Confusion stirs at Cherry Hills
Cherry Hills Road residents are left in confusion surrounding an
ongoing investigation into a double-murder where one neighbor and
an acquaintance allegedly shot and killed two men next door.
Suspect Mark J. Walker was a next-door neighbor of Robert Hill,
one of the victims of last Friday’s murders.
Fred Caldero, neighbors to Hill and Walker, was angry and upset
when he learned of the murders Saturday morning and said Walker
commonly showed signs of an abusive personality.
“He used to try to run over our dogs all the time,” Caldero
said. “He was real aggressive. I almost got into it with him a
couple of times.”
Little has been released in the ongoing investigation of the
double-homicide.
“They are going to start interviewing other witnesses tomorrow
so you can’t release anything that will interfere,” said Eloise
Camponella, press information officer for Larimer County Sheriff’s
Office. “When they’re in the middle of the investigation it’s
hard.”
Caldero only had positive things to say about the two
victims.
“Hill was definitely a good guy, he would help anybody out,”
Caldero said. “And Miller was a good friend of his, he used to have
garage sales at the house all the time.”
However, the man who discovered the body, whose name is not
being released for investigation reasons, didn’t think that Hill
and Walker were having any disagreements.
“Bobby (Hill) helped (Walker) out all the time, paying his bills
and things,” said the man, who was also an employee of Hill’s
auto-body shop. “Bobby would give you the shirt off his back.”
He couldn’t remember Walker ever showing any signs of hostility
toward Hill.
“I have absolutely no idea what went on here,” he said.
For CSU students, psychology department Chair Ernie Chavez said
the murders will likely have little effect on the campus.
“It’s not like when the rapist was around. If the crime had been
committed on campus, or even close to campus, it would likely have
more of an effect,” Chavez said. “And they arrested someone so
quick.”
But Chavez still believes some people are likely to be a bit
more nervous anytime something like this happens in Fort
Collins.
“Fort Collins has so few murders, period, that anytime something
like what happened Friday happens it shocks us,” Chavez said. “We
only have a murder every two or three years, we’re a pretty little
peaceful town.”
CSU Police Department Capt. Bob Chaffee said that although
students may not be involved, it is important for them to remain
alert.
“I would hope that it doesn’t make people paranoid but that it
makes them aware,” Chaffee said. “Students should take precautions,
no matter where they are. Whether you’re in McDonald’s drive-thru
or Kmart’s parking lot you should know what is around you.”
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