Monte Vista, CO – In the early morning hours of February 13, 2012, a small town in Colorado was shaken by a grisly double homicide that left John Salazar, 54, and Sarah Beasley, 29, dead. Police were alerted by a 911 call at 4 a.m., made by a neighbor who had been approached by Beasley’s three young sons, claiming their mother had been shot.
Upon arrival, officers discovered Salazar’s body in the driveway and Beasley’s inside the home, both victims of fatal shootings. The scene was marked by a chilling message spray-painted in red, stating, “my drugs r not free,” hinting at a possible motive clouded in deception.
Jack Roth, the lead prosecutor for the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, described the incident as “unheard of” in Monte Vista, a sentiment echoed by former police chief, Rick Needham, who called the killer “very cold and calculating.”
Beasley, a widowed mother of three, and Salazar, a custodian and school crossing guard, had formed a close relationship since 2010. According to Beasley’s brother, Adam Combos, and Salazar’s son, Johnny, the couple shared a loving bond, with Salazar treating Beasley’s children as his own.
The initial shock of the crime led police to consider various motives, focusing on the cryptic message at the scene. With no drugs found at the residence or in Salazar and Beasley’s possession, authorities speculated that the message might have been intended to misdirect the investigation.
Sarah Beasley had endured a complex romantic history, particularly after the death of her first husband, Kenny Beasley, in a boating accident in 2007. She later began a relationship with Daniel Bessey, a local truck driver, with whom she had her youngest son, Edward. Despite their split, Bessey portrayed their separation as amicable, having agreed to pay child support. However, tensions later emerged, particularly concerning custody and parental rights over Edward, revealing a less harmonious relationship.
The investigation into Bessey deepened after inconsistencies arose between his account and evidence gathered by detectives. Bessey had claimed to be 200 miles away in Montrose the night before the murders, but his presence in the area could not be definitively confirmed. A further clue came from a flashlight and .22-caliber shell casings found at the crime scene, similar to what might have been left behind during a recent visit Bessey admitted to, where he claimed to work on Beasley’s car.
Months of meticulous police work followed, including analysis of Bessey’s cell phone records which eventually placed him near the crime scene the morning after the murders, contradicting his alibi. His house yielded more evidence, including handwritten notes that mirrored what he had told investigators and an empty gun case for a .22-caliber Ruger handgun, known to have been sold to him years earlier.
In December 2014, after exhaustive efforts that included matching shell casings from the murder scene to those found in a remote meadow known to be used by Bessey for target practice, Bessey was charged and subsequently found guilty of two counts of murder, alongside various charges related to endangerment of Beasley’s children.
The tragic story culminated in Bessey receiving two consecutive life sentences, as Beasley’s boys, including Edward, moved in with relatives from her first husband’s family, trying to find some semblance of normalcy after the devastating loss of their mother and her partner. The case, steeped in elements of jealousy, custodial disputes, and staged criminal elements, leaves a lasting imprint on the small community of Monte Vista.