A man charged with murder reportedly told officers he killed three people inside his Blue River home in July, referencing the “cartel” and saying “people were after him,” but only one body was found inside, according to a probable cause affidavit and court testimony on Monday, Oct. 20.

The court on Oct. 20 held a preliminary hearing, where a judge determines if there is probable cause to go to trial. The hearing was held for two cases against Daniel J. DeVito, 46, who is facing a murcher charge related to a homicide on July 7 and charges of first-degree assault, menacing with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment, criminal mischief and domestic violence related to an alleged assault on July 3-4.

Blue River Police Chief David Close, Blue River Police Department officer Jennifer Kruse and former Summit County Sheriff’s Office deputy Alexander Scarlett testified Oct. 20, and the preliminary hearing will continue Oct. 21 at 9 a.m.

Homicide case

A previously sealed probable cause affidavit for the July 7 murder case stated law enforcement has probable cause to believe DeVito killed Jordan E. LaBarre, 32, of Breckenridge, inside his Blue River home. It describes law enforcement’s response after a neighbor called police stating DeVito asked them to call 911.

Officers heard a “volley” of two shots, two more shots, one shot, two shots and three shots after they arrived, according to the affidavit. They saw DeVito on a second-floor deck, according to the affidavit, and after going in and out of the house and “pacing around,” DeVito eventually followed their orders to exit the house. Close testified that DeVito seemed to hide behind cars from someone inside the house. DeVito slid down an embankment, appearing to “fear for his life,” according to the affidavit.

Close detained DeVito at the bottom of the embankment, and DeVito reportedly told him he had “shot until he ran out of ammunition” with a 9 mm and a .45 caliber firearm in the house, according to the affidavit. DeVito reportedly told Close he had killed three people inside the house, indicating that they were associated with the cartel, according to the affidavit. Two of the people were men in body armor, DeVito reportedly told officers, although his comments were “incoherent,” according to the affidavit. As officers transferred DeVito to an ambulance, he reportedly told them he shot “the girl … in the face with a 45,” according to the affidavit, and he also reportedly told officers “she came at me with a knife.”

Law enforcement found no weapons in the bathroom where LaBarre was found, no knife on her person or any knife in the residence that “appeared to have been involved,” making them “unable to substantiate” DeVito’s claim that LaBarre attacked him, according to the affidavit.

A Colorado Bureau of Investigations agent wrote the affidavit and stated that, based on evaluation of the crime scene, LaBarre had locked herself in the master bedroom to get away from DeVito, but he forced open the bedroom door and shot her in the corner of the bedroom’s bathroom.

Officers entered DeVito’s home July 7 to perform a protective sweep and look for people inside. The doorframe of the master bedroom was damaged, indicating it had been “forcibly opened from a locked position,” according to the affidavit.

The officers found bullet casings on the floor, including near the bathroom where LaBarre was; two guns that were “on lock back,” meaning all of their rounds had been fired; several defects in walls “believed to be a result of gunfire”; some of LaBarre’s personal items; three cell phones; a loaded gun stored behind the home’s front door; a baggie with 10.6 grams of white powder believed to be cocaine; and 20.7 grams of suspected mushrooms.

Assault case

The defense and prosecution questioned witnesses about the July 3-4 assault case as well. A probable cause affidavit for that case stated a woman reported an assault by DeVito at his Blue River home days after it occurred.

The woman claimed DeVito forced her into a bathroom and held her there against her will, threatening to “blow her head off” if she came out, according to the affidavit. The woman told police DeVito zip-tied her to a swing in his kitchen and cut her across the chest, leaving a 13-inch cut, the affidavit stated.

Close and Kruse testified Oct. 20 that a knife found on DeVito’s person when he was detained July 7 matched the description of a switchblade knife the woman told law enforcement DeVito used to cut her.

Another man was reportedly present when the woman was zip-tied to the swing, and according to Close’s testimony the woman and that man left DeVito’s house twice during the incident. Close testified that the first time they left was before DeVito cut the woman, but he said in court that he did not know if it was before he forced her into the bathroom.

Close testified that the woman said the man had an “AR-style” firearm with him when the pair first left, but he said the woman never indicated that her return to DeVito’s house was involuntary. The second time they left was after the cut, when the man dropped her off in Breckenridge to take an Uber to the hospital.

The woman reportedly told medical personnel her injury was from falling on a saw, according to the affidavit, listening to what DeVito and the other man allegedly told her to do. Close testified the woman told him that she did so because she was afraid the men would retaliate against her if she told the truth.

The woman took a bus back to DeVito’s home after she was released from the hospital July 4, according to testimony. Law enforcement found blood-stained clothing in DeVito’s home that she had reportedly worn at one point during the incident, as well as two blood-soaked towels the men had allegedly duct-taped to her chest, according to the affidavit.

Investigators also found the woman’s phone, which the affidavit stated DeVito took from her, microwaved and put in a pan of water.