OCTOBER 25, 2018
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Citizen group aims to guide growth Residents hope to engage commissioners in helping shape future of county BY TABATHA STEWART SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
abuse and mental illness. Pesch’s arrest was seemingly a high point in the years-old mystery that had frustrated Wilson’s loved ones, who had waited in vain for answers after the beloved father and educator was found dead at a rural Elbert County crossroads in 2010.
Elbert County resident Carla Hagood moved to the county for many of the same reasons many residents do — the country feel and rural spaces. She, along with many others in the county, have been concerned about the approval of large housing developments and an Economic Development Zone that they believe would lead to uncontrolled growth in the county, and the lack of communication between citizens and county commissioners. Hagood, who has always been active in whichever community she lives in, was disappointed when she began exploring ways to get citizens to become involved in decisions regarding the county. “People get upset about a decision that was made, then they rant, rave, and maybe have a protest,” said Hagood. “But I want to change the culture a bit and have more civil communications and collaboration between citizens and county leaders.”
SEE PROBE, P6
SEE GROWTH, P11
Daniel Pesch pleaded not guilty Oct. 15 to murdering Randy Wilson, after confessing to the death many times in 2017. The investigation into Wilson’s death has been troubled from the start, according to testimony and those close to the case. COURTESY OF KDVR
Teacher death probe beset by obstacles Troubled investigation comes to light in court, accounts from those touched by case BY DAVID GILBERT DGILBERT@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
With questions mounting about the murder charge against Daniel Pesch in the 2010 death of Kiowa High School teacher Randy Wilson, a look at the history of the case reveals an investigation that has encountered numerous problems. Pesch, 35, pleaded not guilty to
Wilson’s murder in Elbert County District Court on Oct. 15. That arraignment came nearly 10 months since the day in December 2017 when Elbert County Sheriff Shayne Heap arrested Pesch. The arrest followed months of increasingly frantic confessions from Pesch in the second half of 2017 — murder confessions that he now says were the product of drug
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Simla was established as a stop along the Rock Island Rail line in the 1890s, and was incorporated in 1912.
VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 24 |
ElbertCountyNews.net
Source: Town of Simla CALENDAR: PAGE 2 VOLUME 123 | ISSUE 39