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.”