“A cop is not supposed to take evidence home. That’s not right,” Ratzlaff said to Beicker.
January 14, 2017
Fremont County Sheriff Jim Beicker said the FCSO is cooperating completely with the Colorado Bureau of Investigations in regards to evidence from a 2006 homicide that was found in a storage unit that once belonged to a detective.
A bloody rope, an ax and boxes of paperwork were among the items of evidence found in the storage unit that belonged to FCSO Lt. Det. Robert Dodd.
The evidence was discovered by Rick Ratzlaff of Cañon City after he purchased the storage unit in an auction in December.
Ratzlaff contacted the Cañon City Daily Record about the items he found and how he knew it belonged to an officer.
After some self-investigating, Ratzlaff said he learned the contents were surrounding the 2006 murder of Candace Hiltz.
Hiltz, who was 17 years old at the time of her murder, was found dead Aug. 15, 2006, in a family home in the Copper Gulch area. According to Daily Record articles at the time of the murder, Hiltz suffered multiple gunshot wounds.
James Hiltz, Candace’s brother, was a person of interest in the murder but never was charged.
After several mental health evaluations and court proceedings in 2008, Hiltz was found not guilty by reason of insanity in connection with the burglary charges and committed to the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo.
Ratzlaff said he learned the contents of the shed belonged to Det. Dodd.
He then said he told someone in local law enforcement about the shed and was contacted by Dodd, as well as Beicker.
“I was told to not tell anyone about the shed,” Ratzlaff said, adding that the whole situation seemed really off.
“Why would they have all of this old murder evidence?,” he said.
According to an article in the Pueblo Chieftain, a recording features a conversation between Beicker, Ratzlaff, FCSO Commander Jeff Worley and Ratzlaff’s wife, Arin Reed.
“This is odd, this is really, really odd. It’s a mess, it’s a frickin’ mess,” Beicker is heard saying in the recording.
“A cop is not supposed to take evidence home. That’s not right,” Ratzlaff said to Beicker.
“You are not even a cop, and you know that,” Beicker responded.
Beicker also is heard saying he will have to contact someone with the CBI to look into it, something Ratzlaff already had done himself.
The Daily Record contacted Susan Medina, the public information officer for CBI, on Jan. 5 and was told it would be investigated but never was given a confirmation if CBI was involved in the case.
Beicker said he wasn’t aware he was being recorded but did say officers should not take evidence home.
“What I do want people to know is that all of our officers are cooperating with CBI and that CBI was contacted immediately once I became fully aware what we were dealing with,” Beicker said.
In a statement from CBI provided by FCSO on Saturday afternoon, it states CBI was requested by the FCSO to investigate an incident involving apparent evidence discovered at an off-site facility in December 2016.
“Because this is an active investigation, the CBI will not offer comment on the work being conducted by agents from the Bureau’s Pueblo Regional Office,” the statement said.
Beicker did say that as the investigation continues, the FCSO and CBI will release information when they are able to.
District Attorney Molly Chilson said the DA’s office wasn’t aware of this situation until the Chieftain had reached out to assistant DA Thom LeDoux.
“No, we had no knowledge of this,” Chilson said, adding the DA’s office could be involved in the situation, but it would be inappropriate to say what or how at this point.
According to the Chieftain’s article, Hiltz last appeared in Fremont County District Court on April 8, 2015, at which time LeDoux objected to the removal of Hiltz from the Colorado Mental Health Institute.
