A town board member from Pierce told Weld County sheriff’s deputies he killed a lady soon after a hit was approved by his biker gang leader more than an argument about drugs.
He and four other people are being held in Weld County Jail with out bond while they await additional hearings. A sixth particular person has been positioned out of state and can be brought to Weld County.
All were arrested Oct. 29 and 5 happen to be charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder plus a violent crime causing death: Daniel “DJ” Meyer, 36, of Pierce; Chad Iler, 18, of Fort Collins; Mike Vassil, 23, of Fort Collins; Scott Hanchett, 21, and Karly Hanchett, 18. Crystal Griffin, 37, has been charged with accessory for the crime. All but Scott Hanchett, who has an active warrant for his arrest, appeared by way of video in Weld District Court on Wednesday morning. Their situations all have been continued.
Police had been tipped off to her disappearance by her mother, who stated she believed her daughter was murdered following she failed to show to get a doctor’s appointment Sept. 30.
Her mother told sheriff deputies her daughter explained that “every night a number of young males come more than to acquire high and are in possession of clubs, knives and 1 individual had a gun,” the affidavit stated. “The individuals would then go out inside a car to find somebody to beat up.”
According to Weld County records, the house in Pierce is owned by Meyer, an active board member for the town of Pierce, and in accordance with the affidavit, “the enforcer” inside a biker gang in which members contact themselves the “21 Crew,” also known as the “Unforgivens.” The gang just isn't a recognized gang in Weld County, reports Mike Prill, a gang specialist with all the Greeley Police Department. But, that doesn’t mean the group didn’t operate as a gang, he said.
The evening ahead of she disappeared, Lewandowski texted her mother: “stay by your telephone, anything could take place tonight,” the affidavit stated.
Lewandowski apparently created the error of taking umbrage at among the roommates stealing her prescription discomfort drugs. Griffin stated Lewandowski also had an argument with Karly Hanchett that also may have sparked her “hit,” according to the affidavit. Once the purported gang leader, Vassil’s father, approved the hit, the suspects in the case killed her, then dumped her body in Wyoming, based on the affidavit.
Griffin told deputies Meyer was stealing Lewandowski’s medicines, and he had been speaking about killing her for days, but she didn’t feel he was significant, the affidavit mentioned.
Griffin told deputies Meyer, Vassil, Iler, Karly and Scott Hanchett, all members of your gang, trudged collectively upstairs on the Meyer dwelling around midnight, Sept. 29, and confronted Lewandowski. Griffin mentioned all she heard was Lewandowski say, “Why?” and Meyer respond, “Because you are a (expletive).”
The affidavit stated all had their assigned duties after they confronted Lewandowski in her second-floor bedroom. Two had been supposed to hit her, and 1 was supposed to stab her. Meyer, in accordance with the affidavit, admitted to stabbing her within the chest when.
Her physique was taken downstairs, and sooner or later wrapped within a blanket and put inside the back of a pickup, the affidavit stated. Griffin mentioned she was instructed to drive, but could not lead authorities for the whereabouts of Lewandowski’s body. She stated the physique was wrapped inside a carpet, but the carpet was left open so wildlife could get to it.
Meyer told authorities her body was taken one hundred miles into Wyoming, and dropped about 50 feet off the road. After many searches, by air and on land, her body nonetheless has not been recovered.
The group apparently took Lewandowski’s belongings towards the Hanchetts’ dwelling in Nunn, and burned them. Authorities identified quite a few items in ashes beneath a pile of dirt, the affidavit stated, that were consistent with Lewandowski’s house, like her Ipad.
Immediately after the belongings have been burned, a single member wrapped up the knife and disposed of it in Scottsbluff, Neb., by dumping it into a McDonald’s dumpster, the affidavit stated.
Some members on the group also took her dog quite a few miles in to the Pawnee Grasslands and left it there. The dog was later identified and identified as Lewandowski’s.
Griffin told authorities she and Karly Hanchett cleaned up the home, where authorities later found bottles of hydrogen peroxide with spray nozzles attached. Investigators sprayed Luminol all through the house, which detects the presence of blood through a chemical reaction. Hydrogen peroxide, on the other hand, can break down the properties in blood to render it undetectable by Luminol, the affidavit stated. Regardless, traces of blood had been identified throughout the house, the affidavit stated.
Meyer is listed as a trustee on the Pierce Town Board. A town official did not return a get in touch with Wednesday afternoon seeking comment.
