There were some clothes, Kelsies car, and the defendants backyard, but the key pieces of evidence were cell phone data. Police decided then that they would write an arrest warrant for the robbery to catch him before he left town. Didnt expect to feel like this now.. In closing arguments, lead prosecutor Michelle Chostner ensured the jury had a clear understanding of the time Kelsies killer had to get rid of evidence or to clean things up. Forget Im pregnant, seriously., Just before 3 a.m., according to Torres testimony, Schelling texted Lucas, You dont have to be in a relationship with me. That Saturday morning, Saxton said her whole world just unraveled., All of her friends started contacting us saying, We've been trying to reach Kelsie and we can't reach her, Saxton said. Strangely enough, around the same time, the family of another missing woman 1,200 miles away in Portsmouth, Ohio, had been receiving similar messages. PUEBLO The Pueblo murder trial of Donthe Lucas, who is accused of murdering his pregnant ex-girlfriend 21-year-old Kelsie Schelling in 2013, continued Wednesday following testimony from. Schelling's body has never been found. The defense argued it was a missing persons case. I never want to give up on trying to bring her home. she said. No blood was found on two knives collected. Lucas appears to have asked Schelling to come down to Pueblo after she got off work the evening of Feb. 3, and expresses disappointment she will not drive down. PUEBLO, Colo. CBI Investigator Kevin Torres remembers it like yesterday. Tate said Schellings medical records did not indicate she was at any risk of a miscarriage. Its hard to explain, Torres said, Its definitely a person, emotional bond. Dateline's new documentary series "The Last Day" premiered this week with an episode about the killing of 20-year-old Iowan Mollie Tibbetts. In the following days, her parents and friends said Schellings texts continued to contain uncharacteristic punctuation and curt responses. Lucas had pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. A jury. At 11:29 a.m. on Feb. 5, Torres said Lucas texted his mother, Going to make sure she didnt leave anything in the house. (Schelling's family denies claims that she ever engaged in the use of illegal substances, per ABC News). Initially, their relationship seemed idyllic. Torres said in the surveillance video showing the cash withdrawal, Schelling cannot be seen in the vehicle. He admitted to those text messages, Pueblo Assistant District Attorney Kyle McCarthy said. I didn't want to get in any deeper than I had already gotten into.. Schelling's family has set up a website called HelpFindKelsie.com and are reportedly offering a $10,000 reward for any information that leads to an arrest. Pueblo Police Capt. Weeks passed until police learned they needed to move quickly to catch Lucas. Saxton never met with Marcus at the McDonalds after Vancouver Police backed out of their involvement, believing it to be a scam. Feb. 4, 2013, was the last time Schelling was seen. the Alert is a 2023 documentary on Peacock. You couldn't see what kind of vehicle, you couldn't tell who was in the car, Pueblo police Capt. The Version table provides details related to the release that this issue/RFE will be addressed. Stop acting like you cant do it. Leave me alone, Lucas said. I was holding onto my dads hand. During the holiday season in 2012, Schelling surprised her family with news that she was pregnant. / CBS Colorado. ). Saxton said she told Lucas that she didn't care if they were together or apart, but she told him "there is a child involved now." Deputy District Attorney Kyle McCarthy then skipped ahead to the communications exchanged the following day and asked Torres to read from texts that allegedly were exchanged between Donthe Lucas and his mother, Sara Lucas. 21-year-old Kelsie Schelling was two months pregnant when she drove from Denver to Pueblo to see her former boyfriend Donthe Lucas. Binet asked Lucas if he had any idea where Schelling might be, to which Lucas replied: Honestly, Im not too sure. She wanted to see what I was going to do if I was going to leave her, try to help her, a whole bunch of crazy stuff., He said Schelling visited him around 2 a.m.Feb. 5, after shed driven to Pueblo and met him near his grandmothers house. Shortly before noon, other texts are exchanged between Lucas and Schellings phones, which the prosecution alleges were not actually sent by Schelling. Prosecutors said he also admitted to that in 2017. Kelsie Schelling was over the moon. If the offender is used to having the victim take care of them and be focused on them and dancing around to be sure the offender is doing OK, if now, suddenly, thats not happening, that can lead to an escalation, Walker said. The Pap smear was abnormal, Tatesaid, seemed to show that Schelling might be at risk for cervical cancer and could possibly have had human papillomavirus (HPV), warranting a follow up evaluation. At this point, News5's Colette Bordelon said the prosecution admitted a picture taken of the dash of the car through Saxton. MORE: Lucas trial day 2: Friends of Kelsie Schelling speak to a toxic and abusive relationship. She was happy. Schelling left work shortly after 8:40 p.m. and drove two hours to see Lucas in Pueblo. Former FBI agent and cellular software expert Scott Eicher testified Friday that cell phone records showed Schellings movements that night -- her phone, Eicher said, left the area of her employment in Denver, traveled south on Interstate 25 and eventually arrived in Pueblo. NR | 03.26.21 | 01:20:44 | CC more episodes 42:55 Lucas said hed informed Schelling during their visit that he did not want to be in a relationship with her. More women ice fishing? The UN and the Colonial World: International Trusteeship and Non-Self-Governing Territories; 2. At 11:14 p.m., he changes plans and tells Schelling to meet him, where you usually do, seemingly referring to an intersection near his grandmothers home where Schelling had picked him up on previous occasions. I ethically believe that Donthe Lucas killed Kelsie Schelling, and I think we have the evidence to prove it.. In December 2019, the judge postponed the trial until May 2020, as a new lawyer joined the defense team. Schelling, 21, went missing in 2013 after driving from Denver to Pueblo to see Lucas. From the. But at 11:10 p.m., Lucas had still not arrived at Walmart. I wont tell you about my appointment. Please keep your comments respectful and relevant. In this week's True Crime Daily Podcast: An update to the Colorado cold case murder of missing pregnant woman Kelsie Schelling (1:50). She drove to Pueblo that night to meet him, explaining that he had told her to come. Ryan Rivera said that Lucas once told him while they were about to play a game of cards that investigators would never find Schelling's body. You ready for a smoke and a pancake?, Hell yeah. I plan to make things work. Chieftain reporter Zach Hillstrom can be reached at zhillstrom@chieftain.com or on Twitter @ZachHillstrom, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. The first search warrant was executed at the suspects home on Feb. 14a period of 11 days, or 264 hours. Terms of Use | Saxton said she remembered asking investigators if these items were in the vehicle when it was recovered and she was told they were not. Nevertheless, after just three hours of deliberation, on March 8, 2021, a 12-member jury found him guilty of first-degree murder, and the judge sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole. It's a sad situation that didn't have to end up like this if he had just let her come home.. In this week's True Crime Daily Podcast: An update to the Colorado cold case murder of missing pregnant woman Kelsie Schelling (1:50). The jury convicted Lucas after approximately four hours of deliberation. Schellings family offered $50,000 for information about her disappearance and set up a Facebook page called Help Find Kelsie.. wordlist = ['!', '$.027', '$.03', '$.054/mbf', '$.07', '$.07/cwt', '$.076', '$.09', '$.10-a-minute', '$.105', '$.12', '$.30', '$.30/mbf', '$.50', '$.65', '$.75', '$. Love you, Sara Lucas said. But I guess the relief I had knowing that it was a quick verdict, was that even if it didn't come out in our favor, this question has been decided for the community. Her body has never been found. The defense also had Walker confirm that she could not tell the jury whether the trends she discussed were present in Lucas and Schellings relationship and could not say if any specific acts of domestic violence took place between them. Rivera said that Lucas once told him while they were about to play a game of cards that investigators would never find Schelling's body. Saxton rallied the Pueblo community and led her own searches for her missing daughter around the city. Late in the afternoon on March 8, a Pueblo County jury issued a guilty verdict in the trial of Donthe Lucas, who'd been charged with killing his pregnant girlfriend, Denver's Kelsie . Her beloved daughter disappeared less than two weeks before her 22nd birthday on February 4, 2013. We received the information from the Pueblo landfill that there was some video evidence of a vehicle being there. Obviously it's an important piece of evidence that he moved the car because it shows he's covering up the crime. Colorado Bureau of Investigation's Forensic Scientist Collin Knaub takes the stand next and has worked for CBI since 2010. At that point I was kind of done, Suhr said. He comes off so lost and hurt. Her family also received a message from someone who claimed to know where Lancaster was. She also said Schellings medical paperwork indicated that she self-reported discontinuing her birth control in October 2012. Her mother, Laura Saxton, also knew about their tumultuous alliance. One minute, he had no involvement. The court then heard from Denver Police Department officer Chad Sinnema, who gathered the initial information for the missing persons report filed by Schellings family Feb. 9. Former FBI agent and ABC News contributor Brad Garrett said Marcus story aligns with how many other scams work. Suhr messaged Lucas on Facebook saying she was new to the Pueblo area and that she was looking to meet new people. The co-worker received a text message, supposedly from Schelling, saying she wasnt having the baby anymore because it was growing in the wrong place.. [He said] that [she] was his best friend and he had nothing to do with it, and then he would just shut down and start crying hysterically and get upset, Suhr said. The argument between Schelling and Lucas, according to the exchanged texts as recounted by Torres, continued into the early morning hours of Feb. 4. Michelle Chostner, the lead prosecutor in Schellings case, confirmed that investigators interviewed Martinez but could not comment on anything that wasnt admitted in trial. Resolved: Release in which this issue/RFE has been resolved. During the hearings, while the defense called upon no witnesses, the prosecutors invited Kelsies friends, family members, investigators, along with other experts to take the stands and highlight how Donthe could have slain Kelsie. Lucas said Schelling told him before she came to Pueblo that she was pregnant and had gone to a doctor for an ultrasound. In late 2017, there was another huge development. We didn't have any of that.. Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Community Guidelines | KRDO Jobs | FCC Applications |, KRDO FCC Public File | KRDO FCC Applications, Breaking News They instructed Saxton to bring the money to a specific McDonalds restaurant in Vancouver, Washington, and to hand deliver it to a person named Marcus who would be wearing a red hat. Then in October 2015, Saxton had a new possible lead. Schelling tells him she has responsibilities and cant just skip work. Her friend was also in communication with Schelling's mom, Laura Saxton. Even thinking about it now that we have the guilty verdict, [there is] just so much still to do to find Kelsie and bring her back to the family.. Though Lucas denied his involvement in anything to do with Schelling in what eventually became a criminal case, things took a turn in 2017 after local authorities brought him in for questioning, per The Pueblo Chieftain. S43 E19 Finding Kelsie A young woman goes missing. Feb. 4, 2013, was the last time Schelling was seen. She had just seen her unborn child on an ultrasound, and she sent that photo to her on-again/off-again boyfriend.
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