AFFIDAVIT OF PROBABLE CAUSE FOR ARREST WARRANT

DISTRICT COURT, LINCOLN COUNTY, COLORADO AFF IDAVIT OF PRO BABLE CAUSE FOR ARREST WAREANT

FTm 5: 35

I Michael L Yowell the Affiant herein, being of lawful ae and having been first duly sworn upon oath, depose and state that I am a peace otficer wiih the Lincoln County Sheriffs Office, and that I have probable cause to believe that: Janies Smith DOB: 04-20-1994 Height: 5ll Weight: 175 Hair: Brown Eyes: Blue 113 Colorado SID# NONE FBI# NONE Colorado OLN# I
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Did commit the crime of: 18-3-102 (l)(a) 18-3-102 (1)(a)

Murder in the First Degree (Class I Felony) Murder in the First Degree (Class 1 Felony)

On March 30, 2011 at approxim.telv 0742 hours, Lincoln County mp advised Communications received a 911 from Lincoln County Communications of a rollovei ash witn a party trapped inside, on County Road 2W at approximate intersection with County Road 26. Lincoln County Communications then toned Hugo Volunteer Fire, Ambulance, and Rescue to the area. While medical and rescue personnel were being alerted, Colorado State Patrol Trooper Theodore Bandy also copied the call and began his response from the Town of Hugo. At approximately 0752 hours, Trooper Bandy arrived at the scene of a single vehicle rollover. The vehicle was facing south in the north ditch of Lincoln County Road 2W. The vehicle appeared to be a maroon colored Ford pickup with a chrome grille guard. The vehicle was sitting on the passenger side and had heavy damage. Trooper Bandy began attempting to extricate the male party. In attempting to extricate the male party Trooper Bandy noticed a large stack of U.S. Currency iii different denominations wedged between the shattered windshield and the damaged dashboard of the vehicle. Trooper Bandy took possession of the U.S. Currency and locked in a secure location while being observed by Colorado State Troopers Glen Brown and Shawn Bennett. The U.S. Currency was locked in a closed container in Trooper Bandys vehicle and the key to the locked container was given to Colorado State Patrol Investigator Steve Jefferies.
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At approximately 0753 hours, Hugo emergency medical personnel arrived on scene and began extricating the male party from the vehicle. The male party was later identified to Trooper Bandy as being Smith, Gregory James (DOB: 04-20-1994). Trooper Bandy identified the male party by verbal conversation, as Trooper Bandy could not retrieve Mr. Smiths wallet. Trooper Bandy then asked the male party where he had gotten the large amount of money fl-orn Mr. Smith advised Trooper Bandy that he had

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gotten the money from his grandparents house before they lefi for Blackhawk, Colorado. Trooper Bandy also noticed a large amount of coin currency strewn across the scene to include in the cab and bed of the pickup. There were what appeared to be antique coins strewn from the initial roIl of the vehicle to the area of final rest. Trooper Bandy estimated that there was approximately $600 in coin currency collected at the scene. Trooper Bandy then asked who his grandparents were, Mr. Smith advised, Chuck and Laura Clagett. Mr. Smith was eventually transported by ambulance to Lincoln Community Hospital with moderate injuries. Colorado State Trooper Bandy continued his investigation and wanted to confirm that Chuck and Laura Clagett were in fact in Blackhawk. Colorado and that Mr. Smith who was living with them had permission to have S 12,000 that he admitted he had received from their residence at 42867 County Road 29, Unincorporated Lincoln County, Colorado.

At approximately 0837 hours, I responded to the address of42867 County Road 29, Unincorporated Lincoln County, Colorado to confirm that Mr. Smith had not burgiarixed the Chuck and Laura Clagett residence and retrieved the large amount of U. S. Currency. I checked both exterior doors and found that the screen doors at both exterior doors were locked and secure. There were no signs of forced entry to either door. I departed the residence having had no communication with Chuck or Laura Clagett. It was the believe of the Lincoln County Sheriffs Office and Colorado State Patrol that Chuck and Laura Clagett were in Blackhawk, Colorado, as Mr. Smith had advised.
Once at Lincoln Community Hospital, Mr. Smith was airlifted by medical helicopter to Swedish Hospital in Englewood, Colorado. Mr. Smith was transported due to the seriousness of his injuries. At approximately 1115 hours, Hugo Marshal Jesse Schier was contacted by the Hugo Marshals Office Secretary Maria Nestor, and she advised that David Finley, the Principal for the Genoa-Hugo School District had called the Hugo Marshals Office and wanted to speak to an officer. At approximately 1129 hours, Marshal Schier contacted nlev advised Marshal Schier that a student Mr. FinL 41 contacted him at approximately 1100 hours, regaruuLg Mr. Simm s accide 1 s advised Mr. Finley that Mr. Smith had shown her some pictures of Chuck and Laura Clagett. s ftirther advised that the nictures it41 both grandparents. bloody, dead in bed. Mr. Finley questioned s about the pictures being manufactured, bu ks insisted that the pictures appeared real. Mr. Finley advised that Mr. Smith had been acting very nervous all week and showed signs of anger at times. Mr. Finley was advised by Kelci Ravenkamp that Mr. Smith had advised her that he had been alone all week. Mr. Finley then contacted the Hugo Marshals Office to inform them of the information he had heard.
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At approximately 11 39 hours, Marshal Schier responded to the Lincoln County Sheriffs Office and spoke to Sheriff Tom Nestor about the conversation he had just had with Principal David Finley. Sheriff Nestor then contacted Trooper Bandy and informed him of the new information that was received from the Genoa-Hugo School District.

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AFFIDAVIT OF PROBABLE CAUSE FOR ARREST WARRANT

Sheriff Nestor then contacted me via cell phone and advised me to respond to the .ics regarding the Genoa-Hugo School and start an interview with information she shared with Principal Finley. I arriven at ri. ienoa-Hugo School at Zs because she was on approximately 1203 hours. I was unable to locate her off campus eligible lunch hour. I en departeh the Genoa-Hugo School and began :s. At approximately 1216 hours, I located searching the area for s at the Loaf N Jug convenience store. I contacted her and asked her if sue would oe willing to speak to me, she agreed. At approximately 1221 hours, uid at the Genoa-Hugo School and went to Principal Finleys ks cs about the conversation that she had with Principal Office. I asked Finley and askcu tier to complete a written statement. She related to me the following information that was captured on audio recording:
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Greg Smith anc

:r are friends and had previously dated for nearly a week.

Greg Smith had told r on Monday, March 2X 2011 after lunch that Greg had brought his great grandparents van to school; L asked Greg, Where is your grandma and grandpa? Greg stated, They are sleeping. Greg showed a approximately $1200 and told her that he had an additional $200 in his wallet. Greg told a that he went to the Post Office to get mail and went to go take it to m grandparents, and as he walked into their bedroom he saw his great-grandma lying in bed with her eyes popped out of her eye sockets and her face was bloody. He also tolc .a that his great-grandpa was lying in the bed facing to the right with a u1et hole in the back of his head. Greg told that he would take pictures of the bodies to that she would believe him.

advised that Greg tried to call her house on the evening of Monday, March 28, 2011. On Tiirlay, March 29, 2011 just before class at 0800 hours; Greg approached a and told her that he had called her house to talk to her but s Mother advised Greg th vas grounded and could not talk on the phone. In the same conversatiofl, Greg told her that he had something to show her. Greg then re-approached her with a camouflaged bag and produced a silver colored digital camer then showed a photograph of Laura Clagetts dead body recalled that his great-. grandmas eye was protruding from her eye socket and that she was bloody near her mouth area and it looked like her face had been smashed in. Greg then directed to another photo-aph that depicted Charles Clagetts dead body. p recalled that his great-grandpa anneared to have a hole in the back of his head and blood that was coming out. Ptold Greg that he needed to contact the Police and Greg told her, No! Greg told hat he could not call the Police because he had touched all of the guns in the house,
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he had taken his great-grandpas van and only had 1 learners permit to drive, told Greg that it didnt and because of all the money he had on him. matter, he needed to call the cops, and he refused obause Greg said that he couldnt call the cops because the cops would look at him as the murderer. sked Greg if he knew of anyone that would want to hurt his great graiiarents; he said that he did not.
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dvised me that she helieve lives. his Mom

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Llin the area where

Greg told never got After

that his greai-grandparents were sleeping and that they

Up.

$4iad been shown the graphic photos, Greg put the camera away, could only guess where he put the camera.

Greg askec.,, the lunch hour on Tuesday, March 29, 201 1, What should I do? esponded with, I dont know. That conversation was ekad with Greg. At the time of the last the last conversation thai conversation, Greg was sitting in his grandmothers blue van.

After completing this interview at approximately 1316 hours, 1 contacted Sheriff Nestor. Sheriff Nestor was briefed to the situation. Sheriff Nestor advised that he and other officer had made entry into the residence using family members consent and keys. Sheriff Nestor advised me that there were two decedents inside the residence that appeared to be lying in bed. I then responded to the Lincoln County Sheriffs Office to prepare a search warrant for the property in which Sheriff Nestor was located. After completing the search warrant affidavit and having the affidavit approved through the standard protocol of the Lincoln County Sheriffs Office, the affidavit was labeled for identification purposes by the Lincoln County Combined Courts as IISW3. This search warrant affidavit was reviewed and subsequently signed by the Honorable Judge Brinkley at 1742 hours. On Wednesday, March 30, 2011 Colorado Bureau of Investigation Agents Chris Schaefer and Tim Martinez were requested to respond to Swedish Hospital to check on the status of Gregory Smith and interview him if possible. The interviews described below were digitally recorded. Agent Schaefer provided me with the following information: Agents Schaefer and Martinez met with Investigator Gina Morelli of the I 8 Judicial District while at Swedch Hosoital. While waiting to check on the status of Gregory Smith, Smiths mothe, requested to speak to the Agents. The Agents interviewed who stated that she was the legal guardian of Gregory Smith and that he lived with his great grandparents Charles and Laura Clagett in Hugo, Colorado. Rose further told the Agents that she was called by Smiths school

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(Genoa-Hugo School District) earlier in the day and told that he was in a car accident. Rose responded to Hugo, and while en route, received another call saying that Smith was is asked by the Agents if she being transported to Swedish Hospital in Denvet. had talked to her grandparents (Gregory Smiths great grandparents) and she stated she had not been able to get a. hold of them. The Agents told me that it was obvious se did not know that two bodies had been found at her grandparents residence. tier pare The Agents informe vho were also present at the hospital) tht two bodies had been found at the residence in Hugo. The 4eft the room. A short time later, Investigator Morelli family cried, an in a nearby hallway. Agent Martinez was present during portions of this spoke with conversation, specifically, when investigator Morelli tok e that investigators would like to speak with her son (Greg Smith). Investigator 1virelli also ie that she needed her permission to do this ;ated that this would be fine and asKed if she in the room duriab the interview, needed to he was told that this decision was up to her. told Investigator Morelli and Agent Martinez that she did riot want to be in the room and felt that Gregory would be more truthftil if she were not present.

Agents Schaefer and Martinez went into room 3-141 and met with Gregory The Agents digitally recorded all of the statements made by Smith. The Agents Smith. told Smith that they would like to speak to him and informed him that his mother stated that it was airight to talk to him. Smith stated that he would talk to the Agents. Smith stated that he had been involved in an accident earlier in the day. He also advised that he had not seen his great grandparents since Monday morning, March 28, 2011 Smith related that he last saw his great grandparents before he went to school on this day and that he saw them in their bed. Smith stated that he noticed that the sheets over his great grandparents were moving indicating that they were still breathing. According to Smith he went to school and when he returned home Monday afternoon his great grandparents were not home. Smith stated that he thought his great grandparents were gallivanting around and that they had left him to fend for himself Agents Schaefer and Martinez told me that Smith was alert, conversational and was able to adequately answer questions. At one nojnt in the interview aoraurna doctor came into the room and checked on t Agents Schaefer and Martinez left the room at this point. After the assessment, Dr. Brad Phillips informed Investigator Moreili that law enforcement was clear to talk to Smith. Dr. Phillips stated that in his opinion, Smith was coherent ncl crnd tn nnclerstajjd what was going on, with the understanding that Smith was c
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The Agents again reentered room 3-141 and again asked Smith if they could talk to him. Smith told the Agents that he would speak to them and the interview continued. Agent Schaefer also advised me that he noticed that Smiths mother had walked into the room and. was present for a portion of the interview. Agent Schaefer asked Smith what happened to his great grandparents. Agent Schaefer informed me that Smith was matter

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of fact when describing what happened to his great graidparents. Specifically Agent Schaefer did not ask many questions of Smith, yet Smith told the story without prompting in chronological order. Smith related the following information to Agents Schaefer and Martinez. He said, 1 got a hinkling feeling on Sunday night. Agent Schaefer asked what happened to his great grandparents and Smith stated, They had gotten shot. o Agent Schaefer asked why and Smith stated, Cause Im gonna pull it off and Im gonna go down and shoot my great grandparents. o Smith said he shot his great grandparents, Kinda just for the hell of it and to see if I could get away with it. o Smith stated that he shot his great grandparents on Sunday evening (March 27, 2011). o Smith stated that he was upstairs in the residence and that he was restless and could not sleep. He said that he started thinking of the quarrels that his great grandparents had and all the bickering, all the fighting. Smith said that his great grandpa was attempting to have Alzheimers arid his great grandmother did not know exactly what to do. o Smith stated 01K well, easiest way is to take them two out of the picture. No more stressed life on me, no more stressed life for them, Id be perfectly fine. o Smith said he started thinking, Theres a .22 hunting rifle downstairs in dogs room, theres another one in the basement on deer hoots. There is the one behind the door between the kitchen and the utility room and went to the utility room and pulled one dut. Smith continued, put a round in the chamber-didnt woric, it was jammed, so I sat there. There was a long rifle bullet, tried to get it out, wasnt coming out. Smith said he then went to the gun behind the door and was going to put a round in the chamber. He said that the gun was a pump and that he was going to push the pump back up and that one got jammed too. I got that one out. I was gonna load another one. I started thinking, is this one even gonna shoot? Smith described this gun as being old and an antique. He said he hadnt seen it used and that one wont work either. Smith continued, So I started thinking, Ill grab my grandpas .410 he got for Christmas. Its out behind the curtain, south window, easier access, all carpet, wouldnt squeak as much. o Smith said that lie then shut a door to make sure the dog wouldnt get out. He further stated, I was planning my walks by the furnace so I wouldnt get heard from my great grandparents. and the furnace shut off, I was in the middle ofthe kitchen entering the dining room, so I waited for twenty minutes for the furnace to kick on again, again, then I went to the dining room table and there is a nightlight they put on or up. (referring to Smiths great grandparents using a light to detect if Smith was trying to sneak out of the house, as he has done in the past).
o

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Smith stated that he got smart, I thought and put gloves on. He said he made his way to the .410 shotgun which he knew was already loaded. Smith advised that he entered his great grandparents room with the .410 shotgun and shot in the general direction where he figured his great grandmothers head would be. From there Smith shot in the area of where his great grandfathers head would be. o Smith said that he collected the two shotgun casings and put them in the trash. He advised that his great grandmother had told him about money that she had and Smith found over $12,000 in a safe in the residence. o Smith said he packed clothes, a sleeping bag, a map of Afghanistan and took the money from the safe. o Smith said that at one point he also thought to turn off the thrnace due to utility bills. Smith stated that he went to the basement and flipped the breakers to turn off the electricity to the house. He hirther advised that he returned to the fuse box at one point when he realized the breaker for the garage door was off. Smith said he needed to open up the garage to get the pickup truck out and he needed power for the garage door. o According to Smith he put a large amount of dog food in a bucket so his puppy would have something to eat. He also said that he made sure that the residence was locked. Earlier in the interview Smith advised that on Monday he had told at tat he had found his great grandparents dead in their bedroom. Smith said that did not believe him so he returned to the residence on Monday, took a dtgital camera that was inside of the house, and took pictures of his great grandparents who were deceased, and in their bedroom. Smith said he showed these pictures n Tuesday but did not tell her that he had shot his great grandparents. Smith also told CBI Agents that he had hit a mile marker sign with his van on Highway 71 and that this caused damage to the vehicle. Smith said this happened sometime after he shot his great grandparents and that he had fallen asleep at the wheel. Smith described the damage as being on the front of the van, on the license plate and to the windshield.
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A little later, Investigator Morelli spoke to Agent Martinez outside of the hospital Investigator Morelli told Agent Martinez that her office (1 0 Judicial District room. Attorneys Office) had requested that Smith be read his Miranda rights along with his mother. Agent Schaefer was given an advisement form by Investigator Morelli and read this to both Smith and his mother while they were together in Smiths hospital room. Smith and his mother both signed the form stating that they understood Smiths rights. Agent Schaefer continued with the form and Smith stated that he wanted a lawyer. Agents Schaefer and Martinez advised me that they terminated the interview at this time. Anent Schaefer told me that Agent Martinez and Investigator Morelli interviewed a after her son declined to speak further, without an attorney. During this 1d Agent Martinez and Investigator Morelli that when she was interview. inside of her sons hospital room, listening to the interview, she had to leave the room.

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She did so when she heard her son say that he shot his great grandparents while they were asleep in their bed. Agents Schaefer and Martinez attended the autopsies of Charles and Laura Clagett on March 31, 2011. Both of the autopsies were performed by Dr. Mike Burson. Preliminary autopsy fmdings on Charles Clagett showed the cause of death to be a penetrating shotgun wound to the head (contact wound). Laura Clagetts preliminary autopsy findings showed the cause of death to be a penetrating shotgun wound to the head. Dr. Burson further advised that he would classify the manner of both deaths as homicide.

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AFFIDAViT OF PROBABLE CAUSE FOR ARREST WARRANT

Based on the fbregoing facts and circumstances your Afflant believes that he has probable cause to believe that the above offense(s) have been committed and respectthlly request that this Honorable Court issue an Arrest Warrant for:

go James Smith
DOB: 04-20-1994 SSi Height: 5,11 Weight: 175 Hair: Brown Eyes: Blue Colorado OLN# Colorado SID# NONE FBI# NONE

I HAVE READ the foregoing statement, and the matters stated therein are tnie to the best of my knowledge and belief

SUBSCRIBED AND.SORN TO beibre me this / day of_____ 20/

LincohAiounty..Judgel 103 Avenue Hugo, CO. 80821

On the basis of attached Defendant.

affidavit,

the court frnds probable cause for the arrest of the

Arrest warrant issued this Bond set in the amount of$

Day of

20
/

VVV

Judge

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