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Police Seek Murder Charges in Death of Colorado Jeweler
The recommendation comes after DNA linked a burglary suspect to the November shooting death of Peter Damian Arguello.
The Wheat Ridge Police Department is recommending the district attorney charge Charles Robinson Shay in the Nov. 29 murder of Peter Damian Arguello, owner of Peter Damian Fine Jewelry & Antiques.
Wheat Ridge, Colorado—Law enforcement officials in Colorado are one step closer to filing charges in the Nov. 29 shooting death of jeweler Peter Damian Arguello.
On Thursday, the police department in the Denver suburb of Wheat Ridge announced it was recommending the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office, which covers the Colorado counties of Jefferson and Gilpin, charge Charles Robinson Shay of Aurora, Colorado, in the jeweler’s death.
The 41-year-old Shay was arrested Dec. 27 on charges related to burglarizing Arguello’s store, Peter Damian Fine Jewelry & Antiques.
According to the affidavit filed at the time of his arrest, Shay admitted during an interview with police that he had entered the closed jewelry store on Dec. 26 after prying open the door.
He said he had heard about Arguello’s murder and viewed the burglary as a “crime of opportunity” because he knew the store wasn’t occupied, but he didn’t take anything because “nothing was there.”
Shay stopped talking when police told him his DNA had been found on a pair of flex cuffs left at the scene of the murder, the affidavit states.
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On Thursday, the police department in the Denver suburb of Wheat Ridge announced it was recommending the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office, which covers the Colorado counties of Jefferson and Gilpin, charge Charles Robinson Shay of Aurora, Colorado, in the jeweler’s death.
The 41-year-old Shay was arrested Dec. 27 on charges related to burglarizing Arguello’s store, Peter Damian Fine Jewelry & Antiques.
According to the affidavit filed at the time of his arrest, Shay admitted during an interview with police that he had entered the closed jewelry store on Dec. 26 after prying open the door.
He said he had heard about Arguello’s murder and viewed the burglary as a “crime of opportunity” because he knew the store wasn’t occupied, but he didn’t take anything because “nothing was there.”
Shay stopped talking when police told him his DNA had been found on a pair of flex cuffs left at the scene of the murder, the affidavit states.
The Wheat Ridge Police Department is recommending the district attorney’s office charge Shay with first-degree murder, a class 1 felony in Colorado, as well as two counts of murder in the second degree, a class 2 felony.
“We think about the Arguello family every day, and our resolve to bring them justice drives our investigators throughout this process,” the department stated in a news release.
Police have declined to provide any additional information on the case, citing the ongoing investigation.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Wheat Ridge Police Department tip line at 303-235-2903.
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