked.
Police also confirmed Lopez-Silva was the woman who was seen clearing out the hotel room the day before and learned she owned a grey Nissan that matched what she was seen driving to and from the hotel, according to the affidavit.
Police said she was hesitant to speak at first but shared more details once police told her they could access her location data through her phone.
She told police she had been in a romantic relationship with Valdez-Salvador, and the pair recently made two trips up to the mountains near the scene of the fire, according to the affidavit.
Police said she told them she and Valdez-Salvador went on April 12 and April 13 — the two days immediately following the fire, adding that during one of the trips, Valdez-Salvador got out of the vehicle at the Steven’s Gulch entrance and “looked scared” when he got back in.
She also said she had called Valdez-Salvador on April 11 and that he didn’t answer, police said. The only other mention of her activity that day in the affidavit was phone location data that showed her driving from Fort Collins to Loveland around 7 a.m.
She told officers Valdez-Salvador was drinking Modelo beer on the trips to the mountains. Police found empty Modelo cans at the fire scene, as well as in both the pickup and SUV registered to Espino, police said. Lopez-Silva also said they stopped at a gas station on Colo. 14, and Valdez-Salvador filled a black container with gas, according to the affidavit. Police said they recovered a black oil pan filled with gas in the back of the SUV.
Lopez-Silva’s location data seemingly matched her story, according to the affidavit. Her phone placed her around Loveland, Fort Collins, Windsor and Wellington from April 8-11 then showed the pair of trips out near Steven’s Gulch on April 12 and 13, according to the affidavit.
Police said her phone showed it was at a trailer in Fort Collins from just before 6:30 p.m. April 10 until approximately 6:45 a.m. the next morning. The fire is believed to have been set before 4:30 a.m. April 11.
Lopez-Silva’s phone placed her in her Nissan at East Mulberry Street and South Timberline Road in Fort Collins at 6:48 a.m., then at her Loveland home at 7:08 a.m., according to the affidavit.
License plate readers showed the SUV that Valdez-Salvador was suspected to have been driving at the same intersection just less than two hours earlier.
After the trip near Steven’s Gulch on April 12, Lopez-Silva’s location data showed she arrived at a location east of LaSalle around 10:30 p.m. She did not mention the reason for the trip, nor did police mention questioning her about it in the affidavit.
Greeley police arrested Espino on April 18, and he is being held at the Weld County jail without bond, records show. She will next appear in Weld district court for a status conference at 9 a.m. June 20 in Division 12.
Lopez-Silva is also in the Weld jail on a $150,000 bond ahead of a preliminary hearing at 1 p.m. June 20 in Division 12.
Valdez-Salvador faces charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, tampering with a deceased body, second-degree motor vehicle theft, vehicular eluding and tampering with physical evidence
The Weld arrest report shows he was booked on April 23, but no records come up when searching his name or birthday in either statewide or county inmate databases. He currently does not have a bond listed, according to court records.
No further information was released Monday, citing an active investigation and pending litigation. Anyone with information regarding the case is asked to contact the Larimer County sheriff’s office investigator Ryan Gebhardt at (970) 498-5586. Tips can also be submitted anonymously to Crime Stoppers of Larimer County at (970) 221-6868 or StopCriminals.org.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Third person charged in case of man shot in Weld County, set on fire west of Fort Collins as more details emerge from unsealed affidavits )
Also on site :